Opera house as wealthy patrons and it continues to have a large number of working opera houses such as Teatro Massimo in Palermo (the biggest in Italy), Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (the world's oldest working opera house) and Teatro La Scala in Milan. In contrast, there was no opera house in London when Henry Purcell was composing and the first opera house in Germany was built in Hamburg in 1678. In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used patronage of the arts to endorse their political ambition and social
La scala di seta La scala di seta La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder or Die seidene Leiter) is an operatic "farsa comica" in one act by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa. It was first performed in Venice, Italy, at the Teatro San Moisè on 9 May 1812. The overture has been frequently recorded and continues to be featured in the modern concert repertoire. From 1810 to 1813, the young Rossini composed four Italian "farse", beginning with "La cambiale di matrimonio" ("The Bill of Marriage"), his first opera, and ending with "Il Signor Bruschino". These types of short pieces