page_title: Early theatres in Naples
section_title: Teatro dei Fiorentini
hierarchical_section_title: Early theatres in Naples / Teatro dei Fiorentini
caption_attribution_description: Vue du fameux Théâtre de la Ville de Naples in Italie (Napoli, Italia) Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Museum number: S.6079-2009 Italiano: A Napoli, prima del San Carlo, c'era il Teatro San Bartolomeo. Distrutto dai moti del 1647-48 e da un incendio nel 1681, sempre puntualmente ricostruito, tra l'altro con una commissione della Santa Casa degli Incurabili a Cristoforo Schor che rifece nel 1723 i palchetti, il San Bartolomeo insieme al teatro dei Fiorentini (1618) costituivano il vanto della città. Ne divenne impresario nel 1735 Angelo Carasale, a cui fu poi affidato il compito di costruire il San Carlo, e così sulla platea del San Bartolemeo, smontato e trasformato, allora sorse la Chiesa della Graziella, la chiesa in rua Catalana di cui gli interni forse erano stati curati dal Medrano. L'antico Teatro di San Bartolomeo, che dal 1620 intratteneva i Napoletani, venne sostituito definitivamente dal Teatro San Carlo inaugurato il 4 novembre 1737.
context_page_description: Theatres for diverse musical and dramatic presentations began to open in Naples, Italy, in the mid-16th century as part of the general Spanish cultural and political expansion into the kingdom of Naples, which had just become a vicerealm of Spain. None of the early theaters still function as such, having been replaced by later facilities from the mid-18th century onwards. Neapolitan theatres first built in the 16th and 17th centuries include:
context_section_description: Built in the first decade of the 17th century, the Teatro dei Fiorentini was meant to replace the defunct Commedia theatre. It took the name from the nearby church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. It seated approximately 250 people. In the 18th century the theatre specialised in the opera buffa genre. Antonio Orefice's Patrò Calienno de la Costa which premiered there in 1709  was the first opera buffa in Neapolitan dialect to be performed on a public stage. From 1724, the theatre's main competitor in the opera buffa genre was the much larger Teatro Nuovo. Nevertheless, the Fiorentini survived as a theater into the early 20th century, although it became increasingly a venue for comic plays rather than operas. An establishment calling itself the Fiorentini exists today on the same site but has not functioned as a theatre for many years. It is now a bingo hall.
caption: Interior of the Teatro San Bartolomeo
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