Teatro Rossini

The "Teatro Rossini" is an opera house in Pesaro, Italy which, as the "Teatro Nuovo", (built on the site of the original 1637 "Teatro del Sole"), was inaugurated on 10 June 1818 with a performance of Gioacchino Rossini's "La gazza ladra" conducted by the composer in the town of his birth. It seats 860, and the auditorium is designed in the classic horseshoe shape with four tiers of boxes plus the gallery.

In 1854 the theatre was renamed the "Teatro Rossini" in the composer's honour. After the 1930 earthquake, the theatre required further renovations and it re-opened in August 1934 with a performance of "Guglielmo Tell". However, by 1966, with cracks in the walls and decaying woodwork, the theatre was declared to be unsafe and it remained closed for 14 years, finally re-opening on 6 April 1980, the same year as the first Rossini Opera Festival took place. Additional renovations took place in 2002.

The theatre is now the home of the annual summer Rossini Opera Festival held in August.

References

* Plantamura, Carol, "The Opera Lover's Guide to Europe", New York: Citadel Press, 1996 [ISBN 0-8065-1842-1]
*Zeitz, Karyl Lynn, "Italian Opera Houses and Festivals", Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2005 [ISBN 0-8108-5359-0]

ee also

*List of opera festivals
*List of opera houses

External links

* [http://www.rossinioperafestival.it/?newlang=eng Rossini Opera Festival's offical site, in English]