The Royal Opera House, 1926 To 1946
In November 1926 the Costanzi was bought by the Rome City Council and its name was changed to Teatro Reale dell'Opera. It was partly rebuilt by architect Marcello Piacentini in the following fifteen months and re-opened on 27 February 1928 with the opera Nerone by Arrigo Boito.
The rebuilding resulted in a number of major changes. The entrance, originally located in the street formerly known as Via del Teatro - where the garden of the Hotel Quirinale is presently situated - was moved to the opposite side, where Piazza Beniamino Gigli was subsequently built. The amphitheatre, inside the theatre, was demolished and replaced by a fourth tier of boxes (now the third tier) and the balcony. The interior was also embellished by new stuccowork, decorations and furnishings, as well as a magnificent chandelier measuring 6 meters in diameter and composed of 27,000 crystal drops.
Read more about this topic: Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma
Famous quotes containing the words royal and/or opera:
“You know, he wanted to shoot the Royal Family, abolish marriage, and put everybody who’d been to public school in a chain gang. Yeah, he was a idealist, your dad was.”
—David Mercer, British screenwriter, and Karel Reisz. Mrs. Dell (Irene Handl)
“Opera once was an important social instrument—especially in Italy. With Rossini and Verdi people were listening to opera together and having the same catharsis with the same story, the same moral dilemmas. They were holding hands in the darkness. That has gone. Now perhaps they are holding hands watching television.”
—Luciano Berio (b. 1925)