The Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, originally known as Teatro Nuovo and then Teatro Grande, is the main opera house in Trieste and one of the oldest and most prestigious in Italy. Its history is intertwined with the urban, social and cultural evolution of the city, reflecting the cosmopolitanism and artistic vibrancy of Trieste between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
From the origins to the Teatro Grande
The construction of the theater was promoted by the entrepreneur Giovanni Matteo Tommasini to provide Trieste with a suitable space for grand operatic performances, in replacement of the small “Cesareo Regio Teatro di San Pietro”. Works began in 1798 and concluded in 1801. The project was entrusted to the architect Giannantonio Selva (also the author of the Fenice in Venezia) for the interiors, while Matteo Pertsch took care of the facades, drawing inspiration from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he had been a pupil of Giuseppe Piermarini.
The theater was inaugurated on 21 April 1801 with the performance of “Ginevra di Scozia” by Simon Mayr and “Annibale in Capua” by Antonio Salieri.
In 1821 the theater took the name of Teatro Grande, becoming the hub of the city's musical and social life. The hall, with its horseshoe plan, four tiers of boxes and gallery, offered an original capacity of 1,400 seats, later expanded to 2,000 with the restorations of 1881-84. The Ridotto, an elegant ballroom and concert hall, was also the seat of the Municipal Council until the construction of the Municipio.
A theater between Italy and Mitteleuropa
The Teatro Grande was immediately a reference point for Italian and Mitteleuropean culture: here the works of:
- Rossini (“L’Italiana in Algeri”, 1816)
- Donizetti (“L’ajo nell’imbarazzo”, 1826)
- Bellini (“Il Pirata”, 1831)
- and, above all, Giuseppe Verdi debuted in Trieste, who chose the theater for the first performance of “Nabucco” (1843) and composed specifically for Trieste “Il corsaro” (1848) and “Stiffelio” (1850), personally overseeing the staging of the latter.
The theater also hosted absolute premieres by authors such as Pacini, Ricci, Nicolai, Balfe, Smareglia and Tommasini, and was among the first in Italy to perform the complete Wagnerian tetralogy (1883).
From the Teatro Comunale to the Teatro Verdi
In 1861 the Municipality of Trieste purchased the theater, which became Teatro Comunale. In 1901, a few hours after the death of Giuseppe Verdi, the municipal council decided to dedicate the theater to the great composer, the first in Italy to bear this name.
Since then, the Teatro Verdi has remained the heart of Trieste's musical life, hosting the greatest performers and orchestra conductors, including:
- Maria Callas
- Herbert von Karajan
- Riccardo Muti
- Plácido Domingo
Architecture and restorations
The main facade, with its monumental portico and statues of Apollo, Mars and Pluto, evokes the classicism and monumentality of the great Italian theaters.
The interior still preserves many of the original decorations from 1801, enriched by nineteenth-century restorations (Eugenio Geiringer, Josef Horwath) and more recent interventions (1992-1997), which have consolidated the structure and adapted the theater to modern safety requirements.
The main hall today has a capacity of about 1,200 seats, while the Ridotto “Victor de Sabata” is the venue for chamber concerts and institutional events.
The theater today
The Teatro Verdi is the seat of an internationally renowned opera and ballet season, a symphonic season and the famous Festival Internazionale dell’Operetta (1950-2011).
The Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, established in 1996, today manages the artistic activity, with permanent orchestra and choir, scenography and tailoring workshops, and a programming that ranges from the great Italian tradition to contemporary novelties. The theater is also visitable with guided tours that recount its history and architectural secrets.
The Teatro Verdi of Trieste thus remains a symbol of the city's cultural and cosmopolitan identity, a bridge between Italy and Mitteleuropa, between past and future, between art and society.