![Statua Garibaldi davanti al Teatro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Statua_Garibaldi_davanti_al_Teatro.JPG)
The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal
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 ...
of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, used for performances of
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
,
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
,
orchestral music
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
, and
recital
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...
s. It is located on the side of
Piazza De Ferrari
Piazza De Ferrari is the main square of Genoa. Situated in the heart of the city between the historical and the modern center, Piazza De Ferrari is renowned for its fountain, which was restored in recent years along with a major restyling of the s ...
.
The hall is named for King
Carlo Felice, and dates from 24 December 1824, when the Most Excellent Department of Theatres was established. On 31 January 1825, local architect
Carlo Barabino submitted his design for the opera house which was to be built on the site of the church of San Domenico. The
Dominican friars were moved elsewhere without delay or ceremony, and the first stone of the new building was laid on 19 March 1826.
The inaugural performance of
Bellini's ''
Bianca e Fernando
''Bianca e Fernando'' (''Bianca and Fernando'') is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.
The original version of this opera was presented as ''Bianca e Gernando'' and was set to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, based on ''Bianca e Fernando ...
'' took place on 7 April 1828, even though the structure and decoration were not quite finished. The
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
accommodated an audience of about 2,500 in five tiers (each with 33 boxes), a gallery above, and standing room in the orchestra pit. The acoustics were considered among the best of the time.
For nearly forty years from 1853,
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 ...
spent the winter in Genoa, but he had few strong professional ties with the Teatro Carlo Felice. In 1892, Genoa commemorated the 400th anniversary of
Columbus' discovery of America and to celebrate the occasion the Carlo Felice was renovated and redecorated at a cost of 420,000 lire (nearly £17,000). Verdi was approached to compose a suitable opera, but he declined the honour, making the excuse that he was too old. Instead,
Alberto Franchetti
Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer, best known for the 1902 opera ''Germania''.
Biography
Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied first in Venice, the ...
's opera ''
Cristoforo Colombo'' premiered at the Carlo Felice on 6 October 1892.
The hall was altered many times in the years 1859–1934, and remained remarkably unscathed by war until 9 February 1941 when a shell fired by a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
warship hit the roof, leaving a large hole open to the sky and destroying the ceiling of the auditorium which had been a unique example of 19th-century
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
extravagance, its main feature being a wide circle of angels, cherubs and other winged creatures in brightly painted high relief.
Further damage was sustained on 5 August 1943 when incendiary bombs started a backstage fire which destroyed all scenery and wooden fittings, but did not reach the main auditorium. Additional damage was caused by looters who stripped the back of the theatre of every possible scrap of metal they could find. Finally, an air raid in September 1944 caused the destruction of the front of the theatre leaving virtually only the outside walls and the corridors behind the tiers of boxes standing. What had been the most richly beautiful of opera houses had become a skeleton of bare walls and roofless porticos.
After the war opera seasons were held for over forty years in an emergency venue, at the Cinema Teatro Margherita, later transformed into a department store
Reconstruction plans began immediately after the war's close. The first design by
Paolo Antonio Chessa (1951) was rejected; the second by
Carlo Scarpa
Carlo Scarpa (2 June 1906 – 28 November 1978) was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape and the history of Venetian culture, and by Japan. Scarpa translated his interests in history, regionalism, invention, and the tec ...
was approved in 1977 but brought to a halt by his untimely death.
Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 – 4 September 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and design and also product design. He was one of the leading exponen ...
ultimately provided today's design, in which portions of the original facade have been recreated but the interior is entirely modern. The hall officially reopened in June 1991, with a main hall holding up to 2,000 seats and a smaller auditorium holding up to 200 seats.
The theatre is the main location of the concert seasons of
Giovine Orchestra Genovese, a concert society founded in Genoa in 1912.
Gallery
File:Teatro Carlo Felice veduta aerea.jpg, Aerial view of the theatre and its surroundings
File:Teatro Carlo Felice con Fontana.jpg, The theatre in the setting of Piazza Ferrari
File:Teatro Carlo Felice Notturno.JPG, The theatre's facade in the evening
See also
*
Music of Liguria
The Music of Liguria flourished in the 19th century for a number of reasons. The capital city of Genoa, a major port, aspired to recognition as a cultural center more in keeping with its role as a major city in the history of the Risorgimento, the ...
References
*
External links
Teatro Carlo Felice website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teatro Carlo Felice
Buildings and structures completed in 1824
1824 establishments in Italy
Opera houses in Italy
Concert halls in Italy
Buildings and structures in Genoa
Culture in Genoa
Tourist attractions in Genoa
Theatres completed in 1828
Theatres in Liguria
Music of Liguria
Music venues completed in 1828
1824 establishments in the Kingdom of Sardinia