ABSTRACT
Viotti's first meeting with the Chinnerys took place in a climate propitious to the flowering of a musical friendship: London in the 1790s was immersed in music. The Hanover Square Rooms were fitted out in a manner that allowed 500 of the elegants of London society to listen to music in maximum comfort, with carpets, sofas along the side walls, and ample lighting and heating. The orchestra comprised about 40 members seated in amphitheatre formation, and according to a report in the Berlinische musikalische Zeitung of 29 June 1793, which from that time began to publish a weekly letter from London, the acoustics were excellent. The Oracle of 8 February 1793 gave an unusually generous amount of space to its review of the first concert: The compositions of VIOTTI are yet, if possible, more exquisite than his Performance. The reviewer dwells on the artlessness and simplicity of Viotti's composition, qualities that were revered by an age imbued with classical ideals.
