Music and the Benefit Performance in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Introduction Alison DeSimone and Matthew Gardner; Part I. Musical Benefits in the London Theatre: Networks and Repertories: 1. Risks and rewards: benefits and their financial impact on actors, authors, singers, and other musicians in London, c. 1690-1730 Kathryn Lowerre; 2. With several entertainments of singing and dancing: London Theatre benefits, 1700-1725 Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson; 3. Concertos 'upon the stage' in early Hanoverian London: the instrumental counterpart to opera Seria Robert G. Rawson; 4. Cobblers, country fairs, and cross-dressing: benefits and the development of ballad opera Vanessa Rogers; Part II. Beyond London: Mimicry or Originality?: 5. Benefit concerts in the North of England: more than just musical entertainment Roz Southey; 6. Amateur music-making, professional musicians, and benefit concerts in Edinburgh Stefanie Acquavella-Rauch; 7. English music in benefit concerts: Henry Purcell and the next generation Amanda Eubanks Winkler; 8. Strategies of performance: benefits, professional singers, and Italian opera in the early eighteenth century Alison DeSimone; Part IV. Charity Benefits: 9. The Mercer's Hospital Charity Services: music charity in eighteenth-century Dublin Triona O'Hanlon; 10. English Oratorio and charity benefits in mid-eighteenth-century London Matthew Gardner; Part V. The Role of the Audience: 11. Encountering 'the most extraordinary prodigy': meeting Master Mozart in Georgian London John Irving; 12. Benefits: Cui Bono? David Hunter.