In Austria, Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire encouraged opera after hearing Cesti's Il pomo d'oro (1668). Its performance took place at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, to which only the court had access. Most were Italian operas, although Austrian composers were gradually added, most notably Heinrich Ignaz Biber: Applausi festivi di Giove (1686), Chi la dura la vince (1687), Arminio (1692). In 1748 the Burgtheater, also located in the Hofburg, was opened. The first public theater was the Theater am Kärntnertor, opened in 1761, which eventually became the official court theater.
