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Many impresarios went bankrupt, some more than once, so that a mercantile background and a gambler's instincts were useful. Alessandro Lanari (1787 — 1852) began as the owner of a shop that produced costumes, eliminating the middleman in a series of successful seasons he produced for the Teatro La Pergola, Florence, which saw premieres of the first version of Verdi's Macbeth, two of Bellini's operas and five of Donizetti's, including Lucia di Lammermoor. Domenico Barbaia (1778 — 1841) began as a café waiter and made a fortune at La Scala. Milan, where he was also in charge of the gambling operation and introduced roulette.
The traditional term is still in use in the entertainment industry for a producer of concerts, tours and other events in music, opera, theatre[3] and even rodeo.[4] Significant modern impresarios in the traditional sense include Rudolf Bing, Sergei Diaghilev, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Fortune Gallo, Aaron Richmond, and Sol Hurok.