The Dinner and Ball in the Teatro San Benedetto Venice, in Honour of the Conti Del Nord, 22nd January 1782

L'italiana in Algeri set design by Francesco Bagnara

The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140

operas 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 libretti ...

, including Rossini's ''

L'italiana in Algeri ''L'italiana in Algeri'' (; ''The Italian Girl in Algiers'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. It premiered at the Teatro San ...

'', and was the theatre of choice for the presentation of ''

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...

'' until

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 ...

was built in 1792.

History

The small, elegant theatre was first constructed by Michele Grimani on land owned by 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 ...

family. It was inaugurated on 26 December 1755 with a performance of

Gioacchino Cocchi Gioacchino Cocchi (''circa'' 1712 – 11 September 1796) was a Neapolitan composer, principally of opera. Cocchi was probably born in Naples in about 1712, although his place of birth has also been given as Padova. His first works were performed ...

's opera ''Zoe''. In 1766 the ownership of the San Benedetto passed from Grimani to a consortium of

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

families in Venice who had been

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

holders at the theatre. The original design of the theatre was circular. However it was rebuilt in the traditional horseshoe shape following a fire in 1773. In 1765

Vincenzo Galeotti Vincenzo Galeotti (5 March 1733 – 16 December 1816) was an Italian-born Danish dancer, choreographer and ballet master, who was influential as the director of the Royal Danish Ballet from 1775 until his death. Life Vincenzo Tomasselli was ...

, who danced here from 1761, became the ballet master of the theatre and staged his first ballet here (at that time besides Galeotty and his wife Antonia there were two soloists and 16 corps de ballet dancers in the company). In 1772—1773 the ballet master of San Benedetto was

Gasparo Angiolini Gasparo Angiolini (7 February 1731 – 6 February 1803), real name Domenico Maria Gasparo, son of Francesco Angiolini and Maria Maddalena Torzi, was an Italian dancer, choreographer and composer. He was born in Florence and died in Milan. He is ...

. In 1782 Teatro San Benedetto hosted the ball in honour of Count and Countess De Nord, Russian prince Pavel Petrovich and his spouse, visiting Venice. In 1786 the owners' consortium had to cede the theatre to the Venier family following a lawsuit, and later went on to build La Fenice. The theatre then became the Teatro Venier (or Teatro Venier in San Benedetto). In 1810, the ownership passed to the impresario Giovanni Gallo, and for a time it was known as the Teatro Gallo. His sons, who had inherited the theatre in 1847, renamed it Teatro Rossini in 1868 in honour of

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 ...

whose operas ''

'' and ''

Eduardo e Cristina ''Eduardo e Cristina'' () is an operatic ''dramma'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto originally written by Giovanni Schmidt for ''Odoardo e Cristina'' (1810), an opera by Stefano Pavesi, and adapted for Rossini by Andrea L ...

'' had premiered there earlier in the century, but by then its glory days as an opera house were over. In 1937 the building was completely remodelled as a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

, the Cinema Rossini, with a new facade by the Italian architect

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 ...

. The cinema was closed in 2007 and underwent restoration in 2010 in a project financed by the City of Venice.

Sources

*Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense (Ufficio Ricerca Fondi Musicali)
Luoghi di rappresentazione: Venezia
Accessed 9 November 2009 (in Italian). *Comune di Venezia
Ex Cinema Rossini, firmata la convenzione: ad aprile 2010 avvio dei lavori
press release of 22 April 2009. Accessed 9 November 2009 (in Italian). *Feldman, Martha
''Opera and sovereignty: transforming myths in eighteenth-century Italy''
University of Chicago Press, 2007, p. 390. *Talbot, Michael, "Grimani", ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'' 2nd Edition, 2001. {{authority control Theatres in Venice Opera houses in Italy Music venues completed in 1755 Theatres completed in 1755