![Municipal de caracas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Municipal_de_caracas.jpg)
The Teatro Municipal of Caracas 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 fo ...
in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. It was inaugurated by President
Guzmán Blanco in 1881. The theatre was initially named after the president.
Construction
![Teatro municipal3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Teatro_municipal3.gif)
The building was designed by Esteban Ricard, a
French architect who left Venezuela before the project was completed. It was finished under the direction of the Venezuelan engineer
Jesús Muñoz Tébar. The building incorporates structural ironwork imported from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
, as there was no domestic production at the time.
In 1896,
President Joaquín Crespo commemorated
General José Tadeo Monagas by erecting a statute of him in front of the theatre in a move for political unity.
The building was modified in 1949 to facilitate redevelopment of central
Caracas.
Repertoire
It is one of the oldest opera houses in South America; it opened on January 4, 1881, with Italian composer
Errico Petrella's 1858 opera ''
Jone'', which was revived for the centennial of the theatre in 1981 with noted Argentine soprano
Adelaida Negri in the title role.
[Fernando Battaglia, "La JONE di Petrella, ovvero la rivoluzione solitaria dell' ultimo cantastorie", liner essay for ''Jone'', Bongiovanni LP set GB 2010/11/12, Bologna, 1982.] by It continues to mount operatic productions.
but it is no longer the city's main opera house since the
Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex
The Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex (''Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño''), also known as Teresa Carreño Theater (''Teatro Teresa Carreño''), is the most important theatre of Caracas and Venezuela, where performances include symphonic and pop ...
opened in the 1980s. The Teatro Municipal is the home of the .
References
External links
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Opera houses in Venezuela
Cast-iron architecture in Venezuela
Theatres completed in 1881
1881 establishments in Venezuela
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