Flavio Vespasiano Theater
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The Teatro Flavio Vespasiano is the main theatre and opera house in
Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...
. It was opened on 20 September
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
, after ten years of work and finishing touches; directed by architect
Achille Sfondrini Achille Sfondrini (Milan, 1836 – Milan, 1900) was an Italian architect specializing in the design, construction and modernization of theaters. He completed his university studies in Milan, graduating as an architectural engineer. In 1862, he des ...
. It takes its name from the Roman emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian ( it, Tito Flavio Vespasiano) who was born in sabina (more precisely in
Vicus Phalacrinae In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, August ...
, now
Cittareale Cittareale is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Latium. It is located about northeast of Rome and northeast of Rieti. Cittareale borders the following municipalities: Accumoli, Amatrice, Borbona, Casci ...
).


History


Precursors

The first information about the presence of a theatre in Rieti dates to the XV - XVI centuries, with confraternities organizing plays in main city squares. At the end of the 1500s, the need to organize plays in closed and sheltered settings lead to ''Teatro dell'Accademia del Tizzone'', located in via Terenzio Varrone, in a former hospital. Nevertheless, places used as theatres were too small; for this reason between 1765 and 1768, the building was demolished and replaced with ''Teatro dei Condomini''. This new building was made of wood and was wider than the previous, making it the first real theatre in Rieti.


Design and construction

At the beginning of the 1800s people in Rieti felt the need to build a bigger and grounder theatre, both for the increasing number of spectators and for the will to make a building of greater architectural renown. The city wanted a building to compete with the counterparts built in the rest of Italy. In 1838 the architect Luigi Poletti made an initial design, imagining a structure in piazza Oberdan. The idea got set aside and the project was entrusted to the architect Vincenzo Ghinelli. Ghinelli designed an area in via Garibaldi for the building. Due to high costs, in 1859 city's bank (Cassa di Risparmio di Rieti) was involved. In 1867 municipality took over the works entrusting them to the architect
Achille Sfondrini Achille Sfondrini (Milan, 1836 – Milan, 1900) was an Italian architect specializing in the design, construction and modernization of theaters. He completed his university studies in Milan, graduating as an architectural engineer. In 1862, he des ...
, who already designed Teatro Costanzi di Roma. Deciding a name proved to be a hard task as well. One faction asked the theatre to be named after the composer from Rieti
Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (Rieti, 18 March 1657 – Rome, 1 February 1743) was an Italian organist and composer. He became one of the leading musicians in Rome during the late Baroque era, the first half of the 18th century. Life Taken to Rome as ...
; the other faction asserted the former composer to be too clerical, thus proposing the name of the roman emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian. Eventually, the latter won. A law in 1882 condemned buildings made of wood because too dangerous. This law raised the need for a new theatre much more pressing as the older Teatro dei Condomini closed. As a consequence, 16 December 1883 saw the lay of the foundation stone. The building was erected quickly and was completed in 1885. Interior decoration took much more time. In 1893, a road connection between the back side of the theatre and the underlying piazza Oberdan was built. The road connection consists of two ramps and it is nicknamed "pincetto" after Rome's pincio ramp. Works completed the same year, with theatre opening on 20 September 1893 with a double bill of Gounod's '' Faust'' and Pietro Mascagni's '' Cavalleria rusticana''.


Activity

After just five years after opening, an earthquake in Rieti damaged the theatre, making collapse the dome and part of the façade. With the collapse, the painting on the dome by Giuseppe Casa was destroyed. Within a few years, the theatre was fixed and newly working. The dome got a new painting made in tempera in 1901 by
Giulio Rolland Giulio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Giulio Alberoni (1664–1752), Italian cardinal and statesman * Giulio Alenio (1582–1649), Italian Jesuit missionary and scholar * Giulio Alfieri (1924–2002), Italian ...
. During World War II, the excavation of an
air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...
caused the cave-in of the foundation and so it caused severe damage to the theatre itself. Due to low inflow, it was used as a movie theatre during the
post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
. In memory of the holocaust, celebrating the siege of Jerusalem and its perpetrator Vespasian seemed inopportune. For this reason, both naming and internal works' themes were questioned. The anti-fascist city mayor Angelo Sacchetti Sassetti demanded the theatre be named after
Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (Rieti, 18 March 1657 – Rome, 1 February 1743) was an Italian organist and composer. He became one of the leading musicians in Rome during the late Baroque era, the first half of the 18th century. Life Taken to Rome as ...
and the hiding of both dome and curtain. Nevertheless, the city hall council rejected his demands as well as his resignation. Eventually, Sacchetti Sassetti himself changed his mind. At the end of the nineties, the theater has been restored; making the façades respectable again. Due to new safety regulations, some of the spaces designed for public events were closed. After four years of work to make the spaces compliant, on 10 January 2009 it was opened again with an inaugural concert performed by Opera studio of Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia and directed by
Marcello Rota Marcello is a common masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Marcellus. The Spanish and Portuguese version of the name is Marcelo, differing in having only one "l", while the Greek form is Markellos. Etymology The name originally means ...
. During the event, four solo artists performed: sopranos Karina Grigoryan and Jessica Pratt, mezzo-soprano
Anna Goryachova Anna Goryachova (russian: Анна Горячёва; born 10 December 1983) is a Russian operatic mezzo-soprano, known especially for her interpretations of bel canto operas. Career Anna Goryachova started her studies as a pianist. In 2008 she ...
, and baritone Roman Burdenko. Among the audience, there was the Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council Gianni Letta, and senator Franco Marini. Along with compliance works, golds and stuccos were restored. In total, the work cost was € 3.3mln. In 2009 comune di Rieti approved works for creating space designed for theatre play production on the theatre's west side. Such works, still in progress, will enable the theatre not just for play but for production as well. More works, financed by regione Lazio in 2016, will allow recover of ''sala degli specchi'' and places where ''circolo di lettura'' was located. Such work did not start yet.


Description


Exterior

From the outside, the theatre looks hidden by surrounding buildings. Because of that, it is impossible to contemplate it in its entirety. For the exterior, Sfondrini used Teatro Costanzi as a model. The south-facing façade is on via Garibaldi, one of the arterial roads of the old town. Due to its proximity to , located on the other side of the road, the theatre can be observed only from a quasi-lateral position. In a renaissance revival style, it is composed of two orders of round arches alternated with lesene. Theatre's back side, north-facing, is on via Centuroni. Compared to the façade, the back side is more exposed; thus is almost completely visible from piazza Oberdan. Differently from the façade, the back side is in neoclassical style with a tympanum crowning element (originally decorated) hiding the side of the dome. The west side, on Largo Carioli, offers a more airy visual of the structure. On this side, it is possible to see the tholobate on which the lead slab-covered dome raises.


Interior

For the interior, Sfondrini used as a model the
Teatro Verdi Teatro Verdi may refer to: * Teatro Verdi (Brindisi), Brindisi * Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Busseto * Teatro Verdi (Florence), Florence * Teatro Verdi (Padova), Padova, by architect Achille Sfondrini * Teatro Verdi (Pisa), Pisa * Teatro Verdi (S ...
that he previously designed. ;Foyer The foyer is located at the entrance. It is composed of five pillars and it is often used for temporary exhibitions. Next to the hall, there are spaces for smoking and coffee as well as the box office. Inside the hall, there are busts and commemorative plaques to celebrate the most important artists that played in the theatre; among all, the baritone Mattia Battistini. The foyer's ceiling is decorated with an oval tempera painting depicting the ''Allegory of Music''. The painting was made in 1892 by Federico Ballester. Moreover, there is a tempera painting depicting the ''
muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the p ...
''; the painting was made in 1916 by
Antonino Calcagnadoro Antonino Calcagnadoro (February 12, 1876 – 1935) was an Italian painter. Biography Born in Rome, he initially trained with his father, an ornamental painter. He then studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Rome (1894–1898). He often paint ...
. Other decorations are made by Giuseppe Casa. ;''Circolo di Lettura'' e ''Sala degli Specchi'' Among other places, the theatre includes the ''Circolo di lettura'', consisting of a set of finely decorated rooms designed for balls and concerts. The main room is ''Sala degli Specchi'': a room furnished with huge mirrors ( it, specchi, hence the name) on walls and an allegoric painting by Giulio Rolland named ''Le ebbrezze della Musica''. ;Main room The main room is composed of a stall including 230 red seats, split in two by a central aisle. With the 2005 restoration, the room regained its cream tone. On the perimeter, there are three orders of loges, for a total of 72 loges: 24 per floor. The gods are on top of the loges, while the stage is in front of them. On loges' second order is set the which is decorated on the ceiling with an oval tempera painting by Giuseppe Casa depicting three putti while the balcony is decorated with stucco low relief depicting
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
. The balconies in the second and third order, as well as the ones in the gods, are decorated with putti and stuccos depicting musicians whose name is written right below. Originally, the gods was meant to host more than one hundred people; nowadays, because of security measures, it can host up to thirty-three people. A big
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
overlooks the whole space. The dome is adorned with a rich
chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
and frescoed in 1901 with a tempera painting by Giulio Rolland. The fresco celebrates the triumph of Titus and Flavius in Rome after the victory in Jerusalem. The stage is enclosed by a front curtain on which in 1910
Antonino Calcagnadoro Antonino Calcagnadoro (February 12, 1876 – 1935) was an Italian painter. Biography Born in Rome, he initially trained with his father, an ornamental painter. He then studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Rome (1894–1898). He often paint ...
painted the surrender of Jerusalem over Vespasian after the siege of Jerusalem. The painting is made with tempera on canvas with a size of 13.4m x 7.6m. The curtain was long forgotten until, in 2019, it has been restored by Accademia di Belle Arti dell'Aquila and was newly exhibited to the audience. In front of the stage, it is located the orchestra pit.


Acoustics

The theatre is well known for its great acoustic. Thanks to this feature, in 2002 it won official recognition; when Uto Ughi assigned the first edition of the national award for acoustic to the theatre. Professor Bruno Cagli president of Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia, defined the theatre as the best in the world from an acoustic standpoint.


The Foundation

Along with the theatre reopening, it was established the Flavio Vespasiano Foundation. The main goal of the foundation is to promote artistic and musical ventures internationally. Privates can support the foundation through donations, getting in exchange a position within the board of directors. During the opening ceremony, the presidency has been offered to the Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council Gianni Letta, who accepted the role.


References


External links

* Opera houses in Italy 1883 establishments in Italy Theatres in Lazio Theatres completed in 1883 {{opera-struct-stub