The ''Teatro Nacional de São Carlos'' () (''National Theatre of Saint Charles'') 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 for o ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It was opened on June 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the

Tejo Opera House Tejo may refer to: *Tagus (Portuguese: ''Tejo''), a river on the Iberian Peninsula. * Tejo (sport), a sport and national pastime of Colombia. *Tejo (Argentina), a sport and national pastime of Argentina. *Tutmonda Esperantista Junulara Organizo ...

, which was destroyed in the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

. The theatre is located in the historical center of Lisbon, in the Chiado district.

History

In 1792, a group of Lisbon businessmen decided to finance the construction of a new Opera House in the city. The theatre was built in only six months following a design by Portuguese architect

José da Costa e Silva José da Costa e Silva (25 July 1747 – 21 March 1819) was a Portuguese architect. His work helped establish Neoclassical architecture in Portugal and colonial Brazil. Costa e Silva studied architecture in Rome, where he had contact with Italia ...

, with neoclassical and

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, ...

elements. The general project is clearly inspired by great Italian theatres like the San Carlo of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

(interior) and

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

(interior and façade). In the early 19th century, when the Portuguese Royal Court had to flee to the Portuguese

colony of Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Dur ...

to escape the invading Napoleonic troops, a theatre modelled on the São Carlos was built in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. The theatre was erected in honor of Princess Charlotte of Spain who had been married in 1785 at the age of 10 to the future King, Prince John and resided with him from 1790 once she was of childbearing age: Carlos (Portuguese form of Charles) is the masculine form of Charlotte. A

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

commemorative inscription dedicates the theatre to the princess. The first opera presented here, in 1793, was ''La Ballerina Amante'', by

Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of his ...

. The most famous Portuguese composer of the time,

Marcos Portugal Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal (24 March 1762 – 17 February 1830), known as Marcos Portugal, or Marco Portogallo, was a Portuguese-born Brazilian classical music, classical composer, who achieved great international fame for his operas. ...

, became musical director of the São Carlos in 1800 after returning from Italy, and many of his operas were staged here. Between 1828 and 1834, the São Carlos was closed during the

Portuguese Civil War The Liberal Wars (), also known as the Portuguese Civil War (), the War of the Two Brothers () or Miguelite War (), was a war between liberal constitutionalists and conservative absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1 ...

, fought between kings Miguel I and Pedro IV. In 1850, the lighting of the interior was changed to gas illumination, the latest technology available. Shortly afterwards, the Portuguese state bought the theatre from

private investors An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

. After a few failed attempts, electrical illumination was installed in 1887. From 1935 to 1940, the theatre was closed for repairs. In 1974, a resident opera company was established. In 1993, the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa was created as the Teatro's affiliate orchestra, with

Álvaro Cassuto Álvaro Cassuto (born 1938) is a Portuguese composer and conductor. He was born in Porto, Portugal, in 1938, and studied in Lisbon and Berlin, earning a law degree from the University of Lisbon, and, one year later, a degree in conducting fro ...

as the orchestra's first principal conductor. Subsequent principal conductors of the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa have included José Ramón Encinar (1999–2001),

Zoltán Peskó Zoltán Peskó (15 February 1937 – 31 March 2020) was a Hungarian conductor and composer who held leading positions at German, Italian and Portuguese opera houses and orchestras, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Comunale di Bologn ...

(2001–2004) and

Julia Jones Julia Jones (born January 23, 1981) is an American actress, known for playing Leah Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'' films and Kohana in the HBO series ''Westworld''. She also co-stars on '' Dexter: New Blood''. Early life and education Jul ...

(2008–2011). Since January 2014, the orchestra's principal conductor is

Joana Carneiro Joana Carneiro (born Joana Maria Amaro da Costa da Luz Carneiro, Lisbon, 30 September 1976), is a Portuguese conductor. Family Joana Carneiro is the third of the nine children of the former Portuguese Minister of Education Roberto Carneiro. S ...

. The theatre building was classified as Property of Public Interest in 1928 and has been reclassified as a National Monument since 1996.

Architecture

Longitudinal and composite building with articulated parts has a sober facade. The frontispiece is divided into 3 parts: 2 floors on

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

and a third floor on the central body. This central body is torn by a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

(entrance hall), and has a loggia at the ground level composed of 3 frontal arches and a lateral, in perfect round. The loggia is crowned by a perfect terrace of balustrade in stonework. Here, the windows are framed by parastase, that supports a highlighted cornice. They also have a crown composed of panels with inscription and two high reliefs. At the level of the third floor, this same central body presents a clock surrounded by garlands and two windows, all of which is surmounted by two pinnacles and the Portuguese

coats-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

.At the level of the first floor, the two side bodies have two straight-polished doors crowned by low windows. Although with the same two windows, at the second floor level they feature balustrade in stonework, protruding cornice and a small window in the mezzanine area. The main room (performance hall) is elliptic, has five tiers of boxes and seats 1148 people. The luxurious royal box was lavishly decorated by the Italian Giovanni Appianni. The ceiling was painted by Manuel da Costa and the stage by Cirilo Wolkmar Machado.

References

External links

Official Teatro Nacional de São Carlos website
(in Portuguese)
General Bureau for National Buildings and Monuments (Portugal)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos 1793 establishments in Portugal Concert halls in Portugal Music venues completed in 1793 Opera houses in Portugal Theatres completed in 1793 Theatres in Lisbon National monuments in Lisbon District

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links