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Description
The Teatro Sociale of Mantua was built between 1817 and 1822 by the renowned Ticinese architect Luigi Canonica.
At the end of the Napoleonic period, there were two theaters in Mantua: the Teatro Regio, built in 1783 by Piermarini (recently renamed, under Austrian rule, 'Imperial-Regio Teatro'), as well as the 'Teatro Scientifico', built by Antonio Bibiena (Ferdinando's son) in 1769.
The debate on the need for a new theater began on December 4, 1816, about a year and a half after the abdication of the Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Eugenio di Beauharnais, which marked the beginning of Austrian rule, in Mantua.
On January 12, 1817, a special commission of prominent citizens was formed, tasked with selecting an appropriate architectural form and designer. While the location of the new building was certain, in a very central area, at the confluence of seven streets, occupied by about ten residential buildings that would be acquired and demolished.
The commission chose not to risk it and turned to the well-known designer Luigi Canonica, already a royal architect and, among other things, author of the expansion of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the new hall of the Teatro Grande in Brescia, and the rebuilding of the Teatro della Concordia in Cremona.
Canonica designed a building inspired by the most characteristic schemes of Italian opera theaters of neoclassical taste, which were, in fact, formed by Canonica himself and his master Piermarini. The construction site was managed by the architect Marconi.
The facade is low and wide, but retains a touch of majesty, thanks to a portico with six columns, surmounted by a triangular pediment. The hall is composed of three tiers of boxes and two tiers of galleries. For the interior decorations, Canonica relied on Hayez (who created medallions representing Apollo and Minerva, to adorn the ceiling of the stalls).
Mantuan painters Orsi and Bustaffa, the stucco workers Staffieri and Berazzi, worked on the interiors.
The theater was inaugurated on December 26, 1822, with the melodrama 'Alfonso ed Elisa' by Mercadante and 'Gundeberga', a ballet by Coppini.
At the end of the Napoleonic period, there were two theaters in Mantua: the Teatro Regio, built in 1783 by Piermarini (recently renamed, under Austrian rule, 'Imperial-Regio Teatro'), as well as the 'Teatro Scientifico', built by Antonio Bibiena (Ferdinando's son) in 1769.
The debate on the need for a new theater began on December 4, 1816, about a year and a half after the abdication of the Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Eugenio di Beauharnais, which marked the beginning of Austrian rule, in Mantua.
On January 12, 1817, a special commission of prominent citizens was formed, tasked with selecting an appropriate architectural form and designer. While the location of the new building was certain, in a very central area, at the confluence of seven streets, occupied by about ten residential buildings that would be acquired and demolished.
The commission chose not to risk it and turned to the well-known designer Luigi Canonica, already a royal architect and, among other things, author of the expansion of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the new hall of the Teatro Grande in Brescia, and the rebuilding of the Teatro della Concordia in Cremona.
Canonica designed a building inspired by the most characteristic schemes of Italian opera theaters of neoclassical taste, which were, in fact, formed by Canonica himself and his master Piermarini. The construction site was managed by the architect Marconi.
The facade is low and wide, but retains a touch of majesty, thanks to a portico with six columns, surmounted by a triangular pediment. The hall is composed of three tiers of boxes and two tiers of galleries. For the interior decorations, Canonica relied on Hayez (who created medallions representing Apollo and Minerva, to adorn the ceiling of the stalls).
Mantuan painters Orsi and Bustaffa, the stucco workers Staffieri and Berazzi, worked on the interiors.
The theater was inaugurated on December 26, 1822, with the melodrama 'Alfonso ed Elisa' by Mercadante and 'Gundeberga', a ballet by Coppini.