L'ingresso alia gioventù di Claudio Nerone (music: Antonio Giannettini, libretto: Giambattista Neri) was commissioned by Duke Francesco II d'Este for the formal entrance of his bride, Princess Margherita Farnese, into Modena on 9 November 1692. Set against a tense political environment that centred around issues of succession and government, this lavish gala production represented a statement of propagandist display and conspicuous 'court' celebration given in the somewhat contradictory context of the 'public' Teatro Fontanelli before honoured guests and an 'upper'-class ticket-buying public. In 1685, Duke Francesco had effectively contracted out opera in Modena to this privately-run theatre. While L'ingresso appeared to represent the culmination of this strategy, its indulgent extravagance seemingly caused the huge loss on production. Opera under Francesco came to an abrupt end. L'ingresso has since lain virtually untouched by musicologists; and while there have been a number of valuable studies into music under the duke (most noticeably with regard to oratorio, cantata, and instrumental music), there has been no in-depth study of opera. This thesis seeks to rectify this oversight by reporting upon opera production under Duke Francesco through a review of the Teatro Fontanelli archives, and a full reconstruction and audit of the L 'ingresso financial accounts. These not only offer an extraordinary insight into the administration and staging of L 'ingresso (and the cause of the loss suffered), but also identify the existence of a mutually beneficial policy that delivered opera for Francesco against a seemingly autonomous and potentially profitable Teatro Fontanelli through an accounting system which protected the impresario from his losses and liabilities on production. L 'ingresso thus presents a rare opportunity to document the mechanisms of opera patronage and production under Duke Francesco II d'Este, and to provide a valuable insight into the reality of provincial Italian opera towards the end of the seventeenth century.