Teatro La Fenice
is a famous opera house in Venice, Italy. People often call it simply . Its name comes from the Italian word Fenice, meaning Phoenix. The Phoenix is a mythical bird. It dies in fire and is born again from the ashes.
History
An older opera house in Venice called the burnt down in 1774. It was the main, opera house in Venice. Some noblemen built it again, but the Venier, a famous family in Venice, made them sell the new theatre to them. So, the noblemen built a new opera house in 1792. They called it Teatro La Fenice. The first opera performed there was Giovanni Paisiello's (The Games of Agrigento).
La Fenice burnt down in 1836. It was built again in 1837. On 29 January 1996, La Fenice burnt down again. It was set on fire by two men working on the building. They were sent to prison for arson. La Fenice was built again in 2003 in the style of the old one. The architect, Aldo Rossi, used pictures and movies of the old La Fenice to plan the new one.
Five of Giuseppe Verdi's operas had their first performance at Teatro La Fenice:
(1844)
(1846)
(1851)
(1853)
(1857)
References
Beauvert, Thierry (1996). Opera Houses of the World. The Vendome Press.
Other websites
Official website
Opera houses in Italy
Venice
1792 establishments
18th-century establishments in Italy
1790s establishments in Europe