This is a fascinating collection of essays, taking a cross-disciplinary approach to studying how music and theatre as forms of sociability crossed national borders in the long eighteenth century. The volume opens with a compelling introduction by Jean-Yves Beaurepaire and Charlotta Wolff outlining the key themes of the essays, and ends with an extremely useful conclusion by Philippe Bourdin that brings together some of the threads that run right through the contributions. Ten countries are covered by the essays in the volume, and this geographical breadth – combined with the chronological span – makes this an important contribution to our understanding of the circulation of music and theatre in Europe. Divided into three sections, the essays question notions such as national taste and the supposed cultural domination of European theatre by France. They explore how the circulation not just of texts and scores but also of musicians, singers, actors and dramatists meant that physical borders and an individual's birthplace were less significant than style and genre.

The essays are highly complementary and give a good sense of the variety of ways in which texts and individuals travelled during the period. We learn about musicians and instruments moving from country to country, and about the influence of Masonic networks and the role of correspondence, both diplomatic and private, in helping to shape repertoire and staging. The circulation of published material in the press or as specialist publications, such as works about dance notation, also helped to spread and shape artistic practice. The role of the aristocracy is shown to be key. They served as patrons, bringing first individuals and then texts to courts across Europe. As travellers they also helped to promote the dissemination of new works, and as amateur artists they were often open to performing plays from other countries in society performances. Despite this, the volume does not present an exclusively top-down vision of courtly and aristocratic circles as consumers of borderless artistic productions. The influence of individual artists (who were often from modest backgrounds) also comes across very clearly, despite the evident precariousness of their lives. The chapter on Lorenzo Da Ponte (Mozart's librettist) by David Do Paço is exemplary in this respect as we are shown how Da Ponte's ‘trajectory was made up of erratic developments, impulsive and hazardous choices, rare successes and numerous failures’ (p. 171).

There are a number of essays that question the extent to which French cultural imperialism succeeded. Fanny Platelle and Marita Gilli both offer fascinating case studies for German-speaking areas during the 1790s. French-language theatre consistently seemed to struggle against the strength of local traditions, even Beaumarchais's plays were appropriated and adapted to fit regional concerns rather than performed in their original language, as Virginie Yvernault shows us in her article on Figaromania. The most explicit attempts at acculturation occurred at the end of the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. These attempts to use theatre as a political tool are shown here to be almost entirely unsuccessful, but they serve as a reminder that the Revolution aimed to be cultural as well as political. In part, the attempts to impose theatre for political purposes floundered because the Revolution coincided with both the twilight years of aristocratic patronage and the growth in significance of market forces and economics on repertoire.

Translations and adaptations are also explored in the volume and the case studies provide a good overview of contemporary practice, exploring how plays were made suitable for local audiences, the reasons for selecting some plays over others, the use of foreign repertoire to promote new theatrical aesthetics, and publishing tendencies and practices. One of the highlights of the volume for me was the illustrations which accompanied Nathalie Rizzoni's essay; these images depict theatrical scenes on cardboard handscreens (to protect the face from the heat coming from the fireplace during winter months) commissioned by French bass violinist Hivart to be sent to his correspondent in Russia, Count Sheremetev. Exquisite and highly ephemeral, such screens give a glimpse of how scenes were adapted and disseminated far beyond the stages of European theatres, and remind us that plays and music circulated in many different forms.

Above all, the volume highlights the significance of intercultural mediators in the collective construction of repertoire, from musicians, diplomats and educators to publishers, theatre directors and enthusiastic amateurs. It successfully achieves its stated aim to examine ‘the mechanisms and characteristics of cultural and artistic adaptability’ and ‘demonstrate the complexity and flexibility of theatrical and musical exchange during this period’ (back cover).