In 1637, the San Cassiano theatre opened its doors for the first time with a performance of Francesco Minelli’s “L’Andromeda,” an event that took opera out of the palazzi and drawing rooms of the aristocracy and into the public arena. Within a matter of only a few years, the city was awash with opera houses. Composers and librettists, singers, artist and machinery designers flocked to the city as the art form boomed. Initially, the plots were taken from classical mythology but very quickly morphed into historical narratives with several unrelated plot levels that included characters from all social classes, dispensed with Aristotle’s unities and mixed the serious with the comedic, set against a background of spectacular stage effects, which was described in the program as a ‘fairground baker’s hodgepodge.’