The Teatro Goldoni (formerly Teatro San Luca, Teatro Vendramin di San Salvatore) is one of the
opera houses and theatres of Venice. Today it is the home of the Teatro Stabile del Veneto. The modern theatre is located near the
Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge ( it, Ponte di Rialto; vec, Ponte de Rialto) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the ' (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its fi ...
in the historic center of Venice.
History
All the main Venetian theatres were owned by important patrician families; combining business with pleasure in the Italian city with the most crowded and competitive theatrical culture. When most opera in Europe was still being put on by courts, "economic prospects and a desire for exhibitionistic display", as well a decline in their traditional overseas trading, attracted the best Venetian families to invest in the theatre during the 17th century. Europe's first dedicated public and commercial opera house was the
Teatro Tron from 1637.
The
Grimani
The House of Grimani was a prominent Venice, Venetian patricianship, patrician family, including three Doges of Venice. They were active in trade, politics and later the ownership of theatres and opera-houses. Notable members included:
Notable m ...
, with whom the
Vendramin
The House of Vendramin (, ) was a rich merchant family of Venice, Italy, who were among the ''case nuove'' or "new houses" who joined the patrician class when the '' Libro d'Oro'' was opened after the battle of Chioggia (June 1380). Andrea Ve ...
often inter-married, were dominant, owning what is now called the
Teatro Malibran
The Teatro Malibran, known over its lifetime by a variety of names, beginning with the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (or Crisostomo) after the nearby church,Lynn 2005, pp. 101—103 is an opera house in Venice which was inaugurated in 1678 with a ...
, then called the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, as well as the
Teatro San Benedetto
The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's ''L'italiana in Algeri'', and was the th ...
and other houses. The
Venier Venier is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Andrea Venier, castellan of Scutari
* Annibale Venier (born 1951), an Italian rower
* Anton Venier, Austrian luger
*Antonio Venier (c. 1330–1400), Doge of Venice
* Cecilia Venier-Baff ...
s owned
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...
, still the main opera house.
Teatro San Luca
The Vendramin owned the important Teatro di San Luca or Teatro Vendramin or Teatro San Salvatore, founded in 1622 in the San Salvatore, or in Venetian dialect
San Salvador district
San Salvador District is one of eight Districts of Peru, districts of the province Calca Province, Calca in Peru.
Geography
One of the highest peaks of the district is Pachatusan at . Other mountains are listed below:
Ethnic groups
The peop ...
, later renamed the Teatro Apollo, and since 1875 called the Teatro Goldoni, which still thrives as the city's main theatre for plays, now in a building of the 1720s.
[Teatro Goldoni]
/ref> The Teatro San Luca was rebuilt in the 1720s and renamed the Teatro Apollo. This building survives today. In the age of Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
*Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
, the greatest Venetian dramatist, only the San Luca and the Malibran still put on spoken drama, and his desertion of the Grimani for the Vendramins at San Luca in 1752 was a major event in the theatrical history of the period, ushering in perhaps his finest period, in which as well as his comedies, he played a significant role in the development of the opera buffa
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
.[Martin Banham, ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre]
p. 433
1995, Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, The Vendramins, who had considerable direct involvement in the management of the theatre, had a sometimes uneasy relationship with him, arguing over money and the style of his plays, until he left for Paris in 1761, as a result of a dispute with his rival, Carlo Gozzi
__NOTOC__
Carlo, Count Gozzi (; 13 December 1720 – 4 April 1806) was an Italian ( Venetian) playwright and champion of Commedia dell'arte.
Early life
Gozzi was born and died in Venice; he came from a family of minor Venetian aristocracy, the T ...
. However the Vendramin did not take their involvement as far as Vincenzo Grimani
Vincenzo Grimani (15 May 1652 or 26 May 1655 – 26 September 1710) was an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and opera librettist.
Biography
Grimani was born either in Venice or Mantua. He is best remembered for having supplied the libretto for Ge ...
, who was a cardinal and opera librettist.
The theatre had many changes and renovations due to fire or structural failures. Among them the most important was by architect and set designer Giuseppe Borsato
Giuseppe Borsato (14 February 1771 in Venice – 15 October 1849 in Venice) was an Italian painter, primarily of vedute. Known for his work as the architect, decorator, and painter to the French Imperial Court in Venice.
Life and works
From ...
in 1818, and the redecoration of the rooms by Francesco Bagnara
Francesco Bagnara (1784 in Vicenza – 21 October 1866, in Venice) was an Italian scenographer, decorator and landscape architect.
Biography
Francesco Bagnara came from a poor family and began work as a decorative room painter. Thanks to the ...
, then art director at La Fenice in 1833. In 1826 the theatre had been the first in Italy to install gas lighting. It is a traditional 18th Century Italian theater, with an auditorium in four tiers of boxes and galleries, with a total capacity of 800 seats. The stage is wide and deep with an iron lattice.
Teatro Goldoni
In 1875 during the celebrations of the birth of the playwright the theatre was renamed the Teatro Goldoni at the instigation of Angelo Moro Lin] with the backing Regina De Marchi widow of the Vendramin family.
Teatro Stabile del Veneto "Carlo Goldoni"
The theatre remained in the hands of the descendants of the Vendramin until 1957. The archives of the Teatro Vendramin', now held in the museum that was Goldoni's house, are increasingly being used by historians. The theatre was closed after the Second World War because it was unsafe, and dispossessed in 1957. After a lengthy restoration and renovation to improve capacity and services it reopened in 1979. The first performance was '' La Locandiera'' by Goldoni.
The theatre is home to a prose season organized by the Teatro Stabile del Veneto "Carlo Goldoni", as well as children's theater, opera, concerts, ballets and other events.
See also
* Music of Venice
Notes
{{authority control
Theatres completed in the 18th century
Theatres in Venice
Opera houses in Italy
1622 establishments in Italy
Carlo Goldoni