Musical styles and directions come and go, while Italians' love of opera remains unchanged. Today, like 100-200 years ago, performances are discussed, they argue about theaters, crushing or laudatory articles are written about performers that find a warm response in the hearts of millions of Belcanto lovers. And the Opera House in Rome - Teatro dell'Opera di Roma - is just one of those stage venues, without which it is impossible to imagine a world musical culture.
History of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: Theater of Constance
While Venice, Naples and Milan fought for centuries in the lead in opera, the future capital of a united Italy remained in this direction in the background.
The theater in Rome founded half a century before La Scala, the Argentine Theater, depended on the favor of the representatives of the Sforza House, and could not only stage operas on its stage: the audience demanded variety in spectacles. Nevertheless, it was here in 1816 that the premiere of "Seville Barber" by Rossini took place.
A few years later, Domenico Constance, a young ambitious man who decided to make money on the construction of hotels, came to Rome. He succeeded: in the second half of the XIX century. there were no better hotels in Rome than the hotels of Constance. Thanks to his enterprise, Domenico managed to accumulate a decent fortune, which he decided to spend on a business that was more necessary and greater than the hotel business.
The building of the Opera House in Rome
In 1877, he met the famous Roman architect Achilles Sfondrini and made him an order for a theater in Rome, the building of which was planned to be one-story and with only one tier of lodges. However, by the time construction began, in 1879, the project was completely changed.
A year later, in front of the Viminal Hotel owned by Domenico Constance, the first real Opera house in romealso bearing the name of Constance. The theater had three tiers of lodges, two separate galleries, an amphitheater, and a stall - with a total capacity of up to 2200 people. The grand opening took place on November 27, 1880. The first production was Rossini's opera Semiramida.
Until 1907, all the affairs of the theater were under the jurisdiction of the Konstanzi family, which had to overcome many financial difficulties in connection with this. At that time, on its stage, which gradually gained Italian and international recognition, premieres of operas such as Rural Honor by Mascagni and Tosca by Puccini were already staged.
It is noteworthy that it was in this theater that the star of the greatest tenor of the 20th century was lit. Enrico Caruso, who performed the aria of Cavaradossi. In the same years, the recognized genius of world musical art Arturo Toscanini worked here.
The story of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: half a century of change
In 1907, the opera in Rome was sold by the Constance family to the International and National Theater Company. Since then, the works of foreign composers have been staged on the stage of the theater, including Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov and Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet. In 1926 Opera in rome was transferred to the city council, but until 1946 it was called the Real Opera House.
During the reign of Mussolini, her building was substantially rebuilt, another row of lodges was added, and a huge chandelier of 6 m in diameter was literally woven from 27 thousand pieces of rock crystal to illuminate the auditorium. In 1937, the first performance of the theater took place on an open-air platform in the Terme of Caracalla. By the way, summer productions of operas and ballets in natural antique "scenery" are still carried out.
Tickets for the Roman opera are booked 2 months before the performance
From 1946 to this day, this theater in Rome is called simply and at the same time meaningfully - Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Roman Opera House. After World War II, the Italian opera experienced significant difficulties, and the level of productions was not as widespread as before.
However, on the stage of the theater M. Callas, M. del Monaco, T. Gobbi, R. Tebaldi shone, and Italians always preferred the luxury of sound over the luxury of scenery. In those same years, the Soviet opera singer I. Arkhipova made her debut in the role of Carmen in the Roman Opera.
In 1958, another reconstruction of the theater was carried out, after which the building acquired a modern look, and the capacity of the hall was reduced to 1600 seats.
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: current status
Currently, Opera has its own troupe. However, stars of the world music scene often appear on its stage. In addition, the theater has been operating for many years with orchestral, choral, opera and ballet schools. Their graduates can be accepted both into the main troupe, and, on a recommendation highly valued in many countries, into the troupe of the best theaters in the world.
In 2011, Riccardo Muti became the honorary life director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, who had previously directed the La Scala Opera in Milan for many years.
In winter, all productions take place in the main building of the theater, in the summer some of them are in the Terme Caracalla. In the early 1990s it was on this platform in the open air that the triumphant performances of three tenors - P. Domingo, H. Carreras and L. Pavarotti took place. The Chamber Opera Theater "Rome Virtuosos" - a kind of "subsidiary" Teatro dell'Opera di Roma - holds concerts in the program of which the best parts of famous operas are performed at various venues, including, for example, in the Teatro Salone Margterite. Among his soloists are school graduates at the Roman Opera.
Swan Lake on the stage of the Roman Opera House
The repertoire policy of the theater remains traditional: during the season, beginning in late November-early December and lasting until October next year, operas alternate with ballets. Each opera and each ballet is given for several evenings, after which they leave the stage for several years. Between the announced productions, festivals, concerts of stars of the classical music scene, tours of foreign theaters are held.
Every year in the repertoire of the theater - the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Tchaikovsky's ballets. Works by Wagner, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Minkus, Adan are regularly staged. In the season 2012-13. the theater presented to the audience an opera in Russian - "Nose" by Shostakovich.
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: how to get to the play
Rome is not only ancient monuments and excellent shopping. A walk around the Eternal City can be successfully completed by visiting the opera house. True, tickets should be booked in advance, usually 2 months before the show. The repertoire for the current season can be found on a specialized site. Here you can pre-order tickets for your favorite performance.
Verdi, Aida, Roman Opera House
Getting to the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is very easy: take the metro to the Opera House station or take any bus that takes Via Via Nazionale or Via Cavour (I wrote about BlogoItaliano about Roman public transport here). If your stay in the Italian capital is limited, and you need to be in time for the Opera House, a taxi (phone without a city code - 06-35-70) or a train to the Termini station located near the theater will help.
Interesting related articles:
Photos by: imre.farago, Florence3, sunshinecity, Piano Piano!
