Gio Paolo Bombarda was the founder of the Théâtre de la Monnaie

La Monnaie

Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....

 in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

.

Life

Musician, councillor and treasurer to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria

Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria

Maximilian II , also known as Max Emanuel or Maximilian Emanuel, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last Governor of the Spanish Netherlands and duke of Luxembourg...

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, he was taken on by the court orchestra in 1680 and, in 1686, he married the daughter of the composer Ercole Bernabei

Ercole Bernabei

Ercole Bernabei was an Italian composer and organist.Bernabei was born in Caprarola, and was mainly active in Germany. His daughter married another expatriate Italian musician, Gio Paolo Bombarda. Bernabei died in Munich.- Operas :...

. When Maximilian became governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1692, Bombarda went with him to Brussels and became his emissary to the French and Dutch bankers. In 1693 he married his second wife, in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, the daughter of the Antwerp banker Cloots. In 1694 Bombarda and Pietro Antonio Fiocco

Pietro Antonio Fiocco

Pietro Antonio Fiocco was an Italian Baroque composer.-Life:Pietro Antonio Fiocco was born in Venice...

 rented the Opéra du Quai au Foin

Opéra du Quai au Foin

The Opéra du Quai au Foin was the first public theatre in Brussels. Opened on 24 January 1682, it was abandoned in 1699 and turned into a warehouse.-History:...

, managing it for three years.

After the Bombardment of Brussels

Bombardment of Brussels

The bombardment of Brussels by French troops of King Louis XIV on August 13, 14 and 15, 1695 and the resulting fire were together the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels. The Grand Place was destroyed, along with a third of the buildings in the city...

 by French troops under maréchal de Villeroy, Maximilien-Emmanuel entrusted Bombarda with the construction of a new theatre right in the heart of the city - the Théâtre sur la Monnoye

La Monnaie

Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....

, which opened in 1700. The Académie royale de musique in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 was then in financial difficulties and its director Jean-Nicolas de Francine

Jean-Nicolas de Francine

Jean-Nicolas de Francine was a director of the Opéra national de Paris.-Life:From the Francini family of Florentine musicians that had come to France under Henry IV of France, Jean-Nicolas married Jean-Baptiste Lully's eldest daughter Catherine-Madeleine Lully on 18 April 1684, in the presence of...

 was unable to remedy the situation alone. The able financier Bombarda was thus called to the Académie in 1703 and left the elector's services to set up himself and his family in Paris in 1705, in a house on rue d'Argenteuil

Rue d'Argenteuil

Rue d'Argenteuil is a street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....

, not far from the Palais-Royal, where he died in 1712.

His eldest daughter, Anne-Marie-Pauline (1697-1719), married Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou

Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou

Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou was a French politician. He was marquis of Combrande, baron de Châtillon-sur-Indre, seigneur de Chaillou.-Life:...

 in 1716, whilst his son Pierre-Paul (1698-1783), known as Bombarde de Beaulieu, in 1718 married the daughter of the famous salonnière Madame Doublet.