Description
The Teatro Verdi is Trieste's opera house, a short walk from Piazza Unità, with its main façade on Piazza Verdi. Opened in 1801, it has always been the city's home of opera, and Verdi premiered two of his works here.
It was built as a private venture between 1798 and 1801. The interiors are by Giannantonio Selva, the architect of La Fenice in Venice; the façade is by Matteo Pertsch, who shows in it the influence of his master Giuseppe Piermarini, the designer of La Scala in Milan.
The auditorium took on its final look during the 1882-1884 works directed by Eugenio Geiringer, when Josef Horwath oversaw its decoration. At that time the building was also extended at the back, with a second façade echoing the design of the main one.
It started life as the Teatro Nuovo, became the Teatro Grande in 1820 and the Teatro Comunale in 1861, when the city bought it. Verdi's name came on 27 January 1901: the city council met in an extraordinary session on the very night of the composer's death.
The bond with Verdi went back a long way. In the 1843-1844 season his Nabucco was a huge success, with more than twenty performances; then the theatre hosted the world premieres of Il corsaro, in 1848, and Stiffelio, in 1850.
Trieste also looked north: in 1883 Wagner's complete Ring cycle was staged here, conducted by Anton Seidl. The operas of the Italian “giovane scuola”, on the other hand, struggled to catch on, until Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Puccini became regulars on the bill.
Among the evenings that live on in memory is the 1953 Norma with Maria Callas, Franco Corelli and Boris Christoff, conducted by Antonino Votto. From 1950 to 2011 the theatre also hosted the International Operetta Festival, known all over Europe.
The first opera staged here, on 21 April 1801, was Simon Mayr's “Ginevra di Scozia”. Since then the Verdi has seen more than twenty world premieres, from Giovanni Pacini to Otto Nicolai and Antonio Smareglia.
It was built as a private venture between 1798 and 1801. The interiors are by Giannantonio Selva, the architect of La Fenice in Venice; the façade is by Matteo Pertsch, who shows in it the influence of his master Giuseppe Piermarini, the designer of La Scala in Milan.
The auditorium took on its final look during the 1882-1884 works directed by Eugenio Geiringer, when Josef Horwath oversaw its decoration. At that time the building was also extended at the back, with a second façade echoing the design of the main one.
It started life as the Teatro Nuovo, became the Teatro Grande in 1820 and the Teatro Comunale in 1861, when the city bought it. Verdi's name came on 27 January 1901: the city council met in an extraordinary session on the very night of the composer's death.
The bond with Verdi went back a long way. In the 1843-1844 season his Nabucco was a huge success, with more than twenty performances; then the theatre hosted the world premieres of Il corsaro, in 1848, and Stiffelio, in 1850.
Trieste also looked north: in 1883 Wagner's complete Ring cycle was staged here, conducted by Anton Seidl. The operas of the Italian “giovane scuola”, on the other hand, struggled to catch on, until Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Puccini became regulars on the bill.
Among the evenings that live on in memory is the 1953 Norma with Maria Callas, Franco Corelli and Boris Christoff, conducted by Antonino Votto. From 1950 to 2011 the theatre also hosted the International Operetta Festival, known all over Europe.
The first opera staged here, on 21 April 1801, was Simon Mayr's “Ginevra di Scozia”. Since then the Verdi has seen more than twenty world premieres, from Giovanni Pacini to Otto Nicolai and Antonio Smareglia.