| Wiki: | The Impresario, (somtimes impresaria, the feminine form of the word) from the Italian impresa, an enterprise or undertaking, is a person who organises and often finances concerts, plays or operas. The origin of the term is to be found in the social and economic world of Italian opera, where from the mid-18th century to the 1830s, the impresario was the key figure in the organization of a lyric season. The owners of the theatre, usually noble amateurs, charged the impresario with hiring a composer, for until the 1850s, operas on stage were expected to be new ones, and gathering the necessary costumes, sets, orchestra and singers, assuming the considerable financial risks. |