Patriziato, corti e impresariato teatrale in Italia nella seconda metà del XVII secolo: il caso di Milano

The article investigates a case study which shows the mix of patronage and actors and singers raising professionalization in the Italian baroque theatre. During the XVIIth Century, the Teatro Ducale, the only existing public opera house in Milan, was managed by a impresario. From 1669 onward, Vitaliano Borromeo, from one of the most important families of the Milanese aristocracy, was a key patron of Milanese public theatre and he was in touch with correspondants from Parma's court, Mantova's court, Modena's court, Piacenza, Venezia, in order to provide singers, musicians, librettos, scores for the Teatro Ducale