Editing Opera house (section)

===Modern period===
At the beginning of the 17th century, in Italy, singing underwent yet another renewal, with the emergence of [[Baroque]] art at the height of the [[Renaissance]]. Italy continues to have many working opera houses,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Opera Houses of the World |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A567362 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215002034/https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A567362 |archive-date=Feb 15, 2009 |website=BBC |quote=Opera was always popular among ordinary people as well as among the rich, so that there was a large audience available.}}</ref> such as the [[Teatro Massimo]] in [[Palermo]] (the biggest in the country), the {{lang|it|[[Teatro di San Carlo]]|italic=no}} in [[Naples]] and the {{lang|it|[[Teatro alla Scala]]|italic=no}} in [[Milan]]. The [[Teatro San Cassiano]] in [[Venice]] was the world's first public opera house, inaugurated as such in 1637.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mancini|first1=Franco|title=I Teatri del Veneto - Venezia|last2=Povoledo|first2=Elena|last3=Muraro|first3=Maria Teresa|publisher=Corbo e Fiore|year=1995|volume=Tomo 1|location=Venice|pages=97–149}}</ref>

In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used [[patronage]] of the arts to endorse their political ambition and social position. There was no opera house in London when [[Henry Purcell]] was composing and the first opera house in Germany, the [[Oper am Gänsemarkt]], was built in [[Hamburg]] in 1678, followed by the [[Oper am Brühl]] in [[Leipzig]] in 1693, and the {{Lang|de|[[Opernhaus vorm Salztor]]|italic=no}} in [[Naumburg]] in 1701. With the rise of [[bourgeois]] and [[capitalism|capitalist]] social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to a publicly supported system.

Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, and [[vaudeville]] shows as well as operas and other musical events. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies are supported by funds from a combination of government and institutional [[Grant (money)|grants]], ticket sales, and private donations.

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File:Théâtre Municipal - Metz (FR57) - 2022-02-27 - 5.jpg|{{Lang|fr|[[Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole]]|italic=no}}, built by benefactor [[Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet|Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de Belle-Isle]] during the 18th century; it is the oldest opera house working in France.
File:Stavovské divadlo vstup 2.jpg|The [[Estates Theatre]] in [[Prague]] (Czech Republic) is the only theatre left standing where [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] performed.
File:Théâtre Liceu Barcelone 3.jpg|Between 1847 and 1989, the [[Liceu]] in [[Barcelona]] (Spain) was the largest opera house in Europe by capacity, with its 2,338 seats at the time.
File:Academy of Music, Philadelphia.jpg|The [[Academy of Music (Philadelphia)|Academy of Music]] in [[Philadelphia]] is the oldest opera house in the USA.
File:Bayreuth Festspielhaus 2006-07-16.jpg|The [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus]] in [[Bayreuth]] (Germany) was built by [[Richard Wagner]] and dedicated solely to the performance of his stage works.
</gallery>