Teatro Bellini is a private theatre and opera located in the centre of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, across the street from the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples on Via Conte di Ruvo. The house is named after the Sicilian-born composer

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

, who is best known for his operas and who spent some time in the 1820s studying music in the city. In addition, there in an opera house name after him, the

Teatro Massimo Bellini The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house located on Piazza Vincenzo Bellini in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's mas ...

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, Sicily, his birthplace.

History

In 1864, Baron Nicola Lacapra Sabelli commissioned the theatre's creation by the architect Carlo Sorgente on Via Vincenzo Bellini. This theatre, located near Piazza Dante Alighieri, burned down in 1869, and a new one was inaugurated a few hundred feet from the original locale. On 6 February 1877, Bellini's opera ''

I puritani ' (''The Puritans'') is an 1835 opera by Vincenzo Bellini. It was originally written in two acts and changed to three acts before the premiere on the advice of Gioachino Rossini, with whom the young composer had become friends. The music was set ...

'' was performed there. The theatre has six tiers of box seats surrounding an oval floor. The interior decorations were created by Giovanni Ponticelli, Pasquale Di Criscito, and Vincenzo Paliotti, and the oil portrait of the opera composer was done by

Vincenzo Migliaro Vincenzo Migliaro (1858–1938) was an Italian painter born in Naples. Biography After learning the art of wood carving at courses held by the Società Centrale Operaia Napoletana and working in the studio of Stanislao Lista, Migliaro enrolled ...

. For nearly a century, the theatre presented operas and operettas, but by the 1960s, it had become dilapidated, used only as a cheap movie theatre, and it was considered for demolition. In 1962, the Bellini hosted its final operatic spectacle with ''

Masaniello Tommaso Aniello (29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647), popularly known by the contracted name Masaniello (, ), was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the 1647 revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in the Kingdom of Naples. Name and place ...

'', before being acquired in 1986 by a group led by local artist and producer Tato Russo. They restored the house for operatic and theatrical productions, which are now frequently presented. Teatro Bellini's history
on teatrobellini.it

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teatro Bellini Opera houses in Naples 1877 establishments in Italy Theatres completed in 1877 Tourist attractions in Naples Music venues completed in 1877 19th-century architecture in Italy Vincenzo Bellini