Event Comment: Benefit for
Mme Banti. A Gr
and Serious Opera (1st time in this Country [1st performed at
Paris, 1779]); the Music by
Gluck. Accompanied With Chorusses under the Direction of
Kelly. With entirely new Scenes designed by
Marinari,
and executed under his direction, Dresses
and Decorations. Tickets to be had of Mme Banti, No. 7,
Hay Market. The Company are respectfully entreated not to come upon the Stage this Night, as the
Iphigenia is accompanied with a degree of Spectacle on which the effect of the Performance chiefly depends; besides, the Machinery used in this Opera will make it dangerous for the Company to be upon the Stage during the time of the representation. "We never saw a House more splendid, more crowded, nor more gratified...In spite of the request not to crowd upon the stage, it was quite thronged;
and it was impossible to move the complicated
and superb scenery with effect. We lament that no means can be devised to save the stage from this perpetual intrusion" (
Morning Chronicle, 8 Apr.). "Banti had a crowded house for her benefit,
and is said to have netted 1500 guineas" (
Monthly Magazine, May 1796 p. 321)
Performances
Mainpiece Title: Ifigenia In Tauride