The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The present house seats 1,600.
Original Teatro Costanzi: 1880 to 1926
The Teatro dell'Opera was originally known as the ''Teatro Costanzi'' after the contractor who built it, (1819–1898). It was financed by Costanzi, who commissioned the Milanese 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 ...
(1836–1900), a specialist in the building and renovation of theatres. The opera house was built in eighteen months, on the site where the house of Heliogabalus stood in ancient times, and was inaugurated on 27 November 1880 with a performance of ''
Semiramide
''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.
The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fenice ...
'' by
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
.
Designing the theatre, Sfondrini paid particular attention to the acoustics, conceiving the interior structure as a "resonance chamber", as is evident from the horseshoe shape in particular. With a
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 2,212, the house had three tiers of boxes, an amphitheatre and two separate galleries, surmounted by a dome adorned with splendid frescoes by
Annibale Brugnoli
Annibale Brugnoli (22 February 1843 – 11 December 1915) was an Italian painter, mainly of genre and historical pieces, in oil and fresco.
Biography
He was born in Perugia, where he initially studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia unde ...
.
Costanzi was obliged to manage the theater himself. Under his direction, and despite financial problems, the opera house held many world premieres of operas, including ''
Cavalleria rusticana'' by
Pietro Mascagni on 17 May 1890. For a brief period the theatre was managed by Costanzi's son, Enrico, who gained renown by organizing another great premiere, that of ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'' by
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
on 14 January 1900.
In 1907, the Teatro Costanzi was purchased by the impresario (1871–1955) on behalf of the ''Società Teatrale Internazionale e Nazionale'' (STIN). In 1912 Mocchi's wife,
Emma Carelli
Emma Carelli (12 May 1877 in Naples – 17 August 1928 near Rome) was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the dramatic soprano roles of the verismo repertoire and the works of Richard Wagner.
After a singing career wh ...
, became the managing director of the new ''Impresa Costanzi'', as the theatre was later known, following various changes in the company structure. During the fourteen years of her tenure, major works which had not been performed before in Rome (or even in Italy) were staged. These included ''
La fanciulla del West
''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' followe ...
'', ''
Turandot'' and ''
Il trittico'' by Giacomo Puccini; ''
Parsifal'' by
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
; ''
Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai)
''Francesca da Rimini'', Op. 4, is an opera in four acts, composed by Riccardo Zandonai, with a libretto by , after D'Annunzio's play ''Francesca da Rimini''. It was premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 19 February 1914 and is still staged ...
'' by
Riccardo Zandonai; ''
Boris Godunov
Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...
'' by
Modest Mussorgsky; ''
Samson et Dalila'' by
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...
and many others.
Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...
also performed.
Restructured Teatro Reale dell'Opera: 1926 to 1946
In November 1926 the Costanzi was bought by the Rome City Council and its name changed to ''Teatro Reale dell'Opera''. A partial rebuilding ensued, led by architect
Marcello Piacentini and lasting fifteen months. The house re-opened on 27 February 1928 with the opera ''
Nerone'' by
Arrigo Boito.
Chief among several major changes was the relocated entrance, from the street formerly known as Via del Teatro (where the garden of the Hotel Quirinale is now) to the opposite side, where Piazza Beniamino Gigli exists today. In addition, the amphitheatre inside the theatre was replaced by a fourth tier of boxes (now the third tier) and the balcony. The interior was embellished by new stuccowork, decorations, and furnishings, including a magnificent chandelier measuring six meters in diameter and composed of 27,000 crystal drops.
Above the proscenium arch is a plaque commemorating the rebuilding: "Vittorio Emanuele III Rege, Benito Mussolini Duce, Lodovicus Spada Potenziani, Romae Gubernator Restituit MCMXXVIII—VI”". Confusingly the dates appear to be back to front. (The VI refers to the sixth year after the Fascist's March on Rome of 1922.)
Present Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: from 1946
Following the
end of monarchy, the name was simplified to ''Teatro dell'Opera'' and, in 1958, the building was again remodeled and modernized. Rome City Council again commissioned architect Marcello Piacentini, who radically altered the building's style, notably with regard to the facade, entrance and foyer, each of these taking the form we know today.
The theater's legendary acoustics still bear comparison with any other auditorium in the world. The seating capacity is about 1,600. The house was retrofitted with air-conditioning subsequent to a restoration, which provided improvements to the interior. The stucco work was completely restored, the great proscenium arch strengthened, and a parquet floor of solid oak blocks laid to replace the previous one.
On 2 January 1958, the theater was the venue for a controversial performance of ''
Norma'' starring
Maria Callas
Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...
in the presence of the President of Italy: for health reasons, Callas abandoned the performance after the first act (the opera company had not engaged an understudy).
The post-war period saw celebrated productions, including
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
's ''
Le nozze di Figaro'' in 1964 and
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 ...
's ''
Don Carlo'' in 1965, both conducted by
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor.
From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...
and directed by
Luchino Visconti.
In the 1950s and 1960s the Director was Riccardo Vitale (father of actress Milly Vitale).
In 1992,
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...
was appointed Artistic Director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, a post he maintained for two years before being asked to resign over conflicts with the theatre's managers involving Menotti's insistence of staging Wagner's ''
Lohengrin''.
From 2001 to 2010, the music director and chief conductor of the company was
Gianluigi Gelmetti. He was due to be succeeded in these posts by
Riccardo Muti, as announced in August 2009, but Muti demurred, citing in ''La Repubblica'' in October 2010 "general difficulties that are plaguing the Italian opera houses". Later, Muti assumed a role similar to that of music director but without title. Notable productions under Muti have included Gluck's ''
Iphigénie en Aulide'' (2009), Verdi's ''
Nabucco
''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...
'' (2011), ''
Simon Boccanegra
''Simon Boccanegra'' () is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play ''Simón Bocanegra'' (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, whose play ''El trovador'' had been ...
'' (2012) and ''
Ernani
''Ernani'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play ''Hernani (drama), Hernani'' by Victor Hugo.
Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in V ...
'' (2013).
Daniele Gatti first guest-conducted with the company during the 2016–2017 season. He returned for subsequent guest engagements in each of the following two seasons. In December 2018, the company announced the appointment of Gatti as its new music director, with immediate effect. Gatti is scheduled to stand down as the company's music director on 31 December 2021. In June 2021, the company announced the appointment of
Michele Mariotti as its next music director, effective 1 November 2022, with an initial contract of 4 years.
The name "Teatro Costanzi" remains officially in use, to refer to the main auditorium.
Opera company's summer venue
The outdoor theatre at the
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla ( it, Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Ancient Rome, Roman public baths, or ''thermae'', after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, durin ...
, with the Roman ruins as the backdrop, is the venue for the opera company's summertime presentations in Rome.
See also
*
Eleonora Abbagnato
*
Emma Carelli
Emma Carelli (12 May 1877 in Naples – 17 August 1928 near Rome) was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the dramatic soprano roles of the verismo repertoire and the works of Richard Wagner.
After a singing career wh ...
*
Daniele Gatti
*
Guido Lauri
*
Pietro Mascagni
*
Riccardo Muti
*
Paolo Petrocelli
EMMA for Peace, or the Euro Mediterranean Music Academy, is an international Nonprofit organization for the promotion of peace through music diplomacy and education in Europe, Middle East and the Mediterranean region.
History
EMMA for Peace wa ...
*
Marcello Piacentini
*
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
*
Attilia Radice
Attilia Radice (1914–1980) was an Italian ballerina at La Scala in Milan. She is remembered above all for the roles she created at the Rome Opera.
Biography
Radice studied ballet at the La Scala Theatre Ballet School under Enrico Cecchetti unt ...
*
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 ...
*
Tullio Serafin
*
Roman Vlad
References
External links
*
Photographs of the opera house andreas-praefcke.de
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma Google Cultural Institute
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
{{Authority control
Opera houses in Rome
Music venues completed in 1880
1880 establishments in Italy
Theatres completed in 1880
Rome R. XVIII Castro Pretorio