Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma - The Rome Opera House, 1946 To Present

The Rome Opera House, 1946 To Present

Following the end of the monarchy, the name of the opera house was changed to Teatro dell'Opera, and in 1958, the building was remodeled and modernized once again by the Rome City Council. Once again, the architect Marcello Piacentini drew up the plans, radically altering the existing architectural style and designing the present facade, entrance and foyer. The Theater's legendary acoustics can still bear comparison with any other auditorium in the world. The present seating capacity is about 1,600, and the house was retrofitted with air-conditioning subsequent to a restoration, which provided improvements to the interior. The stucco work was completely restored, the great proscenium arch strengthened, and a parquet floor of solid oak blocks laid to replace the previous one.

On 2 January 1958 the theater was the venue for a controversial performance of Norma starring Maria Callas, given in the presence of The President of Italy. Due to health problems, Callas abandoned the performance at the end of the first act. The post-war period also saw celebrated productions, including Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 1964 and Verdi's Don Carlos in 1965, both conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini and directed by Luchino Visconti. From 2001 to 2010, the music director and chief conductor of the company was Gianluigi Gelmetti. He was due to be succeeded in these posts by Riccardo Muti, as announced in August 2009, but the Neapolitan conductor demurred, citing in La Repubblica in October 2010 "general difficulties that are plaguing the Italian opera houses".