A city in Italy famous for its opera house. The best Italian opera houses. Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata - Sferisterio - Macerata Opera Festival

Known for her opera singers and works. If you love opera, try to attend at least one performance (buy tickets in advance). The opera season usually lasts from October to April, but in the summer you can attend various performances at outdoors.

The best opera houses Italy and a couple of summer opera festivals:

La Scala Theater - Teatro Alla Scala

Address: Piazza Giuseppe Verdi, 10, 43011 Busseto Parma

Teatro Verdi in Pisa - Teatro Verdi di Pisa

Address: Piazza Beniamino Gigli, 7, 00187 Roma

Buy tickets online (Italian)

Arena di Verona - Arena di Verona

Although not a theatre, the Verona Amphitheater is a fantastic venue for opera performances. The season starts in June.

Address: Piazza Bra, 1, 37121 Verona

Buy tickets online

Festival Puccini - Festival Pucciniano

This opera festival is held in Torre del Lago Puccini in Tuscany, home of the famous opera composer Giacomo Puccini. Festival time: July-August.

Address: Via delle Torbiere, 55049 Viareggio Lucca

Buy tickets online (English, German or Italian)

Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata - Sferisterio - Macerata Opera Festival

The Sferitério opera festival is held outdoors in an arena in the town of Macerata in the Marche region. Performances take place in July and August.

Address: Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini, 10, 62100 Macerata

Buy tickets online (English or Italian)

The Teatro Olimpico is one of three Renaissance theaters that have survived to this day. Its design is the oldest decoration in the world. The theater is located in the city of Vicenza, in the Italian region of Veneto. History of creation Construction of the theater began in 1580. The architect was one of the most famous masters of the Renaissance, Andrea Palladio. Before starting to create the project, Andrea Palladio studied the structure of dozens of Roman theaters. He doesn’t have land for a new theater...

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Teatro San Carlo in Italy is one of the oldest opera houses in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read also: Italians propose to contribute...

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A cultural holiday in Italy, of course, will not be complete without visiting the theater. Do you prefer cultural recreation and would like to know more about theater life in Italy? Have you long dreamed of watching Italian opera in the birthplace of the genre, but don’t know how to organize it? Then you have come to the right site. In the section Italian theaters we bring to your attention useful information about the work schedule and repertoire of Italian theaters. Also here you can learn many interesting facts about theaters in Italy, the history of their construction and the legends surrounding famous buildings.

Did you know that even ancient amphitheaters, which are more than two thousand years old, can act as theatrical stages in Italy? And the fact that Italian opera houses such as La Scala and San Carlo are rightfully called the best existing in the world? Interested in learning about the history of their construction? Would you like to know about the repertoire and cost of tickets to the world famous opera theaters in Italy? Then this section of the site was created especially for you.

The authors of the essay are L. A. Solovtsova, O. T. Leontyeva

The birthplace of opera is Italy. Called to life by the humanistic ideals of the era Italian Renaissance, this genre arose at the end of the 16th century. In the unity of poetry, music and theater, a group of enlightened Florentine poets and musicians sought ways to revive ancient theater, to create a synthetic art capable of truthfully expressing human feelings. The Florentines proclaimed the dominance of poetry over music; Having abandoned medieval polyphony, they put forward a new, homophonic-recitative style. According to B. Asafiev, the recitative pastorals of the Florentines were “a kind of propylaea” to the opera.

During the first half of the 17th century. opera gradually took shape as a genre, acquiring a new direction in its development: going beyond the narrow circle of Florentine poets and musicians, it came into contact with a wide audience in Mantua, Rome, then in Venice, where in the 30s. XVII century The world's first permanent opera house was opened. The chamber performances of the Florentines gave way to magnificent theatrical productions; at the same time, music began to take precedence over the text - the declamatory style was gradually replaced by the cantilena.

The highest achievement of Italian opera of the 17th century is the work of two remarkable composers: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725).

Monteverdi worked in Mantua and then in Venice, where he created his best works. He was the first great opera composer to embody theater stage strong characters and great passions. He enriched the opera with a number of new musical and expressive means; he combined melodious recitation with cantilena; He subordinated melody, harmony and orchestral writing to a dramatic concept. Ahead of his era, Monteverdi followed the path of creating a realistic musical drama.

In subsequent performances Italian composers the dramatic content gradually faded into the background; At the same time, the role of virtuoso singing in opera music increased more and more.

The development of Italian opera in the second half of the 17th and 18th centuries. associated with the magnificent flowering of vocal art. The work of A. Scarlatti laid the foundation for the famous Neapolitan school, which at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. took the dominant place previously owned by the Venetian school. Having adopted the experience of Florentine, Roman and Venetian masters, the Neapolitans used their creative achievements.

In Naples, the genre of Italian opera was finally formed, where music dominated the text, where the types of vocal forms were determined and the art of singing reached its peak. Wonderful Italian singers became famous throughout the world not only for their beautiful voices, but also for their highest vocal skill, called bel canto. However, throughout the 18th century. the art of bel canto gradually took on an increasingly external, virtuosic character. The best Italian singers possessed the creative gift of improvisation; While performing arias, they varied them and improvised cadences. Trying to imitate the famous masters of bel canto, less talented vocalists often crossed the boundaries of what was artistically justifiable in their performance.

The singers' passion for virtuosic technique also influenced the work of composers. Yielding to the tastes of the public and the habits of the singers, composers often overloaded arias with virtuoso embellishments. Acquiring an external shine, the music gradually lost the emotional expressiveness that marked the work of A. Scarlatti and his closest followers. Virtuoso singers took first place in opera, pushing the composer and librettist into the background. When composing an opera, it was necessary, first of all, to provide “spectacular numbers” for the public’s favorites performing in it.

Composers of the Neapolitan school, even during its peak period, were little concerned with issues of drama. The type of so-called “serious” opera (opera seria) that emerged in Naples consisted mainly of an alternation of arias and recitatives; ensembles did not play a significant role; there were almost no choirs; the main place was occupied by arias and duets that expressed the feelings of the heroes; the recitatives mainly described the events and the course of the drama. As the power of virtuoso singers increased, attention to dramatic content weakened more and more. The tastes of regulars at the court theaters had a very negative impact on the development of opera seria. Fabulas opera librettos often boiled down to meaningless love affairs.

Heroic-pastoral themes, subjects from mythology and the Middle Ages served only as a canvas, giving rise to brilliant virtuoso arias. How indifferent both performers and listeners were to the stylistic unity of music can be judged by the fact that in the 20s. XVIII century The type of operas in which all acts belonged to different composers spread. Such operas were called pasticcio (“pate”).

Repeatedly throughout the 18th century. and attempts were made by poets and composers to strengthen the dramaturgy of “serious” opera. Considerable credit for this belongs to the poets A. Zeno and Pietro Metastasio. But they did not overcome the schematism in constructing an opera performance: like their predecessors, Zeno and Metastasio proceeded not from the requirements of dramaturgy, but from the established order in the distribution of arias and recitatives among acts. Musical dramaturgy the opera remained essentially the same; in particular, recitative episodes had the character of formal connections between vocal numbers. During the performance of recitatives, the audience usually talked loudly or left the hall to have a snack and play cards.

This does not mean that “among the Italian composers there were no serious, thoughtful artists. In the second half of the 18th century, during the era of the Italian Enlightenment, there was an increasing desire to raise the artistic level of “serious” opera, but none of the Italian composers at that time dared to deviate from the generally accepted structure of opera seria, to abandon the meaningless virtuosity of arias.

Simultaneously with the “serious” opera, comic opera (opera buffa) also arose in the bowels of the same Neapolitan school. Having gained wide popularity from the first steps, it quickly spread throughout all the cities of Europe, displacing “serious” opera even from the stages of court theaters.

With its origins dating back to the 18th century, Italian comic opera grew out of the comedic scenes and interludes that interspersed Venetian and Neapolitan operas of that time; its other source was dialectal (based on folk dialects) comedies, usually performed with simple songs. As a genre, comic opera was established in the interludes of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736); in the last quarter of a century it reached classical maturity in the works of Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) and Domenico Cimorosa (1749-1801). Democratic in its aspirations, the buffa opera arose as a reaction against the art of “serious” opera, divorced from life, arose in response to requests new aesthetics, which required art to have a specific connection with modernity.

The Italian comic opera showed on stage entertaining adventures from the life of its contemporaries; ridiculed vices and often parodied the very genre of “serious” opera. Opera buffa contrasted the stilted pathos of the opera seria, its virtuoso arias and recitatives that had lost their expressiveness with comedy and everyday themes, simple folk and everyday tunes, lively dance rhythms, characteristic recitatives, so close to the patter of folk dialect comedies. Great value in comic opera they acquired action-packed, dynamic ensembles.

Along the way, opera buffa has evolved; certain elements of the “serious” opera penetrated into the comic, and vice versa. But these genres continued to coexist separately even in the 19th century.

At the dawn of the national liberation movement that shook the whole of Italy (the first decades of the 19th century), literary romanticism became the aesthetic expression of progressive ideas. The first Italian romantics, participants in the revolutionary movement of Carbonari poets, considered the main task of art and literature to be serving the people. They fought for development national culture, called for the study of the life of the people, their thoughts and aspirations, history and art.

Raising national consciousness in the Italian people, they called on the country to unite and to overthrow the yoke of the enslavers.

The national liberation movement was reflected in opera art, breathing into it a breath modern life. A new direction in opera was formed under the progressive influence of Italian literary romanticism. Rejecting traditional mythological subjects, Italian composers turned to man, to his spiritual world.

The work of Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was, as it were, a connecting link in the development of Italian opera, completing its previous stage and laying the foundation for a new national school. In the composer's comic operas (the best of them is “The Barber of Seville”), with their bold, topical content, opera buffa reached its highest peak.

Rossini also enriched the field of “serious” opera, which at that time was experiencing a deep ideological and dramatic crisis. True, in his works there remained many conventions that violated the naturalness of dramatic development. Suffice it to say that Rossini easily transferred fragments of music from one opera to another. And yet, in the genre of “serious” opera, he created a number of remarkable works.

Rossini turned to heroic themes that meet the needs of our time; powerful choirs began to sound in his operas, dynamic, developed ensembles appeared, and the orchestra became colorful and dramatically expressive. Rossini's William Tell laid the foundation for a new genre of heroic-historical romantic opera.

The work of the brilliant Rossini and his younger contemporaries and followers - Vincenzo Bellini(1801-1835) and Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) - best achievements Italian opera art in the first third of the 19th century. These composers updated the musical language of Italian opera, saturating it with beautiful melodies, intonationally close to folk song. They knew how to create melodies that brought out the best aspects of the singers' talents. The names of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti are associated with the performing activities of such great singers as G. Pasta, G. Rubini, M. Malibran, A. Tamburini, L. Lablache, G. Grisi, who established the glory of Italian opera on all European stages.

The heyday of Italian opera was short-lived. After creating William Tell (1829), Rossini wrote no more operas. In the mid-30s. young Bellini died. By the beginning of the 40s. The work of the seriously ill Donizetti went downhill. The National Opera was once again experiencing a serious crisis. The Italian stage was flooded with a stream of mediocre operas composed by numerous imitators of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. In the works, which for the most part were created hastily, for the next season, and were immediately forgotten, extremely little attention was paid to issues of ideological content and problems of dramaturgy. Opera melodies were replete with effects that did not follow from the nature of the images, and sometimes even conflicted with the content. Composers continued to write librettos compiled according to accepted stencils; musical numbers in operas followed familiar patterns, not organically connected by action.

The creation of full-fledged opera librettos was hampered by the routine that reigned in opera houses. Even when the librettos were written by the best poets of the time - such as the famous Felice Romani - when librettists turned to the works of classics of world literature, they fit the plots into a standard scheme, which inevitably impoverished them.

Italian opera was brought out of the ideological and dramatic crisis by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), a brave innovator, an ardent, convinced and consistent champion of the realistic principles of Italian literature of the era of the national liberation movement.

If the founder of the national opera school was Rossini, then in the work of Verdi it reached its highest peak. Italy did not have a composer equal to Verdi in importance and in the power of talent either during Verdi’s life or after his death. The composer's first heroic operas, which appeared in the 40s, were born of the growing upsurge of the revolution, when all the cultural forces of the country joined the liberation movement. A convinced democrat and patriot, Verdi created art that was highly ideological and at the same time accessible to the broad masses. The musician’s greatest merit is that from the first creative steps, relying on the traditions of national opera and defending national identity, he followed the path of innovation, along the path of a tireless search for dramatic truth.

An astute artist and a born playwright, he realized that formal routine and indifference to dramatic content had led Italian opera to a dead end. Realizing that the main defects of Italian operas were rooted in the schematism of construction, he waged a tireless struggle to create dramatically full-fledged librettos and actively supervised the work of his librettists.

Verdi constantly strived for realistic vitality of characters and dramatic situations. He was looking for new dramatic and truthful forms. He tried to subordinate all expressive means in opera to identifying the main idea.

Having gone through a fascination with the “fierce romanticism” of Hugo and the Spanish romantics close to him, and having critically mastered the achievements of contemporary Western European opera, Verdi in his later works - in Aida, Othello and Falstaff - achieved an ideal fusion of action, words and music , came to create a genuine realistic musical drama.

In the 70-80s. of the last century in Italian opera, which was going through a period of quest and struggle between directions, the two poles around which musical forces were grouped were the names of Verdi and Wagner. Enthusiasm German romantics- and especially Wagner - the desire to imitate them captured a significant part of Italian youth. This hobby, which often boiled down to simple imitation, had its positive and negative sides.

The study of German music aroused an increased interest among Italian composers in harmony, polyphony, and orchestra. But at the same time, they followed the wrong path, sweeping away the traditions of Italian opera, discarding the classical opera heritage. They even treated Verdi’s work with disdain. The most prominent representative of this trend was Arrigo Boito (1852-1918), whose opera Mephistopheles enjoyed great success at that time.

In the last decade of the century, Wagnerism, which was spreading throughout Italy, was opposed by a new operatic movement - verism (from the word “vero” - true, truthful). The ground for the emergence of opera verism was prepared by the literary movement of the 80s, bearing the same name.

The first verist opera - Pietro Mascagni's "Honor Rusticana" (1890) - was written based on the plot of a short story by Giovanni Verga. Both "Honor Rusticana" and its follow-up "Pagliacci" by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1892) were a huge success with the public, tired of the vague symbolism in the operatic plots of the Italian imitators of Wagner.

The creative credo of verism is the truth of life. The verists took the themes of their operas from everyday life. Their heroes are not outstanding personalities, but ordinary, ordinary people with their intimate dramas. In this, Italian verismo is close to French lyric opera. The melodic language of Italian verists was influenced by the sensitive melody of Gounod, Thomas, and Massenet. The realistic works of Bizet and Verdi won particular love among verists. Verists valued Bizet's "Carmen" as highly as Verdi's operas, from whom they adopted the emphasized emotionality of the music and the severity of dramatic situations. It is precisely these features of their creativity, as well as temperamental, accessible melodies, that the verists have gained wide popularity. However, the interpretation of plots in their operas often acquired a melodramatic character. Wanting to show everyday life “without embellishment,” verists often replaced the realistic reproduction of reality with “photography” of it. And this led to the reduction of characters, sometimes to superficial illustrativeness of the music, to naturalism.

The work of the most outstanding Italian composer of the 20th century is also largely related to verism. Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), who did not escape the influence of German romanticism in his early operas. In terms of his basic creative aspirations and the characteristic features of his style, Puccini is a verist, although much in his work goes beyond the limits of verism. Puccini is the most talented and multifaceted among the composers of this movement.

Puccini's verism is manifested primarily in his attitude to the operatic plot. In ordinary, unvarnished life, Puccini finds material for deeply moving drama. His musical speech is always emotionally truthful. For richness and freshness musical language the composer stands out among his contemporaries - verists. And although Puccini could not rise in his work to the realistic heights of Verdi, but in terms of the emotional immediacy of the impact of the music, in the organic clarity of the melody, in the strength and brightness of his dramatic talent, he is the direct heir of Verdi and a truly Italian artist.

The best heritage of Italian classical opera is the work of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini and, especially, Verdi. The works of these composers are included in the repertoire of most musical theaters and are invariably heard in concerts and on the radio.

Italian classical opera, with its progressive ideological content, with strong national traditions, with its genuine “vocality”, has an honorable place in the treasury of world musical culture.

Further, in the 20th century. Italian composers showed themselves more clearly in the forms of instrumental music. However, opera is not forgotten in modern Italy. The author of ten operas, of which the opera “Sunday”, staged in 1904 in Turin based on the novel by L. Tolstoy, enjoyed particular success, was Franco Alfano (1877-1954). At the beginning of the 20th century. spoke at opera genre Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), a representative of Italian impressionism, who also experienced the significant influence of Rimsky-Korsakov. His first operas were “King Enzio” (1905) and “Semirama” (1910), staged in Bologna. In 1927, his opera “The Sunken Bell” based on the drama of the same name by Gerhard Hauptmann was performed on the stage of the Hamburg Theater. IN late period In his work, Respighi evolved towards neoclassicism. The result of this turn was a free adaptation of Monteverdi's opera Orpheus (1935), which played an important role in the revival and rediscovery of the operatic work of this great Italian composer.

The largest representative of the older generation of modern Italian composers working in the operatic genre is Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968). His compositional style was formed in the study of classical and pre-classical traditions national art. Pizzetti constantly composed operas for the famous Milan theater La Scala. The famous Arturo Toscanini conducted the premieres of many of them. The first was "Phaedra" based on the drama by Gabriel d'Annunzio (1915). The opera "Fra Gherardo" based on the plot was successfully staged in 1928 historical chronicle Parma XIII century. Pizzetti, who composed fifteen operas, cannot be called an innovator in musical theater, but his works have always been successful enough to remain in the repertoire for a long time. In the years after the Second World War, the venerable composer continued to work intensively for the theater. New operas by Pizzetti appeared regularly: in 1947 - “Gold”, in 1949 - “Bathtub Lupa”, in 1950 - “Iphigenia”, in 1952 - “Cagliostro”. These works retain some features of late Italian verismo, combined with the influence of Debussy (the refined and melodious recitation of his Pelléas et Mélisande). In their later years the old Italian master has not lost his high authority in the opera house. It is noteworthy that it was his last three operas that turned out to be the most successful and won recognition outside of Italy: “Iorio’s Daughter” based on the text by G. d’Annunzio (1954), staged in Naples by the famous director Roberto Rossellini, “Murder in the Cathedral” (1958) and "Clytemnestra" (1964). "Murder in the Cathedral", an opera received with particular interest by the English public, written on the poetic text of the popular play by the modern English poet and playwright T. S. Eliot. The drama tells the story of the life and death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett. the former chancellor of the English king Henry II. Two motives form a deep ideological conflict in this work: the political murder of Beckett, demagogically justified by “historical necessity” - “in the name of the absolute power of the monarch” - and the martyrdom voluntarily accepted by the hero. The playwright in the composition of his play foresaw a possible musical structure in advance. He originally combines the forms of Catholic worship and ancient Greek tragedy with a commentary choir.

In terms of the scale of creative talent and role in musical theater, only Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973) can be placed next to Pizzetti. Like many Italian composers of the 20th century, he went through a passion for impressionism, which was reflected in special attention to orchestral colorfulness. But already in the 20s. this composer turned to a deep study of the Italian masters of the Baroque and Renaissance and became an adherent of the widespread neoclassicism. Having devoted much time and effort to editing and restoring the works of Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi, Malipiero himself was strongly influenced stylistically by these composers. The diatonic melody of an ancient folk song and Gregorian chant was also of great importance in the formation of his style.

Malipiero composed at least thirty different musical and theatrical works. From 1918 to 1922, the composer worked on the opera trilogies “Orpheides” and “Goldoniana”. In 1932, he completed the third trilogy, entitled The Venetian Mystery. One of Malipiero's most famous operas is The Story of the Changeling Son (1933), based on the play by Luigi Pirandello. We also note the operas “The Fun of Callot” (1942) based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s story “Princess Brambilla” and “Don Juan” (1964) based on Pushkin’s “The Stone Guest”.

A review of the operatic work of contemporary Italian composers of the older generation would be incomplete without the name of Alfredo Casella (1883-1947), although the field of instrumental music not associated with words attracted him great master much more than an opera. In the operatic genre, he composed three works: “The Snake Woman” (1931) based on the play by C. Gozzi (a stylization of the old Italian opera buffa), a one-act chamber opera “The Story of Orpheus” (staged in 1932) and a one-act opera-mystery “The Desert of Temptation "(1937), commissioned by the state in a false "monumental ceremonial" style and telling about the "cultural and creative" mission of the Italian army that occupied Ethiopia. Under the conditions of the fascist dictatorship, the creative efforts of even the most talented composers often limited and distorted by demagogically perverted demands for “ethnography,” “historicism,” and falsely interpreted nationality and political relevance. These demands, in an atmosphere of provincial isolation, characterized the pseudo-classicism of the “Mussolini era,” which boastfully called itself the “golden age” of art.

The principal opponent of fascism and its policies in art remained Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975), whose work received well-deserved recognition already in post-war years. In his youth, Dallapiccola was close to the neoclassical movement widespread in Italy, but already in the late 30s. his music reveals expressionist features. The popularity of Dallapiccola in the post-war years was greatly facilitated by two one-act operas, staged in a number of countries as television plays. These are “Night Flight” (1940) based on the story by A. de Saint-Exupéry and “The Prisoner” (1949) based on the short story “Torture by Hope” by V. de Lisle-Adam. Dallapiccola is a prominent exponent of the ideas of the Italian Resistance in musical art. In his opera “The Prisoner,” the action moves to Spain in the 16th century. An anonymous Flemish freedom fighter is languishing in a Spanish prison. He is tormented by false promises of freedom, provocative rumors about events in his homeland and, finally, is led to execution. Listeners have no doubt that the theme of the opera is fascist terror and Resistance, the fight against political dictatorship encroaching on the freedom of the individual and the people.

Dallapiccola's music is deeply expressive, although the complexity of his musical language sometimes prevents his compositions from being easily understood.

In the 50s and 60s. Italian opera houses staged works by some composers who had previously become famous for their film music. These are Nino Rota (1911-1979) and mainly Renzo Rossellini (1908-1982), brother of the famous film director. The efforts of these composers marked an attempt to democratize and actualize modern Italian opera. Rossellini, in his operas “War” (1956), “Whirlwind” (1958), “Octopus” (1958), “View from the Bridge” (1961), consciously chose modern subjects and sought to simplify the musical language, bring his music closer to folklore and popular song genres.

An even more decisive Italian renewal experience musical theater is the opera “Intolerance” by Luigi Nono (1924-1990), which has gained wide popularity outside Italy since 1961. With this work, the composer intended to revive the tradition of Brecht's political, agitator theater. Nono’s ideological and aesthetic program required solving a number of complex problems, and first of all, the composer had to somehow combine the requirements of accessibility and intelligibility of the work with new, modern technical means of composition. Nono is one of those few representatives of the post-war “avant-garde” who accepts the Marxist teaching on the role of art in the life of society and recognizes the need to create art for the people, art that is understandable to the broad masses of listeners. Therefore, in his opera, Nono takes care of simplicity and melodiousness, introduces popular melodic turns, characteristic folk dance rhythms, and uses a speaking choir for the sake of poignancy and direct impact. The singing choirs, pre-recorded on tape, are broadcast through numerous loudspeakers. Their powerful “stereophonic” sound should evoke an idea of ​​the monumental music of streets and squares, of music under open air. The libretto of the opera, written by the composer himself, is very concise and schematic, allowing for variations in individual plot situations in the interests of the greatest relevance of the content. The text includes a montage of different poetic stanzas from different authors, aphoristic statements, slogans, which, from the composer’s point of view, clearly express the spirit of the times. The first version of the opera was called “Intolerance. 1960" and contained a protest against the war in Algeria. Staged later, this opera was filled with other topical slogans and quotes from politically relevant documents of the day. The opera began its journey on European stages with a political scandal at the Venice festival in 1961. The cause of the scandal was its theme - resistance to violence, intransigence, propaganda of the ideas of socialist transformation of society. This work was staged in many European theaters, despite its somewhat “trial”, experimental nature. It now exists in a new version under the title “Intolerance. 1970”, adjusted with new directorial techniques, new plot details, but the composer still continues further searches in this direction, striving for the most complete synthesis of dramatic techniques of modern political theater with new musical and expressive means.

Surprisingly, the biggest European theater is not in London or even in Vienna, but in Naples. The Royal Theater of Naples or Teatro San Carlo seats 3,285 people.

In addition, it is the oldest operating theater in the world. The San Carlo Opera House was opened in 1737 by King Charles of Bourbon. Before the construction of La Scala in Milan, this opera house was the most prestigious theater in Italy.

Many operas were staged here, including famous works Gioachino Rossini. In the twentieth century, such composers and conductors as Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea worked and staged their operas in the theater.

Teatro alla Scala, Milan

Despite the fact that Milan's La Scala theater cannot boast of outstanding statistical records, it is perhaps the most famous stage in the world.

The world famous Milan opera house Teatro alla Scala was built in 1776-1778 on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, from which the name of the theater itself came. New site was opened on August 3, 1778 with a production of Antonio Salieri's opera “Europe Recognized”.

During World War II the theater was destroyed. After restoration of its original appearance by engineer L. Secchi, the theater was reopened in 1946. Now the La Scala auditorium consists of 2,015 seats.

It is an honor for any artist to perform in this theater; the best of the best have been coming here since the 18th century. The names of many of the world's great opera composers, including Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi, are closely associated with La Scala.

La Scala houses not only an opera troupe, but also a choir, ballet and symphony orchestra. There is a museum in the lobby, which displays paintings, sculptures, costumes and historical documents related to the history of opera and theater.

By the way, when visiting the theater it is worth remembering that it is customary to come to La Scala in black clothes.

(Royaloperatictheater), London

Few people can argue with Italy in the art of opera, but modern theater was revived in Britain.

The Royal Theater Covent Garden is considered one of the most famous venues in the world. The first theater on this site was built back in 1732. After fires in 1808 and 1856, the building was completely destroyed. The current theater building was built to the design of Barry (the son of the architect who built Parliament) in 1858.

Here in 1892, for the first time in Great Britain, Wagner's grand opera "The Ring of the Nibelung" was performed under the direction of outstanding composer and conductor Gustav Mahler. The building currently serves as home to the Royal Opera House and ballet troupe, although touring opera and ballet theaters from various countries often give performances there.

In December 1999, the theater was reopened after reconstruction, which made it possible to significantly expand the auditorium. There is also a new foyer in the Flower Hall, where concerts are regularly held. Unlike the London Coliseum (National Opera), where all operas are performed on English Regardless of the original, at the Royal Opera everything is performed in the language in which the opera was written.

(Paris Opera or Opéra Garnier), Paris

The Paris State Opera has been the heart of French musical and theatrical culture for many years. Currently it is called the National Academy of Music and Dance. The theater was opened on January 5, 1875, it also housed a ballet school, which has existed since 1713 and is considered the oldest in Europe.

The building is located in the Garnier Palace in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, at the end of the Avenue des Opera, near the metro station of the same name. The building is considered a standard of eclectic architecture in the Beaux Arts style. It dates back to the era of major transformations of the city, successfully implemented by Napoleon III and Prefect Haussmann. The Grand Opera building amazes with its complexity of decor and somewhat excessive luxury, the same applies to the interior of the theater.

The main staircase lobby is one of the most famous parts of the Opera Garnier. Lined with marble of various colors, it accommodates a double flight of stairs leading to the theater foyers and theater floors. The main staircase is also a theater, the stage where the select public paraded in the days of crinolines. The four parts of the painted ceiling depict various musical allegories. At the bottom of the stairs there are two bronze floor lamps - female figures holding bouquets of light.

The large foyer was designed by Garnier on the model of the state galleries of old castles. The play of mirrors and windows visually gives the gallery even more spaciousness. On the magnificent ceiling painted by Paul Baudry are scenes musical history, and the main decorative element is the lyre.

The red and gold Italian style auditorium is shaped like a horseshoe. It is lit by a huge crystal chandelier and the ceiling was painted in 1964 by Marc Chagall. The hall accommodates 1,900 spectator seats, decorated with red velvet. A magnificent curtain of painted fabric imitates red drapery with gold braid and tassels.

(Vienna State Opera), Vienna

The Vienna State Opera is the leading opera company in Austria. The building itself in which it is now located was built in 1869, but the first performances of the opera troupe were given 2 centuries earlier. They took place in the royal palace, as well as on the stage of other theaters.

The theater opened on May 25 with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni. The auditorium has 1,313 seats, but there are also 102 standing places.

The facade of the Vienna Opera is richly decorated, depicting fragments from the opera “The Magic Flute” written by Mozart. The flourishing of the theater is associated with the name of the outstanding Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler.

Since 1964, the opera house has hosted performances of the world-famous ballet " Swan Lake», main party in which for many years performed by the talented choreographer Rudolf Nureyev, whose fans became many residents and guests of Vienna.

Every year in February, the building is transformed; the most famous ball in Austria takes place here, and at night both the stage and the auditorium turn into a huge dance floor, where numerous couples waltz.

, Moscow

The State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia (SABT RF), or simply the Bolshoi Theater, is one of the largest in Russia and one of the most significant opera and ballet theaters in the world. The history of the theater dates back to March 1776.

During the Napoleonic War, the theater building burned down, so in 1821 construction of the theater began on the original site. It reopened three years later on August 20, 1856.

The next reconstruction was carried out in the 21st century. The Opera House resumed its work in 2012 after reconstruction. The new seats for the auditorium repeat the appearance of the seats of the pre-Soviet era, and the number of seats has also returned to its previous size. Chairs and armchairs have become more comfortable, and the width of the aisles has increased.

The decor of the auditorium was restored in the form in which Kavos originally intended it. It took 4.5 kg of gold to gild the papier-mâché moldings. By special order for Bolshoi Theater an organ was manufactured and delivered from Belgium.

Perhaps the most famous productions of the theater are the ballets “Swan Lake” and “The Golden Age” staged by Grigorovich.

, Saint Petersburg

The Mariinsky Theater traces its history back to the Bolshoi Theater founded in 1783 by order of Empress Catherine the Great. The Mariinsky Theater itself, named after the wife of Alexander II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, opened on October 2, 1860 with Mikhail Glinka’s opera “A Life for the Tsar.”

In 1883-1896, large-scale restoration work was carried out in the building of the Mariinsky Theater under the leadership of the architect V. Schröter. As a result of the work, the acoustic conditions of the stage and auditorium were significantly improved, the necessary extensions were erected, and magnificent interiors were created, which brought the Mariinsky Theater the glory of one of the most beautiful theaters not only in Russia, but throughout the world.

For more than a century, the Mariinsky Theater has been a symbol of Russian theatrical culture. The names of such people are associated with the Mariinsky Theater famous figures Russian stage, such as F. Chaliapin, F. Stravinsky, G. Ulanova, A. Pavlova, R. Nureyev, M. Baryshnikov and many others.

World-famous productions of the Mariinsky Theater, such as “Swan Lake”, “Eugene Onegin”, “The Nutcracker”, were recognized as classics of world art.

Italy, which gave the world such greatest composers, like Paganini, Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, - country classical music. Italy also inspired many foreigners: for example, Richard Wagner created his “Parsifal” during his stay in Ravello, which brought this city, where the famous music festival, international fame. Musical seasons open, depending on the theater, from November to December and are important event Italian and international musical life. TIO.BY and the Italian National Tourism Agency have prepared a selection of which of the many Italian theaters to choose. We have attached a link to the program for each theater.

Teatro La Scala in Milan

One of the most famous theaters, of course, is Milan's La Scala theater. Every year the opening of its season becomes a high-profile event with the participation of famous people from the world of politics, culture and show business.

The theater was created by the will of the Austrian Queen Maria Theresa after the fire that destroyed the city's Royal Theater of Reggio Ducale in 1776. The seasons of La Scala are one of the most significant events in the cultural life of Milan. The program alternates opera and ballet, as well as the names of Italian and foreign composers.

The season program is available here.

Teatro La Fenice in Venice

Not far behind La Scala is the Venetian opera house La Fenice, built on Campo San Fantin in the San Marco quarter. Translated from Italian, the theater is called “Phoenix” - precisely because it was twice reborn after fires, like the fabulous phoenix bird, from the ashes. The last restoration was completed in 2003.

It hosts an important opera salon and International festival modern music, as well as the annual New Year's concert. Each season is rich and interesting, and its program combines works from classical and modern repertoire. Before visiting, please read the season program.

Teatro Real in Turin

The Royal Theater of Teatro Reggio in Turin was built by the will of Victor Amadeus of Savoy. Building facade XVIII century, along with other residences of the Savoy dynasty, is recognized as a UNESCO monument.

The opera and ballet season begins in October and ends in June, and every year you can find all kinds of musical events: choral concerts and symphonic music, chamber music evenings, productions at the Piccolo Reggio Theater for new audiences and for family viewing, as well as the MITO - Musical September festival.

Rome also offers lovers of opera and ballet many encounters with beauty. The most important center of classical music is the Roman Opera, also known as the Teatro Costanzi, named after its creator, Domenico Costanzi. A frequent guest of this theater, as well as artistic director season 1909-1910 was Pietro Mascagni. Ballet lovers will be interested to know that on April 9, 1917, the Italian premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “The Firebird” took place here, performed by members of the Russian Ballet troupe of Sergei Diaghilev.

The playbill of this theater has a lot opera performances, but much attention is also paid to ballet.
While the winter seasons of the Roman Opera are held in the old building in Piazza Beniamino Gigli, since 1937 the venue for its open-air summer seasons has been the stunning archaeological complex of the Baths of Caracalla . Opera performances staged on this stage are a huge success among the public, especially among tourists, who are delighted by the combination of this wonderful place with opera performances.

Teatro San Carlo in Naples

The most important theater in the Campania region is, of course, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. It was built in 1737 by the will of King Charles of the Bourbon dynasty, who wished to create a new theater representing royal power. San Carlo took the place of the small theater of San Bartolomeo, and the project was entrusted to the architect, Colonel of the Royal Army Giovanni Antonio Medrano and the former director of the theater of San Bartolomeo Angelo Carazale. Ten years after the theater was built, on the night of February 13, 1816, the building was destroyed by fire, which left only the outer walls and a small extension intact. What we see today is reconstruction followed by redevelopment.

This wonderful theater always welcomes opera lovers with a very rich program, which often represents a journey to the Neapolitan operatic tradition and the return of great classics of the symphonic repertoire, including those read through the prism of a new perception and with the participation of world celebrities. Every season, bright debuts and wonderful returns take place on the stage of Europe's oldest opera house.

Of course, it is simply impossible to describe all the splendor of theatrical Italy. But we want to recommend you a few more theaters with programs that deserve attention.

Philharmonic Theater in Verona; season program at the link.

Teatro Comunale in Bologna; programs for opera, music and ballet seasons.

Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; programs of musical, opera and ballet seasons.

Royal Theater of Parma; season program here

Teatro Comunale in Treviso; season program here

Giuseppe Verdi Opera House in Trieste; season program here

Concert hall Auditorium in the Park of Music in Rome; season program