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Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro)
Encyclopedia
Cinelândia
Cinelândia is the popular name of a major public square in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its official name is Praça Floriano Peixoto, in honour of the second president of Brazil, Floriano Peixoto.-History:...
(Praça Marechal Floriano) in the city center
Centro (Rio de Janeiro)
The Centro is a neighbourhood of the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It represents the financial heart of the city, and the crux of the Central Region.- Characteristics :...
of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil. Built in the beginning of the twentieth century, it is one of the most beautiful and important theatres in the country.
The building is designed in an eclectic style, inspired by the Paris Opéra
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
of Charles Garnier
Charles Garnier (architect)
Charles Garnier was a French architect, perhaps best known as the architect of the Palais Garnier and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.-Early life:...
. The outside walls are inscribed with the names of classic Eurocentric & Brazilian artists. It is located near the National Library and the National Fine Arts Museum, overlooking the spacious Cinelândia Square.
History
In the second half of nineteenth century, theatrical activity was very intense in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of the country. Still, its two theaters, the Lyric and St. Peter, were criticized for their facilities, either by the public or by the companies that worked on them.After the Proclamation of the Republic (1889), in 1894 playwright Arthur Azevedo launched a campaign for the building of a new theater to host a local company, to be created along the lines of the Comédie Française. However, in those hectic days, the campaign resulted in only one Municipal Law, which ordered the construction of the Municipal Theater. This law was not enforced, despite the existence of a levy to finance the work. Thus, that the new tax revenue was never used for the construction of the theater.
It was not built until the beginning of the 20th century and it came to represent the new republican regime and a new era to the elegant capital of Brazil. At the time, then-Mayor Pereira Passos launched a major upgrade of the city center by opening in 1903 the Central Avenue (Now Avenida Rio Branco
Avenida Rio Branco
The Avenida Rio Branco, formerly Avenida Central, is the street that crosses the center of city of Rio de Janeiro. And is the leading brand of urban reform carried out by the mayor Pereira Passos in early 20th century....
), shaped after the boulevards of Paris and flanked by magnificent examples of eclectic architecture. Hence arose the opera venue, brainchild of Francisco de Oliveira Passos (Son of then mayor Francisco Pereira Passos) with the cooperation of Albert Guilbert and design inspired by the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
. Building began in 1905 on a foundation of 1,180 wood poles rooted in groundwater. To decorate the building, the most important Brazilian painters and sculptors of the time were summoned, such as Eliseu Visconti, Rodolfo Amoedo and the Bernardelli brothers. European artisans were also recruited to work on stained glasses and mosaic tiles.
Finally, four and a half years later — a record time for the work that took the relay from 280 workers in two shifts — on July 14, 1909, President Nilo Peçanha
Nilo Peçanha
Nilo Procópio Peçanha was a Brazilian politician. Governor of Rio de Janeiro State . Elected vice-president in 1906, he assumed the presidency in 1909 following the death of President Afonso Pena and served until 1910...
inaugurated the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, which had the capacity for 1,739 viewers. Serzedelo Correa was then the mayor of the city. In 1934, upon the observation that the theater was small for the new size of the population of the city, auditory capacity was increased to 2,205 seats. The work, despite its complexity, was held in three months, record time for the season. Later, with some modifications, it acquired the current number of 2,361 places.
The theater was closed on October 19, 1975 for restoration works and modernization of its facilities and reopened on March 15, 1978. That same year the Central Technical Production, responsible for all of the shows running in the house, was created. In 1996, the construction of an annex building began to relieve the building due to the intense practicing and other activities throughout the year. With the inauguration of the annex, choir, orchestra and ballet crews gained new rehearsal rooms and greater space for artistic practices and rehearsal.
Today, the Theatro Municipal mostly shows productions of ballet dance and classical music. In its early heyday, it featured only foreign opera and symphonic orchestra shows, especially from Italian and French companies. In 1931, the Municipal Symphonic Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro was created and celebrities such as Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
, Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
, Bidu Sayao
Bidu Sayão
Bidú Sayão was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's most famous musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.-Life and career:...
, Eliane Coelho
Eliane Coelho
Eliane Coelho is a Brazilian soprano singer.Coelho began studying architecture at a college in Rio de Janeiro, but she soon decided she would develop her singing career in Europe. She was a pupil of Solange Petit-Renaux, a former star of the Paris Opéra. In 1971, she moved to Germany and studied...
, Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
and Alexander Brailowsky
Alexander Brailowsky
Alexander Brailowsky was a Ukrainian French pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He was a leading concert pianist in the years between the two World Wars.-Early life:...
highlighted the programs of the Theatro. Today, it houses the Petrobras and the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestras.