Rome’s Teatro Argentina.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia was first staged in 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, 5 min walk from the apartments of Palazzo Olivia. The theater was inaugurated on January 31, 1732, with the performance of the opera "Berenice" composed by Domenico Sarro. It was completely made of wood, with the only exception of exterior walls and stairs, made of stone.
To ensure the best visibility and acoustics, the auditorium got the shape of a horseshoe bat. The wood-floored stalls area had 40 rows, laid down to fit the auditorium shape. There were 186 boxes, in 6 rows each with 31 boxes. As confirmed by descriptions of 18th-c. foreign visitors, the Teatro Argentina was considered as the most important theater in Rome. After the inauguration, it staged prose dramas and musical intermezzos.
Important restoration works were done in 1742. The building had no facade till 1826 when P. Holl built it, after the Duke Salvatore Sforza Cesarini bestowed the theater to Pietro Cartoni, who performed "Several restorations and added a facade, a hallway and a further hall". From 1919 to 1944, the most important Italian theatrical companies (E. Grammatica, Niccodemi, A. Ninchi, Zacconi, De Filippo, Palmer-Randone, etc.) performed here works by Pirandello, D'Annunzio, Ibsen, Gorkij, De Filippo.
In Winter 1944-45, popular operas were performed for American and British troops. In the 1960s, the Teatro Argentina was widely restored to become, in 1971, the main seat of Teatro di Roma, whose direction was managed in turns by major personalities like Franco Enriquez, Luigi Squarzina, Maurizio Scaparro, Pietro Carriglio, Luca Ronconi, and Mario Martone (current director).
[Text taken from the web site: Teatro di Roma]
Theatre in Rome: classics and opera in Roma
The "Theatre in Rome" site has a list of the main classical music and opera performances in Rome. You can buy tickets on-line and find useful information on the capital’s theatres.
Rome’s Auditorium: music, concerts and events
Auditorium presents symphony orchestra and chamber music and also has a varied programme of jazz, pop, rock, world music, cinema openings, plays, art exhibitions and literary performances.
