Teatro La Fenice
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Opera was born in Italy at the end of the 16th century and quickly spread through the rest of Europe. In 1637, Venice opened the first public opera house in Europe, the Teatro San Cassiano. The city soon became the centre of this new musical form, opening as many as seven opera houses during the course of the 17th century. By 1700 it had put on close to 400 different operas.
The Teatro La Fenice began life in the 1730s as the Teatro San Benedetto. However, in 1774, the theatre burned to the ground. Two decades later it was rebuilt and rather aptly renamed La Fenice (the Phoenix), the legendary bird which obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Fire struck once more in 1836 and the theatre was again rebuilt, but, this time, its name remained unchanged. One hundred and sixty years later, on January 29th, 1996, the theatre burnt down for a third time. It was duly rebuilt, following the Italian mantra, com'era, dov'era, (how it was and where it was). La Fenice reopened at the end of 2003 and the only change to the original 19th century design was an increase in the seating capacity from 840 to 1000. The premières of many famous operas have taken place at La Fenice, including Verdi's Rigoletto and La Traviata, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Britten's The Turn of the Screw. |
Teatro La Fenice
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