大象传媒

Hannah French explores the life of Venetian opera singer, impresario and adventurer Teresa Cornelys - a unique figure in 18th Century Europe whose private life & professional dealings scandalized London society. Author Judith Summers refers to her in her 2003 book as "The Empress of Pleasure".

The mother of Casanova's child, Teresa Cornelys arrived in England in 1759, destitute and leaving a trail of debts and lovers across Europe. Within months, she had acquired one of the finest mansions in London's West End - Carlisle House, Soho Square - where she successfully launched the capital's first subscription concerts along with two German musicians: Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel. Effectively this was London's first night-club, and for the next twenty years her extravagant concerts, balls and masquerades were frequented by royalty, aristocrats and politicians alike.

Outrageous, ingenious and indomitable, Teresa Cornelys defied conventional morality, the law, the limitations of her sex, and even old age. As we'll discover, Cornelys was a promotional genius, but a financial disaster, repeatedly being declared bankrupt and finally meeting her end...well, you'll have to listen to the programme to find out!

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