Teatro Petruzzelli
Encyclopedia
The Teatro Petruzzelli is the largest theatre
of the city of Bari
and the fourth Italian theatre by size.
presented the design of the theatre of their brother-in-law, the engineer Angelo Bari Cicciomessere (then Messeni) at the city of Bari. The proposal of the Petruzzellis was accepted and in 1896 they signed the contract between the family and the city administration. The contract is dated 29th January 1896. Two years later, in October 1898, work began and ended in 1903.
Inside the theatre was painted by Raffaele Armenise. Petruzzelli took from the Corato
the primacy of the largest theatre of Apulia
.
The theatre was inaugurated on Saturday 14th February 1903 with the masterpiece of Meyerbeer
, Les Huguenots
.
In the eighties, the theatre hosted two major "firsts": that of Iphigénie en Tauride
by Niccolò Piccinni
never represented after their debut in Paris
in 1779, and the Neapolitan version of I Puritani
of Bellini
, written Maria Malibran
but never performed. The contributed ot make the city world famous. Next to the opera
scene, musical
ballet
, big concerts were hosted. Great international artists have walked the stage of the Petruzzelli: Tito Schipa
, Herbert von Karajan
, Rudolf Nureyev
, Frank Sinatra
, Ray Charles
, Liza Minnelli
, Juliette Gréco
And the great Italian artists: Eduardo De Filippo
, Riccardo Muti
, Carla Fracci
, Luciano Pavarotti
, Piero Cappuccilli
and Giorgio Gaber
.
The Petruzzelli also hosted important light music concerts, among others Paolo Conte
, Ornella Vanoni
and was the headquarters of the broadcasting music Azzurro for almost all the 80s. Inside the theatre was also used as a background by directors like Franco Zeffirelli
. The theater is also remembered because it was filmed the movie Polvere di stelle
, of Alberto Sordi
.
arson
. The last opera represented was the Norma
.
The criminal trial concerning the burning ended with the acquittal of the defendants accused of being principals commissioners and the condemnation of the perpetrators of the incident.
Another civil action that involved the family Messeni Nemagna and temporary manager Fernando Pinto then accused of failing to ensure the theatre ended with his conviction to pay a compensation of 57 billion lire
in favour of the owners of the theatre.
On November 21st 2002 at the Ministry for Heritage and Cultural activities was signed a "Protocol of Understanding" between the family that owns the theatre and the City, the Province of Bari and the Apulia
Region stating that the theatre would be delivered by the public parts, rebuilt, by November 22nd 2006.
Yet the works for the reconstruction have never started, so, on October 3rd of 2006, the Theatre has been expropriated according to an article related to Finance Act
of 2006 and become property of the Municipality of Bari. On 30th April 2008 the Constitutional Court with decision No. 128/2008
has given the property Theatre back to the Messeni Nemagna family for lack of requirements for "extraordinary need and urgency" planned expropriation.
The Petruzzelli, reconstructed entirely with public money in the 2008 was returned to the city of Bari on September 7th 2009 for breach of art. 5 of the contract dated 29th January 1896 between the City of Bari and Antonio Onofrio and Petruzzelli. The article states: "In case the building collapsed by earthquake, fire or for any other cause, the grantee and its successors will have the right to rebuild the Politeama original state, provided that the work is undertaken in a year and be completed in three from the day on which the collapse has occurred, or have a duty to clear the land of free materials and return it to the City a year counting from the above term. "
The Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari was eventually identified as the only person able to assume the management, maintenance and insurance of the Teatro Petruzzelli, based on what was written in former Art. 23 of Law 800, which states that municipalities must make theatres available for opera companies to follow up the concert seasons. The Teatro Petruzzelli officially reopened Sunday October 4th 2009, nearly 18 years after the fire, with the execution of the Ninth Symphony
by Ludwig van Beethoven
by the Orchestra of the Province of Bari, conducted by Fabio Mastrangelo.
On December 6th, 2009 inaugurated the first opera season in Petruzzelli rebuilt after the fire with the Turandot
by Giacomo Puccini
, directed by Roberto De Simone and orchestral direction of Maestro Renato Palumbo, who in September had concerted the Tosca
, last title on the program of the Teatro Piccinni. A trial of this Tosca
was the first hearing test for orchestra and singers after the reconstruction.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
of the city of Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
and the fourth Italian theatre by size.
The birth and the golden age
The history of the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari begins when Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli, traders and ship builders of TriesteTrieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
presented the design of the theatre of their brother-in-law, the engineer Angelo Bari Cicciomessere (then Messeni) at the city of Bari. The proposal of the Petruzzellis was accepted and in 1896 they signed the contract between the family and the city administration. The contract is dated 29th January 1896. Two years later, in October 1898, work began and ended in 1903.
Inside the theatre was painted by Raffaele Armenise. Petruzzelli took from the Corato
Corato
Corato is a town and comune in Italy. It is located in Bari province, Puglia region, southeastern Italy. Founded by the Normans, it became subject to Alfonso V, king of Aragon, at the end of the 15th century, and later to the Carafa family. The chief features of the ancient centre of the town,...
the primacy of the largest theatre of Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
.
The theatre was inaugurated on Saturday 14th February 1903 with the masterpiece of Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
.
In the eighties, the theatre hosted two major "firsts": that of Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride (Piccinni)
Iphigénie en Tauride is a tragédie lyrique in four acts by Niccolò Piccinni, which was first performed at the Académie royale de musique on January 23, 1781...
by Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
never represented after their debut in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1779, and the Neapolitan version of I Puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
of Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
, written Maria Malibran
Maria Malibran
The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...
but never performed. The contributed ot make the city world famous. Next to the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
scene, musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
ballet
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, big concerts were hosted. Great international artists have walked the stage of the Petruzzelli: Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa
Tito Schipa was an Italian tenor. He is considered one of the finest tenori di grazia in operatic history...
, Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
, Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco, — also Michelle – is a French actress and popular chanson singer.-Early life and family:Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal...
And the great Italian artists: Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...
, Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
, Carla Fracci
Carla Fracci
Carla Fracci is a ballet dancer and actress. Her career highlights include Nijinsky, Giselle , Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances: Erik Bruhn 1961-1967.-FAO Ambassador:...
, Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
, Piero Cappuccilli
Piero Cappuccilli
Piero Cappuccilli was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi roles, especiallyMacbeth and Simon Boccanegra; he was renowned for his extraordinary breath control and smooth legato, and is widely regarded as one of the finest Italian baritones of the second half of the 20th...
and Giorgio Gaber
Giorgio Gaber
Giorgio Gaber, byname of Giorgio Gaberscik , was an Italian singer-songwriter, actor and playwright. He was also an accomplished guitar player and author of one of the first rock songs in Italian...
.
The Petruzzelli also hosted important light music concerts, among others Paolo Conte
Paolo Conte
Paolo Conte is an Italian singer, pianist, composer, and lawyer notable for his grainy, resonant voice, his colourful and dreamy compositions and his wistful, sometimes melancholic...
, Ornella Vanoni
Ornella Vanoni
Ornella Vanoni, OMRI is one of the most credited pop singers of Italy. She is known for her sophisticated pop style.-Artistic career:...
and was the headquarters of the broadcasting music Azzurro for almost all the 80s. Inside the theatre was also used as a background by directors like Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
. The theater is also remembered because it was filmed the movie Polvere di stelle
Polvere di stelle
Polvere di stelle is a 1973 Italian film which was directed by Alberto Sordi. It was starred by Alberto Sordi and Monica Vitti.-Synopsis:...
, of Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi, also known as Albertone, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian actor. He was also a film director and the dubbing voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films....
.
The burning and reconstruction
During the night of 26th and 27th October 1991 the theatre was completely destroyed by a fireFire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. The last opera represented was the Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
.
The criminal trial concerning the burning ended with the acquittal of the defendants accused of being principals commissioners and the condemnation of the perpetrators of the incident.
Another civil action that involved the family Messeni Nemagna and temporary manager Fernando Pinto then accused of failing to ensure the theatre ended with his conviction to pay a compensation of 57 billion lire
Italian lira
The lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro...
in favour of the owners of the theatre.
On November 21st 2002 at the Ministry for Heritage and Cultural activities was signed a "Protocol of Understanding" between the family that owns the theatre and the City, the Province of Bari and the Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
Region stating that the theatre would be delivered by the public parts, rebuilt, by November 22nd 2006.
Yet the works for the reconstruction have never started, so, on October 3rd of 2006, the Theatre has been expropriated according to an article related to Finance Act
Finance Act
In the UK, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers an annual Budget speech on Budget Day, outlining changes in spending, as well as tax and duty. The changes to tax and duty are passed as law, and each year form the respective Finance Act...
of 2006 and become property of the Municipality of Bari. On 30th April 2008 the Constitutional Court with decision No. 128/2008
has given the property Theatre back to the Messeni Nemagna family for lack of requirements for "extraordinary need and urgency" planned expropriation.
The Petruzzelli, reconstructed entirely with public money in the 2008 was returned to the city of Bari on September 7th 2009 for breach of art. 5 of the contract dated 29th January 1896 between the City of Bari and Antonio Onofrio and Petruzzelli. The article states: "In case the building collapsed by earthquake, fire or for any other cause, the grantee and its successors will have the right to rebuild the Politeama original state, provided that the work is undertaken in a year and be completed in three from the day on which the collapse has occurred, or have a duty to clear the land of free materials and return it to the City a year counting from the above term. "
The Fondazione Lirico Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari was eventually identified as the only person able to assume the management, maintenance and insurance of the Teatro Petruzzelli, based on what was written in former Art. 23 of Law 800, which states that municipalities must make theatres available for opera companies to follow up the concert seasons. The Teatro Petruzzelli officially reopened Sunday October 4th 2009, nearly 18 years after the fire, with the execution of the Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
by the Orchestra of the Province of Bari, conducted by Fabio Mastrangelo.
On December 6th, 2009 inaugurated the first opera season in Petruzzelli rebuilt after the fire with the Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
by Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, directed by Roberto De Simone and orchestral direction of Maestro Renato Palumbo, who in September had concerted the Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, last title on the program of the Teatro Piccinni. A trial of this Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
was the first hearing test for orchestra and singers after the reconstruction.