Charles Burney

The Present State of Music in France and Italy (2nd, corrected edition)

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Turin

sometimes employed as a painter by his
Sardinian majesty.

In October a company of burletta per-
formers comes hither, and remains till
Christmas, at the little theatre, where
there is, during summer, a company of
buffo comedians, which exhibits every
night, except Friday, una farsa fatta da
ridere, and an intermezzo in musica a quat-
tro voci*. This continues till the bur-
lettas begin. I went thither the evening
after my arrival; there was not much
company; the boxes, or palchetti, are all
engaged by the year, so that strangers
have no place but in the pit; which,
however, is far more comfortable than
the parterre, or pit, at Paris, where the
company stand the whole time; and even
than that at London, where they are
much crowded; but there are backs
to the benches in this theatre, which are