- Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an
opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi inPalermo ,Sicily . It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II.It is the biggest in Italy and one of the largest of Europe (the third after theOpéra National de Paris andStaatsoper aVienna ), renowned for its perfect acoustics.:Tipology= Hall "a ferro di cavallo" with five orders of theater boxes and the gallery (loggione):Capacity= 3.200:Fossa= present:Built=1897 :Address= Piazza Verdi:Site= http://www.teatromassimo.it/Construction and opening
An international competition for the creation of the opera house was announced by the Palermo Council in 1864, primarily at the instigation of the mayor,
Antonio Starrabba di Rudinì . For many years there had been talk of building a big new theatre in Palermo, worthy of the second biggest city in southern Italy (after Naples) and designed to promote the image of the city following the recent national unity.The opera house was built by the architect
Giovanni Battista Filippo Basile and, following his death in1891 , construction was overseen by his son, Ernesto. Construction started on 12 January1874 but was stopped for eight years from1882 till1890 . Finally, on 16 May1897 , twenty-two years after the laying of the foundation stone, the second largest opera theatre afterPalais Garnier inParis was inaugurated with a performance of Verdi's Falstaff conducted byLeopoldo Mugnone .Facilities and recent history
The Teatro Massimo is the largest theatre in Italy (and the third largest opera house in Europe). Basile was inspired by ancient and classical Sicilian architecture and, thus, the exterior was designed in the high neoclassical style incorporating elements of the Greek temples at
Selinunte andAgrigento . Realized in the late-Renaissance style, the auditorium was planned for 3,000 people, but, in its current format, it seats 1,350, with 7 tiers of boxes rising up around an inclined stage, and shaped in the typical horseshoe style.In
1974 the house was closed to complete renovations required by updated safety regulations, but cost over-runs, corruption, and political in-fighting all added to the delay and it remained closed for twenty-three years, finally re-opening on 12 May1997 , four days before its centenary. The opera season started again in1999 , although Verdi's "Aida " was performed in1998 while work in progress continued.During the restoration regular opera seasons were performed in
Teatro Politeama Garibaldi , a minor building not far from Teatro Massimo. In summer a few performances, usually concerts, ballet and operetta, are held inTeatro della Verdura .In recent years “charges of corruption and political meddling…along with budget deficits and heavy debts” have plagued the house, but, under its part-English music director, Jan Latham Koenig, it is reported that it is once again on track. [Thicknesse, Robert , “Double espresso”, "Opera Now", July/August 2005. (An article on the Music Director, Jan Latham Koenig)]
Trivia
The final scenes of the film
Godfather Part III were filmed there.References
ee also
*
List of important opera companies External links
* [http://www.teatromassimo.it/ Teatro Massimo official website, where one can virtually visit the theater]
* [http://www.comune.palermo.it/siti_esteri/english/massimo.htm Teatro Massimo: Its Art and History]
* [http://www.comune.palermo.it/siti_esteri/english/massimo.htm City of Palermo official site, in English]
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