Eszterháza

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Eszterháza. A castle on the S. side of the Neusiedlersee in Hungary which was opened in 1766 as a seat of the Esterházy family. It stood in marshy country and was very isolated, but it contained an opera house and a marionette th. Scene of f.ps. of many works by Joseph Haydn, who was engaged in 1761 by Prince Paul Anton Esterházy (1711–62) and became Kapellmeister in 1766 under his successor Prince Nicolaus (1714–90). From 1776 to 1790 over 100 different operas were perf. there, of which only 6 were by Haydn. Others were by Cimarosa, Paisiello, Bianchi, Salieri, Traetta, Gluck, Grétry, etc. Haydn as Kapellmeister was responsible for 1,200 of these perfs. In 1779 opera house burnt down and was rebuilt within a year.