A "most enchanting comic actress": Giovanna Sestini, an Italian opera singer in the London theatres.

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Late in 1774 a young couple and their two young sons arrived in England from Portugal to start a new life; they took lodgings in Oxendon Street, close to London's Haymarket. The husband was Jose Christiano Stocqueler, whose distinguished Portuguese family had strongly disapproved when he married a beautiful Italian opera singer, Giovanna Sestini. She now had a contract to sing at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket and professionally was always known as Sestini, though in private life she was Joanna Stocqueler. (2)

She was born in Italy in 1749, and must have shown early promise as her first known performance was in 1763 when at the Pubblico Teatro di Lucca she sang the part of Lucilla in Il cavalier mignatta, an intermezzo for three voices (Rinaldo). The baptismal register of Lastra a Signa, a small town some 12 km west of Florence, indicates that Giovanna was the youngest of twelve children of Pietro and Altomira Sestini (Archivio della Curia Arcivescovile di Firenze). She was billed as 'di Firenze' both in Lucca and in Florence where she and her sister Anna sang in Niccolo Piccinni's La buona moglie at the Teatro di Via Cocomero in 1765 (Weaver and Weaver 213). Before moving to Portugal in 1768, they travelled within Italy performing in cities such as to Padua and Venice (italianOpera). Giovanna always took more demanding roles than Anna and she gained acclaim in Lisbon where the new Teatro da Rua dos Condes was re-establishing the vogue for Italian opera after the devastating earthquake of 1755 (de Brito 90-99). After the Carnival performances in Lisbon in 1774 Sestini decided to join the King's Theatre in London as their prima buffa, or first woman in the comic opera. It cannot have been easy at first for the Stocquelers knew no English, he had no work to go to, and Roman Catholics were not welcome in London. Nonetheless they settled there and together raised a large English family. Giovanna Sestini became a popular singer, first in Italian opera but later taking English roles (Highfill, Burnim, and Langhans 263-67). The London press followed her career in opera and as a concert artiste closely until she retired in 1792 when, like so many celebrities, she was quickly forgotten. Altogether Sestini sang in some fifty different operas and her contribution to the theatre scene--in London in particular--deserves to be better recognised.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century the King's Theatre in the Haymarket was the fashionable Opera House where society met on Tuesday and Saturday evenings (Nalbach). Built in 1705 by Sir John Vanbrugh as an opera house, it had for many years received a licence to perform only opera in Italian. This meant less competition for Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres that could also put on straight plays and any musical works. Audiences at the King's Theatre were critical of the quality of the singers and productions were expected to be lavish with elaborate sets and costumes. Each season ran roughly from November to May to coincide with the sitting of Parliament. And with expenses often exceeding income, Opera House managers were frequently in financial difficulty. In 1773 the consortium of Richard and Mary Ann Yates and Frances Brooke and her brother-in-law James Brooke, two couples with assorted theatrical experience between them, took over and set out to revive the fortunes of the King's Theatre (Nalbach 48-49). Frances Brooke was a forceful woman who immediately applied, unsuccessfully, for the restrictive licence to be lifted. She had hoped occasionally to use the theatre to stage plays she had herself written, but had to accept defeat at the hands of the Lord Chamberlain. They were still limited to Italian opera, and full houses needed to be attracted if the consortium were not to fail.

Until this time most of the performances at the King's Theatre had been opere serie, typically three acts with stylized arias for high voices (including castrati) and with serious plots based on myths or classical stories (Willaert). This contrasted with the entertainment offered by opera buffa, or comic opera, which had originated in Naples in the earlier part of the century and which conventionally depicted scenes of everyday life and complicated romantic situations. Frances Brooke decided, with reason, that more accessible fare would be welcomed by the opera-goers and as well as more opera buffa in the repertoire, dancing became a regular feature of an evening's programme at the Opera House. The management had to choose operas that would appeal to their audiences, and performers of quality were essential to satisfy a discerning public who treated them as the celebrities of the day. Agents abroad were charged with purchasing suitable new scores and offering contracts and advance payment to likely performers. One of these was the Italian tenor Giovanni Lovattini who was persuaded to return to the King's Theatre for the 1774-75 season (Woodfield 77-92). He had a wide repertoire and had been greatly admired in London from 1766 until he went home to Bologna in 1772. When in September 1774 the King's Theatre advertised for subscriptions to their new season with Antonio Sacchini in charge of the music, Signor Lovattini was to be prirno buffo, or first man, in the comic opera. A less familiar name, Signora Sestini, fresh from Lisbon, was to be prima buffa (Public Advertiser, 22 Sep. 1774).

To the consternation of the King's Theatre management the 1774-75 season of comic opera began later than advertised as Lovattini, despite the considerable expense of his contract, was delayed arriving from Italy. It was announced in late November that "La buona figliuola is in Rehearsal and will be performed as soon as Signor Lovatinni is recovered from the Fatigue of his journey" (Public Advertiser, 30 Nov. 1774), but the planned opening on 13 December was then cancelled at short notice as he was unwell and apologies had to be made to subscribers (Public Advertiser, 14 Dec. 1774). Another concern to get the season underway was that Giovanna Sestini was clearly in a fairly advanced state of pregnancy. Eventually her London debut took place on 20 December, in a revival of Piccinni's popular opera which should have required little rehearsal by the company who knew it well. Sestini took the principal female role of La Cecchina, the maidservant who, when it transpires she is of noble birth, can finally marry the marquis who loves her. With lyrics by Carlo Goldoni and based on Samuel Richardson's Pamela, this was an opera in which Sestini had performed in Italy and very likely in Portugal too. (3) Lovattini assumed the role of the marquis, as he had done in the first production of the opera in Rome back in 1760 (Libretti d'opera italiani). The writer of the column "Operatical Intelligence" was pleased to note that, despite the violent cold he had suffered on his journey, Lovattini's voice had not altered since he was last in England (Middlesex Journal and Evening Advertiser, 20 Dec. 1774). And Giovanna Sestini must have been gratified to read that, despite her condition, her first appearance on the London stage was also effusively praised by the same reviewer:

   Signora Sestini, the first comic woman, was most deservedly
   received with great applause. She is the best woman singer we ever
   saw on the Haymarket. Her voice is sweet to the utmost degree,
   strong, clear and melodious; her figure wonderfully attracting; her
   action decent, and full of expression.

La buona figliuola was twice repeated "by particular desire" but then on Monday 2 January 1775 a notice appeared in the press: "King's Theatre: Signora Sestini being very ill there will be no opera tomorrow" (Public Advertiser; Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser). The next day the reason was clear: "On Sunday Signora Sestini the first Comic Singer at the Opera, was brought to-bed of a Son" (Public Advertiser, 3 Jan. 1775). Performers in the eighteenth century were rarely deterred by pregnancy and Sestini had sung and acted her part up to the day before her third son arrived on New Year's Day. (4) Three weeks after the birth the Morning Chronicle reported that the Managers of the King's Theatre were insisting that Sestini resume her role in the comic opera before the customary one month lying-in period for new mothers was over. The newspaper hoped that:

some of her well-wishers will make her aware of the danger it might be attended with and prevent her complying, at the peril of her life, with a request so inconsistent with all principles of decency and decorum. (Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, 23 Jan. 1775)

These sentiments were quickly reinforced by further support for Sestini. She had only been in England for a short time, but clearly she had already attracted the sympathy of the opera-goers and, despite their eagerness to have such a popular performer back on stage, the managers relented. Her next appearance was on 14 February 1775, when La buona figliuola resumed. Later in the season Charles Burney, normally an assiduous critic, made what was probably a very fair assessment of Sestini's accomplishments in what was in fact her second role at the King's Theatre (881):

   Signora Sestini came [to London] from Lisbon as prima buffa. When
   she first appeared on our stage in La Marchesa Giardiniera, by
   Anfossi, her face was beautiful, her figure elegant, and her action
   graceful. Her voice, though by nature not perfectly clear and sweet
   toned, had been well directed in her studies, and she sung with
   considerable agility, as well as taste and expression. (5)

Giovanna Sestini's popularity in her first London season extended to the royal family. King George III and Queen Charlotte were enthusiastic theatre-goers and it was reported that:

Their Majesties are so great admirers of Signora Sestini, that they go almost every night to hear the Buona Figliuola, though an opera rather too hackneyed and out of date: surely the character of La Cecchina was never so well supported as by the bewitching Signora Sestini. (Morning Post, 15 Feb. 1775)

The following October she was greatly honoured, and doubtless well rewarded, by an invitation to perform as the only singer at a grand concert at the Queen's Palace to celebrate the anniversary of the King's accession: "His Majesty was so pleased to hear her voice that he encored her in some of her capital songs" (Morning Post, 27 Oct. 1775). The Stocquelers must have felt that they had made the right move in coming to London when they read that. Signora Sestini was again prima buffa at the King's Theatre for the next two seasons which were busy with both opere serie and buffe and included several new productions (Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, 16 Sep. 1775). (6)

The tenor Giuseppe Trebbi with whom Sestini had sung in Lisbon was now primo buffo in place of Lovatinni. A notable addition to the company was Caterina Gabrielli, a demanding and flamboyant singer recruited after considerable negotiation in Italy, as First Woman in serious opera (Woodfield 121-34). In 1777 an interesting announcement stated that "The Agujari, Sestini, Gabrielli, and Davies, have entered into a joint bond under the penalty of five hundred pounds, not to accompany any instrument privately for a less sum than one hundred pounds a night" (Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, 26 Mar. 1777). Lucrezia Agujari was the acclaimed singer at the Pantheon concert hall, and Cecilia Davies was a renowned English soprano known as l'Inglesina. The four represented the cream of female singers in London at the time. Clearly they realised they could supplement their incomes by private performances and they, or their managers, decided to keep the fees high.

There were several occasions when rumours circulated, to the consternation of her admirers, that Giovanna Sestini was leaving England, but unlike most European performers she never returned to warmer climes. (7) Her focus was always the King's Theatre and she sang there during eleven different seasons. She also spent two seasons in Ireland, the first when in 1777 she joined an Italian company and their Portuguese manager, Pedro Martini, playing opera buffa at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. The bass Vincenzo Fochetti from the King's Theatre was also there, but the season was not an outstanding success with the repertoire (8) limited to three comic operas (Greene 1799). The theatre was cold and rarely full and although Martini had been thought to be wealthy, it transpired that he had little or no money to pay his performers (Kelly 17). Sestini was probably glad to return to London.

The Opera House was now under new management, having been sold to Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Thomas Harris. As well as refurbishing the interior at considerable expense (including two large figures either side of the stage painted by Thomas Gainsborough) they advertised their new company widely and this again included Signora Sestini as first buffa. Also in the company were Guglielmo Jermoli and the bass Antonio Rossi. These two gentlemen had been Virtuoso di Camera respectively to His Highness the Prince of Esterhazy, and to His Highness the Duke of Wirtemberg and Tech and were listed as such on the libretto for the first performance of L'avaro deluso at the King's Theatre on 24 November 1778 (Bertati). Sestini played Zerbinetta in this new opera with music by the company's composer, Antonio Sacchini. This alternated with a more popular comic opera, Giovanni Paisiello's La frascatana, in which Sestini took her usual role of Violante (Livigni). She had to take a break the following spring for the birth of her fifth child but, back at the King's Theatre in May, she joined Jermoli and Rossi in La govemante, with music "entirely new" by Ferdinando Bertoni (Public Advertiser, 17 May 1779). The libretto was by Carlo Francesco Badini of Turin who openly acknowledged that he had based this on The Duenna by Sheridan, to whom he dedicated it. The opera was well-reviewed: "In the songs sung by Sestini, we know not which to praise most, the composer or the singer" wrote one critic, who also considered Sestini, as Lucinda, "for an Italian, an admirable actress" (Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, 17 May 1779). (9)

Sestini's next appearance in London was not at the King's Theatre, but in concerts at the Pantheon. The Pantheon, which had opened in Oxford Street in 1772, did not have a licence for full-scale opera, but offered concerts with mixed programmes as well as masquerades and assemblies. These, and the impressive neoclassical building, provided strong competition for the King's Theatre. At the first concert in 1780 "the company was very brilliant being composed of many persons of distinction and many Lords and Ladies" and Signora Sestini, "sang her songs with great taste and judgment and met with general applause" (Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, TJ Jan. 1780). The orchestra was under the direction of the violinist Wilhelm Cramer and there were new compositions by Tommaso Giordani: like Sestini both had had associations with the King's Theatre and all would work there again.

Sestini was prima buffa, and Trebbi was primo buffo, under yet another Opera House director, Peter Crawford, when the 1780-81 comic season opened with L'Arcifanfano. With libretto by Carlo Goldoni this featured music by different composers and the press was not universally favourable: "Opera Intelligencer" reported that the audience relished "the comical powers of Trebbi and Sestini [which] are continually improving by their residence here" (London Courant, 27 Nov. 1780), but even "Sestini's harmonious voice could not snatch [Arcifanfano] from the dead" (London Courant 28 Dec. 1780). The season went on into June with successful productions of Tommaso Traetta's Le serve rivali and Piccinni's Il barone di torre forte, and also revivals of La frascatana. This was a busy time for Giovanna Sestini, for she and other singers had also to attend occasional Ridottos. These were late-night masked balls for several hundred people of fashion, held within the theatre in an attempt to boost its finances. Dancing and refreshments were the main attractions but singers provided entertainment, especially while the company was assembling (Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, 22 Mar. 1781; Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, TJ Apr. 1781).

By 1782 Giovanna Sestini had been in England for eight years, her reputation was assured, and she was ready for new challenges. She decided to leave the King's Theatre and Italian opera for a while and try singing on the English stage. (10) Her first performance at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden was that November in the Castle of Andalucia by John O'Keeffe who had arranged the part of Lorenza to suit her Italian voice and broken English (O'Keeffe 32). The production was well-reviewed but

Sestini, notwithstanding the alertness she jigs it about with on the stage, in the character of Lorenza, in the new Opera, and the extreme clearness of pipe with which she sings her Airs, is in a state of pregnancy, and that so far advanced that she daily expects to tumble to pieces. (Morning Chronicle, 7 Nov. 1782)

What was to have been Sestini's sixth appearance at Covent Garden was cancelled as she was "yesterday taken in labour" and Mrs Martyr was called upon suddenly to take her part, which she did competently. (11)

Sestini gave birth to her eighth and thankfully last child at her house in Margaret Street. The arrival may well have been premature and unexpected so soon after the start of the season, but when she was back on the English stage her performance was received with generous applause throughout, and, not surprisingly:

Sestini sings much better since her lying-in than before--her stile has more vivacity in it--she treads and looks lighter and her new dress is in a disposition of greater elegance than her old one. (London Packet and New Lloyds Evening Post, 6-9 Dec. 1782)

Then in another new venture Giovanna Sestini made her first appearance in serious opera in the character of Arbaces in Thomas Arne's Artaxerxes. Set in Persia in the days after the death of Xerxes, and first performed some twenty years earlier, this has been considered the first English opera seria. To "a most brilliant and overflowing audience" at Covent Garden Sestini sang the role originally played by an Italian castrato and "though hitherto considered only as a comic singer [she] shewed great powers in the affettuoso, both in voice and action" (Gazetteer, 23 Jan. 1783). For the new season in the autumn of 1783 Giovanna Sestini was again at Covent Garden where she took another male part, Jessamy, in a revival of the popular comic opera Lionel and Clarissa. (12) This involves more dialogue than many operas and "in order to give the Opera as many charms in representation as possible, some alteration was made to adapt the part of Jessamy to Sestini's broken English" and to make her performance of it "not too violent an offence to probability" (Evening Post, 4 Oct. 1783). Another review asserted that "Signora Sestini, in breeches, acted with infinite spirit and displayed an uncommon refinement of her taste in all her delightful warblings" (Morning Post, 3 Oct. 1783). When King George and Queen Charlotte went to Covent Garden, Sestini received royal approbation: "Their majesties appeared much pleased, especially when she sung 'Sweet rustic maid'" (Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, 24 Oct. 1783). Her two seasons at Covent Garden were undoubtedly highlights of Sestini's career. She was then persuaded to revisit Dublin, but this time she sang in English, with Richard Daly's company at the Smock Alley Theatre (Freeman's Journal, 2 Nov. 1784). This was a much more successful venture than her previous time in Ireland. (13)

During the 1784-85 season there she again played Lorenza and Jessamy and added the roles of Fanny in The Maid of the Mill, Signora Figurante in Gretna Green, Little John in Robin Hood, and Lord Trinket in The Jealous Wife to her repertoire. (Greene 2279)

Across the road from the King's Theatre was the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Also known as the Little Theatre in the Hay, it was less well-appointed than the Opera House and was licensed to stage performances during the summer months only. (14) Plays were often accompanied by short English operas, or a full evening of opera and dancing would be offered. Sestini sang there each summer from 1783 until 1787, which meant welcome extra work when the other theatres were closed. She never received the excessive fees that some visiting singers demanded (15) and although she apparently received a basic annual salary of 500 [pounds sterling] as prima buffo in her early days at the King's Theatre (Woodfield 208-09), towards the end of her career she only had 200 [pounds sterling]. Male singers were better rewarded: as primo buffo Lovatinni received 900 [pounds sterling], and even the less well-regarded Trebbi was paid 600 [pounds sterling] or 700 [pounds sterling], for the years they were in England. Undoubtedly, like most performers, Sestini relied on private engagements and the occasional theatrical performances staged for her benefit. This notice appeared in September 1783 and interestingly one of the Stocqueler sons, unidentified except as "Master Sestini", (16) was to sing between Acts:

Signora Sestini's benefit tomorrow evening at the Haymarket Theatre, is expected to be a very good one and indeed she deserves to have it. We never have had a foreign performer that has been so long a favorite of the public, and with the greatest justice, as she is the most enchanting comic actress. In her private character, she is entitled to every consideration and we are informed that she has eight children all alive, and she is their only support. (Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, 8 Sep. 1783)

This implication that Jose Christiano Stocqueler made no contribution to his family may be somewhat unfair; he became a local agent of the Royal Wine Company of Oporto but took time to establish himself in London. The family moved home several times, apparently always to premises in better neighbourhoods: by the end of Sestini's career they were in fashionable Mount Street, just off Berkeley Square, and not far from the Portuguese Embassy in whose Catholic chapel all their London-born children were baptised.

When Sestini left the King's Theatre company in 1782 it was entering a turbulent period, with serious financial problems and bitter disputes between the manager William Taylor, who had bought out Richard Sheridan, and Giovanni Andrea Battista (later known as Sir John) Gallini. Originally a dancer, Gallini became the director at the King's Theatre and continued its programme of Italian opera for the 1783-85 seasons, even though he had to hire some replacement singers (Price, Milhous and Hume 297-300). For the 1784-85 season Giovanna Sestini's brother Vincenzo Sestini was named as the tailor to the company. (17)

In January 1786 Gallini announced a new and more accomplished company of singers; although Taylor had questioned the need for two first buffas (Price, Milhous and Hume 344), both Giovanna Sestini and Adriana Ferrarese del Bene were listed as such. They sang together that winter and spring in Paisiello's Il marchese tulipano and in Anfossi's L'inglese in Italia (Highfill, Burnim and Langhans 266) and in a new production of Antonio Salieri's La scuola de gelosi (Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, 11 Mar. 1786). There was a special performance of Anfossi's Il viaggiatori felici for Sestini's benefit (Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, 16 Mar. 1786).

Sestini interspersed the season of 1786-87 at the King's Theatre with several acclaimed appearances at Freemasons' Hall which was then being used for a series of Readings and Music. Her rendering of Joseph Haydn's ballad "William" was particularly appreciated and, as with many of her favourite songs, the sheet music was soon on sale. But she was no longer prima buffa at the Opera House and, at almost forty years of age, had to accept a series of supporting roles from 1787 (The London Stage 5:1 920, 1096, 1190, 1286). Anna (or Nancy) Storace, whose brother Stephen Storace was supervising productions, became prima buffa. From 1787 until 1789 Sestini sang, for example, Artemisia in Giuseppe Gazzaniga's La vendemmia (Bertati), Mademoiselle Neri in Giovanni Paisiello's Gli schiavi per amore (Paisiello) and Donna Aurora in Domenico Cimarosa's Giannina e Bemadone (Livigni).

Tragedy struck on 17 June 1789 when the King's Theatre was completely destroyed by fire (Nalbach 67-73; Gentleman's Magazine, 56: 755-76). Thankfully no one was hurt, but one victim was Sestini's brother, Vincenzo, or Vincent, Sestini (Bath Chronicle, 25 Jun. 1789). He lost much valuable material in the fire but soon re-established himself as an "inventor of dresses". There was much controversy about the circumstances of the fire, and over the plans for reconstructing and financing a new Opera House, but William Taylor succeeded in building a larger and more elaborate theatre than before, designed by Michael Novosielski. In the meantime there was a season of Italian opera in the Little Theatre across the road. Sestini was engaged as second buffa, but would "by no means be in the background" (World, 8 Jan. 1790) and when the season concluded with a "Serenade of Singing and Dancing" at Ranelagh Gardens she performed several numbers (General Evening Post, 29 Jun.-1 Jul. 1790).

The Pantheon had also been staging opera while rebuilding took place in the Haymarket and, confusingly, for a time it used the name King's Theatre. Then, due to bitter rivalries between managers, when the restored King's Theatre in the Haymarket was ready it was refused a licence to perform complete operas. Instead it opened in late February 1791 with a series of elaborate "Entertainments of Music and Dancing" in which Sestini performed favourite songs from her operas and a "catch" by the then London-based Joseph Haydn. One programme included Haydn at the harpsichord and, as well as her mother, a "Miss Sestini" (18) who sang an Italian song (Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, 19 May, 1791). It was not until 1793 that the King's Theatre in the Haymarket began anew as a licensed Opera House under William Taylor, but Giovanna Sestini was never part of his company. The entertainments of 1791 marked the end of her time on the London stage.

Next January, however, Sestini undertook the arduous journey to Scotland. Apart from Dublin, and two concerts in Oxford, (19) she had only performed in London since arriving there, but she accepted an invitation from the Edinburgh Musical Society to give weekly concerts at St Cecilia's Hall (Caledonian Mercury, 11 Feb. and 1 Mar. 1792) with three Italian musicians, Signori Pietro Urbani, Domenico Corri and Girolamo Stabilini. She gave grateful thanks for a benefit she had been granted, and then she returned to London and retirement as Joanna Stocqueler. The family moved away from the theatres to Broad Street Buildings in the City, convenient for her husband's work, where she died in 1814. She was buried at St Pancras Old Church, alongside her husband. Their epitaph recalled his Portuguese origins as a Knight of the Order of Christ (Cansick 93), but there was no mention of Giovanna Sestini's role as a mother, nor of her distinguished career as an operatic singer and the pleasure she had given to so many audiences. She had enjoyed a long and successful career with a reputation for equanimity apparently unblemished by any of the scandal that so many performers attracted. Had she been a more flamboyant character perhaps she would have been better remembered and, despite some early promise, none of her children followed her onto the stage. Fortunately in 1826 the writer John O'Keefe published his memoirs and remembered Sestini with affection (32, 48, 116, 415-16). (20) He ended a verse with lines that recalled her roles in his operas:

   Ah! No Sestini e'er shall charm no more;
   No decapo can be sung,
   Once the curtain down is rung;
   Lovely, charming, tuneful, clever,
   At a beck must go for ever.

Notes

The author thanks Professor Trevor R. Griffiths and anonymous readers for their encouragement and suggestions for this paper, and is grateful to Peter Gill, a descendant of the family in New South Wales, for helpful information about Sestini's family.

(1) Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser, 8 Sep. 1783: see page 144.

(2) The suggestion (Highfill, Burnim and Langhans 13: 266) that Giovanna Sestini was the wife of Vincenzo Sestini, costume designer, is incorrect. He was her brother and is mentioned as such in her will (will of Joanna Stocqueler).

(3) Niccolo Piccinni's opera La buona figliuola was also known as La Cecchina and La baronessa riconosciuta and closely related to 'sequels' La buona figliuola maritata; La baronessa maritata; La buona moglie and La Cecchina maritata.

(4) He was baptised on 8 February in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Portuguese Embassy Chapel as "Joseph, son of Joseph Christian and Joanna Storcquelor". The transcript of the baptismal register includes all the other London-born Stocqueler children, variously misspelled (Baptismal Register of the Portuguese Embassy Chapel).

(5) Highfill, Burnim and Langhans inaccurately place Sestini's London debut at 7 March 1775; they were possibly following Charles Bumey who had apparently overlooked her first appearances at the King's Theatre in La buona figliuola. His daughter Fanny Burney wrote in her diary in an undated entry in 1775 that she and her father had been "to a rehearsal of a new comic opera in which the excellent Lovattini and Signora Sestini sing. The Sestini is excessively pretty, and is a charming singer". (F. Burney 4, note). This opera was likely to have been La marchesa giardiniera.

(6) New productions of comic operas included Mattia Vento's Il bacio with libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini, and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi's La sposa fedele with libretto by Pietro Chiari.

(7) When Sestini went to Ireland in 1777 the press lampooned an aged admirer, "The Naval Earl" (known to be Augustus John Hervey) who was said to be disconsolate and threatening to follow her to Dublin (Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, 10 Jul. and 17 Dec. 1777). Rumours that she was going away again surfaced in 1779 (St James Chronicle, 25-27 May 1779; Morning Post, 30 Jul. 1779) and although she did not appear on the London stage in the latter part of that year she sang at the Pantheon in January 1780. Comments about foreign managers' opinions of Sestini also caused unnecessary concern that she would be lured away (London Courant, 28 Dec. 1780; Morning Herald, 14 Apr. 1781) but she was again contracted to the King's Theatre for the 1781-82 season.

(8) These were the old favourites, Niccolo Piccinni's La buona figliuola, Giovanni Paisiello's La frascatana, and Pasquale Anfossi's Il geloso di cimento.

(9) The newspaper report incorrectly called Sestini's role Louisa instead of Lucinda (Badini, La governante).

(10) Sestini's decision may also have been influenced by financial difficulties at King's Theatre and the prospect of a better salary at Covent Garden (Highfill, Burnim and Langhans 265).

(11) Margaret Thornton Martyr was a popular English singer who regularly performed at Covent Garden from 1779 until the 1803-04 season.

(12) Sub-titled A School for Fathers, this has music by Charles Dibdin and words by the Irish writer Isaac Bickerstaff.

(13) The London press reported Daly's successful Smock Alley season (General Advertiser, 24 Dec. 1784) and "Mrs Sestini has been received in Dublin with the warmest approbation" (Public Advertiser, 25 Dec. 1784). Sestini was said to be paid 1000 [pounds sterling] for 20 nights (Greene 2287), so this visit to Dublin was a financial success for her.

(14) This concession had been granted to a former owner, Samuel Foote, apparently as recompense for injury caused by a prank on the hunting field (Fitzgerald 245-47).

(15) Gabrielli and Agujari received 1500 [pounds sterling] and 1200 [pounds sterling] respectively for a season's work (Woodfield 206).

(16) "Master Sestini" was likely to have been one of the two Lisbon-born Stocqueler sons, Christiano and Joachim, who would have been about 12 and 11 years old, respectively. He had trained and first performed at the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, under Charles Dibdin, on the south side of the Thames on Blackfriars Road in 1783. In 1787 "Young Sestini" recited the poem "I am a Merry Andrew, Andrew is my name" during performances at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket: "Between the play and entertainment an occasional address was spoken by young Sestini in the character of a Merry Andrew ... to rapturous applause" (St James' Chronicle, 17 May 1787). This may or may not have been the same boy as "Master Sestini" (there were now five Stocqueler boys ranging from about seven to sixteen years old) but the episode did lead to the erroneous assumption that Sestini had a son named Andrew (Highfill, Burnim and Langhans 263). None of the Stocqueler children went on to have a theatrical career.

(17) For example, there were "New dresses and decorations, by Signor Sestini, for both the Opera and Dances" when the serious opera Demetrio was staged (Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, 19 Jan. 1785). Vincenzo Sestini was advertised as wardrobe master to the King's Theatre until as late as 1826 (Times 1 Jun. 1826).

(18) Giovanna Sestini had two daughters. The elder, Anna (named after her mother's sister) would have been just fifteen years old and the younger, Caroline, only nine. It is more likely, but not certain, that it was Anna who performed.

(19) In May 1781 Sestini sang in a Grand Miscellaneous Concert in the Oxford Music Rooms and made a second visit there in June 1782 when she departed from her usual repertoire and sang in Handel's Acis and Galatea. (Jackson's Oxford Journal, 12 May 1781, 7 Jun. 1782; Mee 26-28).

(20) Aged and blind, O'Keeffe dictated vivid memories of his life in the theatre to his daughter Adelaide.

Works cited

References from newspapers, together with much background material, were sourced using online databases: The British Newspaper Archive, The 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection and The Times Digital Archive. Full librettos by Badini, Bertati, Livigni and for Paisiello's Gli schiavi per amore are available on Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO).

Archivio della Curia Arcivescovile di Firenze. Libri dei Battezzati della Pieve di S. Martino a Gangalandi in Lastra a Signa (Firenze): I--R.RC 836-1-battesimi dal 1727 al 1746:194.

Badini, Carlo Francesco. Il bacio. A New Comic Opera. As Performed at the King's Theatre, in the Hay-Market. London: T. Cadell, 1776.

--. La governante; or, the duenna. A new comic opera. As performed at the King's Theatre, in the Hay-Market. London: R. Ayre, 1779.

Baptismal Register of the Portuguese Embassy Chapel, London. Transcript. Shelf mark F 929.3. Westminster Archives.

Bertati, Giovanni. L'avaro deluso, a new comic opera: as performed at the King's Theatre in the Hay-Market. London: G. Bigg, 1778.

--.La vendemmia. A new comic opera, in two acts. As performed at the King's Theatre, in the Hay-Market. London: Wayland, 1789.

Burney, Charles. A General History of Music, From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1789), 2 vols. Ed. Frank Mercer. New York: Dover Publications, 1957. Vol. II.

Burney, Fanny. The Early Diary of Frances Burney 1768-1778, 2 vols. Ed. Annie Raine Ellis. London: Geo. Bell & Sons, 1889. Vol II.

Cansick, Frederick Teague. A Collection of Curious and Interesting Epitaphs, Copied from the Monuments of Distinguished and Noted Characters in the Ancient Church and Burial Grounds of Saint Pancras, Middlesex. London: n.p., 1869.

de Brito, Manuel Carlos. Opera in Portugal in the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Cengage Learning. Web. 7 May 2015.

Fitzgerald, Percy Hetherington. Samuel Foote, a Biography. London: Chatto and Windus, 1910.

Greene, John C. Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820: A Calendar of Performances. Vol. 3. Bethlehem PA: Lehigh, 2011.

Highfill, Philip H., Kalman A. Bumim, and Edward A. Langhans, eds, A Biographical Dictionary of Actors Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and other Stage Personnel in London 1600-1800, Volume 13. Carbondale IL: Southern Illinois, 1991.

italianOpera. Web: www.italianopera.org. 7 May 2015.

Kelly, Michael. Reminiscences of Michael Kelly: Of the King's Theatre, and Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Including a Period of Nearly Half a Century, Volume 1. London: Colburn, 1826.

Libretti d'opera italiani. Web: www.librettidopera.it/cecchina/cecchina.html. 7 May 2015.

Livigni, Filippo. La frascatana; A Comic Opera; as Performed at the King's Theatre, in the Hay-Market. The music by Signor Paisello. London: G. Bigg, 1778.

--. Giannina e Bemadone, A New Comic Opera, in Two Acts, as Performed at the King's Theatre in the Hay-Market. London: D. Stuart, 1787.

Mee, John H. The Oldest Music Room in Europe: A Record of Eighteenth-Century Enterprise at Oxford. London: J. Lane, 1911.

Nalbach, Daniel. The King's Theatre 1704-1867: London's First Italian Opera House. London: The Society for Theatre Research, 1972.

O'Keeffe, John. Recollections of the Life of John O'Keeffe in Two Volumes, Volume II. London: Henry Colburn, 1826.

Paisiello, Giovanni. Gli schiavi per amore. A new comic opera, in two acts. As performed at the King's Theatre in the Hay-Market. London: D. Stuart, 1787.

Price, Curtis, Judith Milhous and Robert D. Hume. "The Rebuilding of the King's Theatre, Haymarket, 1789-1791." Theatre Journal 43.4 (1991): 421-44.

--. Italian Opera in Late Eighteenth-century London: Volume 1: The King's Theatre, Haymarket, 1778-1791. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

Rinaldo, da Capua. Il cavalier mignatta: intermezzi per musica a tre vod da rappresentarsi nel Pubblico Teatro di Lucca nel camevale dell'anno MDCCLXIII. Lucca: Francesco Antonio Berchielli, 1763.

The London Stage, 1660-1800; A Calendar of Plays, Entertainments & Afterpieces, together with Casts, Box-Receipts and Contemporary Comment. Part 4, III (1767-76) ed. Stone, George W. jr. Carbondale IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1962.

--. Part 5, 3 vols. (1776-1800). Ed. Charles B. Hogan. Carbondale IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1965.

Weaver, Robert L. and Norma W. Weaver. Chronology of Music in the Florentine Theater 1751-1800. Sterling Heights MI: Harmonie Park P, 1993.

Will of Joanna Stocqueler, 1814. The National Archives. PROB 11/1560/83.

Willaert, Saskia. Italian Comic Opera in London 1760-1770. Doctoral thesis, King's College, U of London, 1999.

Woodfield, Ian. Opera and Drama in Eighteenth-Century London: The King's Theatre, Garrick and the Business of Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001.

Audrey T Carpenter graduated in English from Loughborough University in 1990. Since she found out that the opera singer Giovanna Sestini was a direct ancestor of hers, she has been researching her life and times.

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Author:	Carpenter, Audrey
Publication:	Theatre Notebook
Article Type:	Biography
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Oct 1, 2015
Words:	6372
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