Teatro della Pergola
The Teatro della Pergola (Italian pronunciation:
It has two auditoria, the Sala Grande, with 1,500 seats, and the Saloncino, a former ballroom located upstairs which has been used as a recital hall since 1804 and which seats 400.
Work on completing the interior was finished in 1661, in time for the celebration of the wedding of the future grand duke
were given their premiere productions.By the nineteenth century, La Pergola was performing operas of the best-known composers of the day including Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi. Verdi's Macbeth was given its premiere performance at La Pergola in 1847.
La Pergola's present appearance dates from an 1855–57 remodelling; it has the traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium with three rings of boxes and topped with a gallery. It seats 1,000. It was declared a national monument in 1925 and has been restored at least twice since.
Today the theatre presents a broad range of about 250 drama performances each year, ranging from Molière to Neil Simon. Opera is only presented there during the annual Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Tommaso Sacchi is the Chairman of Fondazione Teatro della Toscana - Teatro della Pergola.
References
Notes
- ^ Spike Hughes , Great Opera Houses, London, 1956; the libretto was by Giovanni Andrea Moniglia (James Leve, ed. Il potestà di Colognole (Yale University Collegium Musicum 14) 2005, "introduction".
- ^ As in the Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio in the previous century.
Sources
- Lynn, Karyl Charna, Italian Opera Houses and Festivals, Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8108-5359-0
- Plantamura, Carol, The Opera Lover's Guide to Europe, New York: Citadel Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8065-1842-1