The Politeama Theatre (), complete name Teatro Politeama Garibaldi is a theatre of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. It is located in the central Piazza Ruggero Settimo and represents the second most important theatre of the city after the

Teatro Massimo The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II. It is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe (at the time of its ...

. It houses the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.

History

In 1864 the municipality of Palermo launched an international competition for the construction of a monumental

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

(the Teatro Massimo) and, a year later, an internal competition for the construction of a diurnal multi-purpose theatre (hence the name ''"Politeama"'' from the

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

). The architectural project was assigned to Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda. The theatre would have to be built on the border of the monumental structure of Palermo, as an ideal point of reference of the city's expansion. Therefore, unlike the "aristocratic" Teatro Massimo, the Politeama would have to house more popular shows (operetta, festivals, equestrian shows, etc.). Palermo BW 2012-10-09 16-43-32

Then, it was decided to erect a large opencast amphitheatre at the beginning of Viale della Libertà. In 1865 the contract with the construction company Galland was signed, but the construction started only in 1867. A year later the project was modified because it was decided to transform the amphitheatre into a real theatrical house. In the meantime, the work slow down due to problems that have arisen between the municipality and the Galland company. In 1869 the municipality decided to name the building after

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

, but later this intention was dismissed. On 7 June 1874 the theatre was inaugurated with the opera ''

I Capuleti e i Montecchi ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...

'' of

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

. However, the building wasn't complete yet. During the following years the name of the building was simply "Teatro Municipale Politeama". In 1882

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

died and the theatre was named after him. Even though the covering had been made in 1877 by the Fonderia Oretea, the last interventions were completed in 1891, when Palermo hosted the Esposizione Nazionale. At that time dates back the official opening in the presence of King

Umberto I of Italy Umberto I (; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination in 1900. His reign saw Italy's expansion into the Horn of Africa, as well as the creation of the Triple Alliance (1882), Triple Alliance a ...

and of Queen Margherita. On that occasion Francesco Tamagno was the protagonist of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

's ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

''. Between 1910 and 2006 the foyer of the theatre was home of the Galleria d'arte moderna di Palermo. The Politeama is the headquarters of the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana since 2001.

Description

The building is an important example of

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

. It has a large entrance by way of

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

topped by the bronze

quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

Mario Rutelli Mario Rutelli (Palermo, Sicily, 4 April 1859 – 1941) was an Italian sculptor. Biography From a native British family which long ago moved from France (Roudelle at first) and then to Genoa’s Republic with capt. sir G. Roudello de’ Mari d ...

. This quadriga depicts the ''"Triumph of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and

Euterpe Euterpe (; , from + ) was one of the Muses in Greek mythology, presiding over music. In late Classical times, she was named muse of lyric poetry. She has been called "Giver of delight" by ancient poets. Mythology Euterpe was born as one of t ...

"'' flanked by two statues of knights on horseback, representation of the ''"Olympic Games"'', work of Benedetto Civiletti. On both sides of the entrance there are commemorative plaques recording the epigraphs dictated by the historian Isidoro La Lumia. At the top there are two bass reliefs depicting the ''"Fames"'' draw by the painter Giuseppe Pensabene and another, under the quadriga, depicting little angels, work of Mario Rutelli. Around the entrance a semicircular structure develops with two orders of colonnade. A rich polychrome decoration, both within and outside the theatre, was made by eminent local painters like Nicolò Giannone, Luigi Di Giovanni, Michele Corteggiani, Giuseppe Enea, Rocco Lentini, Enrico Cavallaro, Carmelo Giarrizzo, Francesco Padovano, Giovanni Nicolini and Gustavo Mancinelli. In the lateral gardens there are the sculptures of a Bacchante (work of Valerio Villareale), of a

Sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...

(work of Benedetto De Lisi) and of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

(work of Antonio Ugo).

Gallery

File:Tiatru Politeama.jpg, Quadriga with flanking knights File:Teatro Politeama, Palermo, frontón sobre arco, Sicilia, Italia, 2015.JPG, Reliefs File:Palermo-AP-p1070692.jpg, Colonnades File:David by Antonio Ugo-Palermo.jpg, ''David'' of Antonio Ugo File:DSCF1839-Palermo-Sicily-Italy-Castielli CC0-HQ (3492439684).jpg, Painting File:«Eschilo presenta a Gerone le Etnee a Siracusa» Particolare 2.jpg, Painting

References

External links

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Image gallery
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Profile of the theatre - ''arte.it''
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{{authority control Politeama Neoclassical architecture in Palermo Politeama Music venues completed in 1891 19th-century architecture in Italy

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links