312:, a book put together with some skill, and in its way an entertaining history of his career. He lays before the public all his accounts, in order to justify his own position, and on the whole it must be admitted to be a valuable contribution to the history of the Italian opera in England. After his failure as a manager, he resumed his business as a bookseller and stationer. His name appears in the directories as the proprietor of the business at 27 Old Bond Street down to 1830; in 1831 the style is John Ebers & Co., and from 1836 onwards the name is given as S. Ebers & Co. An Emily S. Ebers, who may have been his daughter, carried on the business, being called in the directory 'opera agent,’ until 1863.
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felt justified in announcing a new season, returning again to the directorship of Ayrton. The fact that the leases of the 'property-boxes' were to fall in at the end of 1825 gave a prospect of success. His prospectus is more or less apologetic, but he had secured the services of a fairly good company, and in the course of the season Pasta was prevailed on to accept a portion of the salary due to her from the previous year in lieu of the whole amount, and to return to London.
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230:, the correspondence relating to which is published in the 'Quarterly Musical Magazine,’ vii. 188–91. In November, Velluti was appointed director, and the new season was announced to begin on the last day of the old year. It began on 7 January 1826, when great dissatisfaction was caused by the substitution of many inexperienced orchestral performers for those who had played for many seasons.
68:, the first time that it had been heard in England. As compared with the former seasons, this year was eminently successful, although it seems to have been the general opinion that the manager's promises with regard to the excellence of the singers had not been fulfilled. Violante Camporese, who appeared as Donna Anna in
42:, He seems to have been commercially successful, as he is described, at the beginning of his career as a manager, as 'an opulent bookseller in Bond Street, who has been largely engaged in the interests of the holders of property-boxes for some years'. From this it would seem that he had acted as a kind of ticket agent.
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had come to a premature end, after its director had fled the country leaving the orchestra unpaid. Ebers, who had lent money to the theatre and had the assignment of several of the opera' s boxes as part of his ticket-selling business, took on the task of theatre management, but relied on his musical
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were produced. Although the bad accounts of the season which are to be read in the 'Harmonicon' for 1823 must be taken with a grain of salt (Ayrton was the editor of the paper, which appeared first in that year), it is still to be perceived that the affairs of the theatre were in an unsatisfactory
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to put him again into the management of the theatre. The particulars of the actions may be read in the 'Quarterly
Musical Magazine,’ vi. 516–521. It was generally considered that the engagement of Rossini was unwise; but the patronage bestowed by the fashionable world had been so great that Ebers
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In 1822, Ebers ventured to take a four years' lease of the theatre from a banker named
Chambers, who owned the theatre at the time. Ayrton seems to have been uniformly unfortunate in his relations with managers, for the connection between him and Ebers was dissolved that year. A Signor Petracchi,
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for his benefit, 22 June, did not add to his popularity. He got into trouble concerning the pay to the chorus on this occasion, and the matter was decided against him in the sheriff's court. On 12 August the season came to an abrupt end, several performances being still due. In the next season
190:, but it was never finished. Pasta made her appearance on 24 April, and the season lasted, in spite of enormous losses, until 14 August, shortly after which Benelli decamped, leaving Rossini and the artists unpaid. The matter came before the courts, with Ebers appealing to the
288:, written in collaboration with J. Ashton). In October 1826 Ainsworth married Ebers's daughter Anne Frances (Fanny), and the couple moved in with Ebers. Ainsworth almost certainly assisted Ebers in writing his memoirs,
103:, Milan, was summoned to succeed him, and a board of directors, consisting of various noblemen, was associated with the management of the undertaking. The strength of the company was increased by the addition of
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were produced, and on 7 August the theatre again closed prematurely. At the end of the year Ebers, being unable to pay the enormous rent demanded of him by the assignees of
Chambers, became a bankrupt.
135:, both of which last failed. In spite of this, the season was on the whole successful. In 1823 the management was placed in the hands of a committee, under a certain guarantee to Ebers. Rossini's
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was produced without success on 25 February. In May Pasta appeared, and drew large audiences. Velluti's voice began to give out at the end of the season, and Ebers's choice of
Rossini's
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was the only other novelty produced during the season; but in spite of this somewhat modest inauguration of his management, Ebers seems to have been commercially successful.
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Messrs. Chambers at first intended to carry on the undertaking themselves, but they ultimately let the theatre to a certain
Laurent, who was also lessee of the
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Ebers now sublet the theatre for two years to
Giovanni Battista Benelli, who had been assistant stage manager. In January 1824 the season opened with Rossini's
253:, who had undertaken two seasons of oratorios at the King's Theatre without any success, was now appointed director, and on 2 December the house opened with
284:, having qualified as a lawyer, joined Ebers's bookselling business as a partner. Ebers had earlier published Ainsworth's first novel (
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38:, and was baptised there at St. Andrew's Church on 24 July 1778. Around 1810 he took over his father's bookselling business at 27
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1778 – 8 December 1858) was an
English operatic manager, notable for his promotion of Italian opera in London in the 1820s.
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in the principal part, the composer himself being advertised to be present. He had undertaken to write an opera,
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At first Ebers became the lessee of the theatre for one year only, and on 10 March 1821 the house opened with
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was the only addition to the company, and
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489: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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with the greatest success, had been engaged at a salary of 1,550l.
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The board of works declaring the King's
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and Pierre Begrez. The productions of the year were Rossini's
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Hodson's Booksellers, Publishers and Stationers' Directory
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50:In 1820 the London season of Italian opera at the
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475:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online
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505:. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
304:in Paris. After a year he was succeeded by
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105:Maria Caterina Rosalbina Caradori-Allan
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429:. London: W.H. Hodson. 1855.
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529:Businesspeople from London
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452:Goldfarb, Seymour (n.d.).
392:Quarterly Musical Magazine
74:Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis
46:First Italian opera season
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16:British operatic manager
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469:Rosselli, John (n.d.).
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306:Pierre François Laporte
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321:Kensal Green Cemetery
215:Il crociato in Egitto
133:Il barone di Dolsheim
544:People from Hertford
265:La schiava in Bagdad
241:Aureliano in Palmira
125:I pretendenti delusi
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317:Kensington
260:La vestale
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30:Early life
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