Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice San Marco, Aldo Rossi, Theatres, Classical Music, Teatro La Fenice is the opera house in Venice. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres. Since opening and being named La Fenice, it has burned and been rebuilt twice more. First theatre In 1774, the San Benedetto Theatre, which had been Venice's leading opera house for more than forty years, burned to the ground. No sooner had it been rebuilt than a legal dispute broke out between the company managing it and the owners, the Venier family. The issue was decided in favor of the Veniers. As a result, the theatre company decided to build a new opera house of its own on the Campo San Fantin. The construction began in June 1790, and by May 1792 the theatre was completed. It was named "La Fenice", in reference to the company's survival, first of the fire, then of the loss of its former quarters.

La Fenice was inaugurated on May 16, 1792 with an opera by Giovanni Paisiello entitled I Giuochi di Agrigento (libretto by count Alessandro Pepoli). From the beginning of the 19th century, La Fenice acquired a European reputation. Rossini mounted two major productions in the theatre and Bellini had two operas premiered there. Donizetti, fresh from his triumphs in Milan and Naples, returned to Venice in 1836, after an absence of seventeen years. Second theatre In December 1836, disaster struck again when the theatre was destroyed by fire. However, it was quickly rebuilt with a design provided by the architect-engineer team of the brothers, Tommaso and Giovanni Battista Meduna.[1] La Fenice once again rose from its ashes to open its doors on the evening of December 26, 1837. Giuseppe Verdi's association with La Fenice began in 1844, with a performance of Ernani during the Carnival season.

Over the next thirteen years, the premieres of Attila, Rigoletto, La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra took place there. During the First World War, La Fenice was closed, but reopened to again become the scene of much activity, attracting many of the world's greatest singers and conductors. In 1930, the Venice Biennale initiated the First International Festival of Contemporary Music, which brought such composers as Stravinsky and Britten, and more recently Berio, Nono and Bussotti, to write for La Fenice. On 29 January 1996, it was completely destroyed by fire. Arson was immediately suspected. In March 2001, a court in Venice found two electricians guilty of setting the fire. Enrico Carella and his cousin, Massimiliano Marchetti, appeared to have set the building ablaze because their company was facing heavy fines over delays in repair work. Carella, the company's owner, disappeared after a final appeal was turned down. He had been sentenced to seven years in prison. Marchetti surrendered to serve a six-year sentence. Present theatre After various delays, reconstruction began in earnest in 2001.

In 650 days, a team of two hundred plasterers, artists, woodworkers, and other craftsman succeeded in recreating the ambience of the old theatre at a cost of some €90 million. La Fenice was rebuilt in 19th-century style on the basis of a design by architect Aldo Rossi and using still photographs from the opening scenes of Luchino Visconti's 1954 film Senso, which was filmed in the house, in order to obtain details of its design. It reopened on 14 December 2003 with an inaugural concert of Beethoven, Wagner, and Stravinsky. The first opera production was La traviata in November 2004. Critical response to the rebuilt La Fenice was mixed. The music critic of the paper Il Tempo, Enrico Cavalotti, was satisfied. He found the colours a bit bright but the sound good and compact. However, for his colleague Dino Villatico of the La Repubblica the acoustics of the new hall lacked resonance and the colours were painfully bright. He found it "kitsch, a fake imitation of the past".

He said that "the city should have had the nerve to build a completely new theater; Venice betrayed its innovative past by ignoring it". However, for many Venetians, a painful wound in the historical, much-admired, much adored cityscape has begun to heal. Theatre Tours If you are visiting Venice, the Teatro La Fenice is an essential destination to make your stay unique. A tour through the stuccoes and gilded beauty of its prestigious rooms will allow you to discover the backstage area and the secrets of the Theatre and its protagonists, and listen to its history from the origins to the present. Tours for Groups Ticket price € 12,00 Reduced price € 7,00 (reduced for students and visitors over the age of 65) Guided Tour conducted by an expert, who will illustrate the history of the Theatre and its reconstruction. This service is available upon reservation in 4 languages: Italian, English, German, French. For a minimum of 12 people. The visit lasts approximately 45 minutes. For information and reservations: Tel.: +39 041 786673 This email address is being protected from spambots.

You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Promenade through the theatre PRICE Promenade through the Theatre € 39,00 + VAT The promenade through the Theatre is an exclusive service that gives access to the Theatre with an expert guide who will lead the guests to discover the Theatre and its spaces: the Foyer, the Theatre, the Royal Box and the Sale Apollinee. At the end of the visit, the guests will be invited to taste a typical Venetian aperitif in one of the Sale Apollinee. The service is available upon reservation in Italian, English, French and German for a minimum group of 12 people. The Promenade through the Theatre lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes. For information and reservations: Tel: +39 041-786673 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. How to get to the Fenice The Fenice can be easily reached by taking waterbus Line 1, which runs on the Grand Canal and has stops at both the train station and Piazzale Roma (which has both parking facilities and buses). Just get off at the nearby stop of Santa Maria del Giglio.

Also well worth seeing near the Fenice are Santa Maria del Giglio Church, San Moisé Church, San Fantin Church and Campo San Maurizio. La Fenice Program Venice La Fenice - 20 Years Ago, Com'era, Dov'era - BlogVenice • 1 Comment Inside La Fenice La Fenice, the beautiful opera house in Venice celebrated 20 years after the fire of 1996. La Fenice lives up to its name (Phoenix) which means “rise from the ashes” as it has been rebuilt 3 times as a result of fire during it’s 200+ years and endured family squabbles and legal battles. It did rise from the ashes from the 1774 fire of the prior theater San Benedetto and survived until the second fire of 1836, a smaller fire, it was reopened within a year. The last and most intriguing was 29 January 1996. The theater was closed due to renovations. The surrounding canals has been emptied of the water needed to fight the fire. And the fire alarm system turned off. A passing policeman spotted the fire and within minutes it had enveloped the theater.

The firemen were stymied without the water and it became apparent quickly that the theater could not be saved but there was a bigger threat: Saving Venice and preventing the spread of the fire through the city. Only the facade and exterior walls survived the flames. When the roof collapsed, the interior with its lavish eighteenth and nineteenth century decor was lost, including the stage curtain hand painted with the Serenissima (Venice) Naval Victory at Lepanto was also desrtoyed. Arson was immediately the talk of the town with connections to the Mafia hinted, but never proved. So many things pointed to arson, the open windows, the location where the fire (or fires) began. The fire alarms had been turned off. Eventually the evidence pointed to the electrical contractors and March of 2001, a Venetian court found the 2 electricians, Enrico Carella and Massimiliano Marchetti guilty. Their motive to destroy this beautiful building appears to have been the heavy fines they were under as a result in delays in the restoration. Carella disappeared before a final appeal was turned down by the court and was arrested on the Mexico-Belize border in February 2007.

Venice, following the motto that it adopted in 1902 when the bell tower in San Marco collapsed, “Com’era, dov’era” (as it was, where it was), committed to rebuild exactly as it was and in the exact location. The reconstruction began in 20016 and in 650 days a team of more than 200 craftsmen succeeded in recreating the beauty of the old theater with about 96 Million Euro. Fortunately, the acoustics were intact. The architect used photographs from Luchino Visconti’s 1954 movie Senso which had been filmed in the theater to replicate the 19th century design. The logistics of construction in the heart of Venice were numerous. Surrounded by dense housing, built over hundreds of years and canals made for many challenges. There was not enough space to produce cement so they constructed a pontoon and moored it in the Grand Canal pumping it through pipes at the bottom of the canals. A plus for the reconstruction is the reopened canal entrance allowing theater guests to arrive by water – a romantic, elegant entrance! Many benefits were held to raise the estimated 96 million Euro needed for the restoration.

The first was Woody Allen, the theater burned just a month before Allen was scheduled to perform with his Dixieland jazz band. The show went on at the nearby Teatro Goldoni and Allen turned over all profits to the reconstruction fund. In 1997, Elton John, part time resident of Venice, performed at Carnegie Hall at a concert to raise money for La Fenice organized by Save Venice. Save Venice also financed the re-creation of the painted ceiling above the theater’s performance hall. The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, certainly never as popular as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, gives a great story of the process, a view into the gossip that is Venice, as he interviews all those surrounding the fire. One of the stories he tells is of Archimede Seguso – Murano Maestro and furnace owner. Seguso’s house was very close to La Fenice and stood by the window all night mesmerized as the theater continued to burn – knowing that his own house was in danger, he never evacuated.

La Fenice Restored The Fiery History of La Fenice | EF Tours Travel Blog | The Equator Paul from EF Wednesday 20 Feb, 2013 The Fiery History of La Fenice Share: Google Back in 1770 Venice was home to an astonishing seven theatres. In 1773 one of these, the San Benedetto, burned down. A decision was made to rebuild the theatre and to make the new building larger, more opulent and stylish than any which had previously existed in the city. The name given to the new theatre was La Fenice (the Phoenix). Out of a public competition around 30 designs were submitted and the winning entry was from Giannantonio Selva, his plans being for a more understated exterior, something which found favour with the citizens of Venice. Selva designed a theatre which, while having grand features, was also sympathetic to the other architecture in the city. Many theatres of the time were standalone, grand statements which were as much to present a statement of opulence as anything else. Selva created a building which had authority but was easily integrated in to its surroundings.

Elsewhere in the city, another theatre (the Regio Ducale) had burned down in 1776 and the now world-famous La Scala was built on the site of that ruin. [dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”raised” width=”570px” height=”70px” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ] In Venice, memorable landmarks convey Italy’s vital role in world history. Check out our Venice, Florence and Cinque Terre educational tour. [/dropshadowbox] La Fenice (Photo by: HarshLight ) La Fenice was inaugurated in May, 1792 with the opera I giochi di Agrigento by Giovanni Paisiello. Immediately, the theatre became recognised as one of the major European venues. In the 19th century the theatre was to become closely associated to the works of the famous composer Rossini (who was born in the year La Fenice first opened).

In 1813, at the age of 21, Rossini’s first major work, Tancredi, was performed at the theatre and catapulted him (and the theatre) to international fame, people would sing arias from the work at public gatherings and his reputation was assured just three years later with the opening of the Barber of Seville. Back in Venice, tragedy was to strike again when La Fenice was destroyed by another fire on a night in December, 1836. It was decided to rebuild the theatre immediately and the brothers Giovanni Battista and Tomaso Meduna were given the job of designing the new building. This time a more elegant and grandiose building was constructed and, amazingly, just one year and two weeks after the fire, the new building opened. This new building was to tally with the career of a new great in the world of composing. Born in 1813 (the year of Rossini’s Tancredi) Giuseppe Verdi was to become one of the great names of Italian opera.

In 1842, La Fenice was home to his production of Nabucco and, over the next 15 years the theatre was to commission five more works from Verdi (including La Traviata and Rigoletto ). Venice’s main opera house might have been La Scala but La Fenice became the place to see many of Verdi’s works including more experimental pieces. La Fenice Emblem (Photo by: dalbera ) La Fenice remained closed throughout World War I but was soon to become a major theatre in the post war years. The theatre became one of the main stages for the Venice Biennale and saw many of the great composers and performers appear there. In 1996 the theatre was, once again, destroyed by fire and this time the cause was arson. Reconstruction began in 2001 and in under two years a team of 200 craftsman succeeded in recreating the old theatre with a seating capacity of 1,000 (previously just over 800).

La Fenice was rebuilt in the 19th-century style using still photographs from the opening scenes of the 1954 film Senso, which was filmed in the house, in order to obtain details of its design. It reopened on 14th December 2003 with an inaugural concert of Beethoven, Wagner, and Stravinsky. The first opera production, fittingly, was Verdi’s La Traviata in November 2004. Critical response to the rebuilt theatre was, unsurprisingly, mixed, with some believing it to be a fake imitation of the past. However, one thing remained true, the phoenix always found a way to rise from the ashes. (Editor’s note: Add Paul on Google+ If you have a question about for EF Tour Director Paul Mattesini, or an idea for a blog post topic, you can email Paul here, and he will answer readers’ questions in future blog posts.) Do you have thoughts, questions, or ideas you'd like to share? Feel free to email us at equator@ef.com .

Take the guided tour - Review of Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy - TripAdvisor Review of Teatro La Fenice Sestiere San Marco 1965, 30124 Venice, Italy (San Marco) +39 041 786607 Teatro La Fenice Tour in Venice See more tours on Viator Fee: Yes Recommended length of visit: 2-3 hours Owner description: This world famous opera house, burned to the ground in 1996, has been rebuilt amongst much scandal and drama: its modern beauty and complex history ensure its place among the most celebrated monuments in Italian history. There are newer reviews for this attraction “Take the guided tour” Reviewed April 22, 2012 The redone interior after the fire of several years ago is a wonderful redecoration of the original. Visited August 2011 Ask LWL3333 about Teatro La Fenice This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC. 2,983 reviews from our community Visitor rating Beautiful old theatre, so pretty! Full of history, def see a show here!

Visited April 2012 Ask omh1 about Teatro La Fenice This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC. WilliamJo “Teatro la Fenice, Venice – never was an opera house more aptly named” Reviewed April 15, 2012 The Teatro la Fenice in Venice was designed by Giannantonio Selva in 1790, and inaugurated in 1792, with the support of the Venetian aristocratic families who formed a consortium of box owners. The name reflects that fact that it was intended to replace the Venetian opera house of San Benedetto that had been destroyed by fire in 1773. On 13 December 1836 the Teatro la Fenice was destroyed by fire, and reconstructed under the direction of two brothers, Tommaso and Giambattista Meduna, an engineer and an architect.

The nineteenth century saw numerous performances of works by Gioacchino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi, not all of them well received, particularly Verdi’s “La Traviata” that in 1853 was greeted with whistling and booing. In 1937, a century after the first reconstruction, the theatre underwent refurbishment. On 29 January 1996, the theatre was burned down a second time, by an electrician (who shall remain nameless) in a futile attempt to get out of the penalty clause in his contract for repair work. Italy was in a state of shock and the city of Venice vowed to rebuild the theatre, opting for a faithful reconstruction of the original. On 14 December 2003, the then President of Italy, Carlo D’Azeglio Ciampi, inaugurated the renascent theatre, with a concert conducted by Riccardo Muti.

A New Year’s Concert has been held every year since 2004 to celebrate the reconstruction, to coincide and to compete with the New Year’s Concert at the Musikverein in Vienna, concluding with the aria from Verdi’s “La Traviata”, Libiamo ne’ lieti calici, a choice that would no doubt have Verdi’s blessing. “La Fenice” (pronounced with the accent on the second of the three syllables) is the Italian for “phoenix” and this theatre has risen miraculously from the ashes not once but twice. While visiting Venice you may be fortunate enough to get tickets for an opera or a concert in this magnificent theatre (see official website below), but in any case you can take a tour with an audio guide in English, French, German, Italian or Spanish every day between 9.30 and 18.00. Admission: 8 euros, students and over-65s, 5.50 euros, free admission for children up to the age of six.

The easiest way to get to the theatre is to start from Campo Santo Stefano, the square just to the north of the Ponte dell’Accademia in San Marco, and follow the signs to the theatre in a side street just off the top end of the square (the opposite end to the Ponte dell’Accademia). The ornately decorated classical interior is a work of great beauty and the extensive use of solid wood in the boxes and the parquet floor, intended to be more fire-resistant than carpeting, ensures a perfect resonance during the performance. This is without doubt one of the world’s finest opera houses. History of La Fenice “Utterly Beautiful!” Reviewed April 12, 2012 I was captivated by a photograph of the interior of La Fenice at a photography exhibition in London last year. I knew then that a visit in person was essential so it was top of my list of things to do in Venice this Easter. I wasn't disappointed! It's all rather grand but nothing prepares you for the astonishing beauty of the main house. Richly decorated, sumptuous, colourful - no words can convey what the eyes can see here.

We were there during rehearsal for La sonnambula and were able to watch from an individual and then the Royal box - what a treat - and opera sung like we've never heard before. La Fenice really is a world class opera house. A totally joyous experience; you will be moved to tears... Visited April 2012 Teatro La Fenice – The Phoenix | pufflesandhoneyadventures Teatro La Fenice – The Phoenix You say you went there? We did, we went to a chamber music concert with Leonidas Kavakos and Dénes Várjon. After three days in Milano and the opera at La Scala, we arrived in Venezia on a Friday morning, wondering if we had to paddle across San Marco square. We spent the time on the Eurostar reading our chosen travel guide and it was warning us about the aqua alta (high water), the result of a combination tides and high winds which cause the Venetian canals to flood. They were recommending high boots! We arrived to discover we could get by without any boots, and, far more importantly, that there was a chamber music concert at Teatro La Fenice on Monday night.

We got a map from the hotel and some directions – apparently it was a straight line all the way to Piazza San Marco. I still can’t find the straight line! But we found the theatre and got the tickets. Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos and Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon (on pianoforte for the performance), added flair to the works of Beethoven (Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 12, n. 2 for violin and piano), Brahms (Sonata in G major, Op. 78 for violin and piano), Szymanowski (Myths for violin and piano, op. 30) and Stravinsky (Divertimento for violin and piano). Leonidas Kavakos and Dénes Várjon Teatro La Fenice has truly lived up to its name, rising from the ashes twice since it was first built in 1792. Facade of La Fenice in 2007 Venice’s association with opera extends back to the very origins of the art form.

More importantly, as a republic, Venice was the location of the first public opera house – the first opera house open to the public, rather than being solely for royal or noble audiences – the Teatro Tron in the parish of San Cassiano, which opened in 1637. The tradition and the many theatres that followed put Venice on the operatic map. In 1752, the Teatro San Benedetto was constructed and it soon became the premier theatre of opera seria in Venice. Comic operas were performed in the city’s other theatres. The Teatro San Benedetto burned to the ground in 1774 and was rebuilt, but in 1787, after a lawsuit, the ownership of the theatre had to be ceded to the owners of the site on which it was built. The new owners quickly raised the capital to build a brand new theatre, the Teatro La Fenice. A competition was announced in November 1789 (as soon as a way around the sumptuary law limiting the number of theatres in Venice to seven had been found 🙂 ). Twenty-eight entries were received and the new theatre promptly began under the direction of winning architect Gian Antonio Selva.

The area was cleared in April 1790 and the theatre completed in April 1792, ready for its inauguration in May. The decoration drew much praise, especially the painted ceiling that depicted the sky and genii. There were two curtains: the first, by Francesco Fontanesi, showed Harmony in a coach drawn by two swans, Venus and Cupid, and three Graces. Personifications of the Arts followed the coach. This curtain was raised at the beginning of the evening and fell at the end. The other curtain was used for the intervals between acts and was by Pietro Gonzaga. It depicted a rotunda with statues of the most famous Greek poets surrounded by priests, the Muses and genii. It was a most effective illusion and caused “admiration and delight”. The foyer was also decorated with frescoes and stucco work. The decoration is generally assigned to the Bolognese School, since the specific details of who was responsible for that were not recorded. Interior of first theatre, 1829 Teatro La Fenice soon became the theatre of Venice.

It saw opera by Simon Mayr, Giovanni Paisiello, Domenico Cimarosa, and several other important opera composers of the day. Napoleon Bonaparte visited the theatre in 1807, and for the occasion Selva created a temporary imperial box (there being no royal box in the initial design). The interior was also redecorated after the visit, and another competition – this time to design a permanent imperial box – was held. The winning concept was Apollo on a coach surrounded by the Muses. This decoration was completed in time for the 1808 season and the new box became the focal point of the auditorium. These decorations did not last and new scenes were painted in 1828. A chandelier also became a feature of the auditorium at this time. There have been too many famous operas premiered at Teatro La Fenice to count. Rossini’s first opera there was Tancredi and the theatre also saw the premieres of his Sigismondo and Semiramide.

Teatro La Fenice produced the premiere of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Il crociato in Egitto, the last opera for which a castrato lead was written – Armando for Giovanni Battista Velluti, the last castrato to appear on the operatic stage. The other theatres in Venice could not compete with the popularity of Teatro La Fenice and turned to the one-act farse that Teatro La Fenice for the most part shunned. Most of these smaller theatres did not survive the 19th century. During the Napoleonic era and long after it, Venice fell under foreign control: Austrian, French and Austrian again. Despite the political upheaval, Teatro La Fenice remained one of the most important theatres in Italy. The company that owned it elected three presidents for three-year terms. Sometimes the theatre was run without impresarios, and sometimes with these charismatic men at the helm. Verdi negotiated directly with the theatre’s president during the production of Ernani and again for Rigoletto and La Traviata, rather than with the impressario.

When Alessandro Lanari was the impresario at Teatro La Fenice in the early 19th century, he was given greater freedoms and managed to secure two Bellini premieres, two Donizetti premieres and one by Verdi. In December 1836, the theatre burned down because of a recently installed Austrian stove. The fire burned for three days and nights, and smoldering fragments were found 18 days later. The season that year was transferred to the Teatro di Apollo. Teatro La Fenice was rebuilt mostly according to its original plans by the Meduna brothers, and the theatre was ready for the opening of the 1837 season. Its decorations were again redesigned, this time by Tranquillo Orsi. The ceiling was now painted with interweaving plants from a central rosette by Sebastiano Santi and Luigi Zandomeneghi. These decorations divided critics: some declared them perfect, while others lamented that the theatre lacked an imposing beauty that the space itself required. More redecorations occurred in 1854. All of these combined various Neoclassical, Baroque and Rococo elements, which some considered successful while others did not.

Interior of La Fenice in 1837 The Venetian opera season usually coincided with Carnival, beginning on December 26 and running until Shrove Tuesday. In 1837, Teatro La Fenice reopened with Giuseppe Lillo’s Rosmunda in Ravenna. This work was chosen to avoid rivalry between Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante. Verdi’s association with La Fenice began in 1844, with the premiere performance of Ernani during the carnival season. Over the next thirteen years, the premieres of Attila, Rigoletto, La traviata and Simon Boccanegra took place there. In 1859, when the Treaty of Villafranca ceded the Veneto region to Austria, the owners decided to close Teatro La Fenice until that situation changed. It reopened in October 1866, when Veneto was reunited with Italy. The economic difficulties of Italy in the second half of the 19th century meant that the quality of operatic productions declined.

However, in 1883, just two months after Richard Wagner had died in Venice, Teatro La Fenice was the first Italian theatre to produce Wagner’s Ring cycle. The new generation of Italian composers after Verdi (Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Alfredo Catalani, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Giancomo Puccini and Gian Francesco Malipiero) essentially passed by Teatro La Fenice. Only Leoncavallo’s La boheme and Mascagni’s Isabeau had their Italian premieres there. The theatre was closed during World War I. In 1937, restoration work mainly involved changes to the foyer and upper rooms; the only alteration to the auditorium was the entrance to the stalls. After World War II, Venice once again became an important city. Its Festival of Contemporary Music saw the reemergence of Teatro La Fenice as a significant theatre for the premiere of new operas.

It premiered both Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and in 1955, it produced the first complete performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel. In the late 1970’s, the festival was renamed Biennale Musica. From this time, several prominent directors ensured Teatro La Fenice’s continuing reputation as a first class opera theatre, among them Mario Messinis, Carlo Fontana and Italo Gomez. Gomez led the movement for revivals of bel canto repertoire and neglected works such as operas by George Frederic Handel, Verdi’s Stiffelio and the original version of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. In January 1996, Teatro La Fenice was once again destroyed by fire. Soon after the fire, all necessary rescue work was completed to secure the building remains so that they would not collapse. A competition was held to design the reconstruction, which was won by Aldo Rossi (who died not long after, in a car accident in 1997).

However, the rebuilding of the theatre did not begin until 2001, the same year that two electricians, Enrico Carella and Massimiliano Marchetti, were found guilty of arson. Interior detail Interior detail Delays and lawsuits led to replacement of the firm that was to carry out the work, but after 650 days and 90 million euros, the theatre was reconstructed “as and where it stood”. A great deal of time was spent early in the project on researching all the details of the theatre, to ensure that everything will be recreated “as it was, where it was”. The architects relied heavily on photographs from the film Senso by Luchino Visconti, which featured scenes that were filmed in the theatre. The work on the reconstruction was around the clock, and the same 19th century materials were used: papier-mache, wood and plaster for all the ornamentation. The architects wanted to recreate the original theatre, particularly its specific technical solution based mainly on the use of wood, carefully chosen and treated to obtain the best acoustic response. The rebuilt theatre split the critics once again: some were satisfied with the building, while others considered the acoustics poor and the restored colours too gaudy.

Interior of La Fenice in 2015 Interior detail However, the reconstruction allowed seating to be increased to 1,000, the original water entrance from the canal facing the theatre to be restored and the backstage area to be improved, as well as adding air conditioning and sound proof rehearsal rooms under the theatre – and these alterations ensured the return of Teatro La Fenice to its rightful place in the operatic firmament. Teatro La Fenice reopened in December 2003 and its first opera was Verdi’s La traviata in November 2004, 151 years after the opera first premiered there in March 1853. Share this: Ten theatres that burned to the ground - Telegraph Theatre Features Ten theatres that burned to the ground 400 years after The Globe was destroyed by fire, Lucinda Everett remembers other theatres that suffered the same fate. Globe Theatre at Southwark London where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed. Photo: Alamy Follow 1. The Globe, London Today marks 400 years since The Globe burned to the ground.

The theatre was built by William Shakespeare ’s company the King’s Men in 1599, when a lease dispute left them without a permanent home and for fourteen years allowed Londoners to watch Shakespeare’s creations for as little as a penny. But in 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, wadding from a stage cannon ignited the thatched roof and the theatre burned to the ground in less than two hours. There were no casualties among the 3000 spectators, only reports of one man whose trousers caught fire but who was saved from serious injury when a friend doused him with a flagon of beer. Within a year, the theatre was rebuilt with a tiled roof and remained in use until 1642 when all theatres were closed under England’s Puritan administration. It was demolished in 1644 before being rebuilt with its original thatched roof in 1997 by director, actor and producer Sam Wanamaker. 2. Theatre Royal, Exeter Perhaps the most tragic theatre fire in Britain’s history occurred in 1887 when Exeter’s Theatre Royal burnt down during an evening performance.

The blaze was caused by a piece of scenery, which was ignited by a gas burner and fell onto the stage, setting the auditorium alight. In the stampede that followed, the theatre’s badly arranged exits left many trapped and despite efforts from audience members and passers-by (one visiting army officer named Scattergood returned to the fire repeatedly to drag people free until he was burned to death) around 200 people were killed. Many of the victims were from the city’s poorer areas and had bought reduced price tickets for the second half of the play only. Around 100 children were orphaned that night. The theatre, which had been built to replace the New Theatre, which had burned down two years earlier, was rebuilt in 1889 and the tragedy prompted many advances in theatre fire safety, most notably the introduction of safety curtains. Related Articles The fire-ravaged remains of Venice's La Fenice (© STR New / Reuters) 3. La Fenice, Venice Inaugurated in 1792, Venice’s opera house, La Fenice, was built to replace the San Benedetto Theatre, which burned down in 1774.

The new theatre was named La Fenice , meaning ‘the phoenix’, to symbolise its rise from the ashes and was loved by Guiseppe Verdi so much that he chose it as the venue for the first nights of five of his operas, including La Traviata. Sadly, the theatre would be reduced to ash twice more in its lifetime: once in 1836 and most recently in 1996 when two electricians started a fire to avoid being fined for delays in rewiring work. Venice’s former mayor pledged that the theatre would be rebuilt exactly as it was by 1999, but contract disagreements, builders’ strikes, and the challenges of building in Venice’s narrow streets meant that completion was delayed until December 2003. The first opera production to be staged in the new theatre was, fittingly, La Traviata. 4. Theatre Royal, Glasgow The title of Theatre Royal has been bestowed on many buildings in Glasgow over the years but sadly seems to be synonymous with fires.

The Theatre Royal on Queen Street opened in 1805 but burned down in 1829, while the Theatre Royal in Dunlop street, which opened in the late 18th century was destroyed by fire in 1840, 1849, and 1863. The Bayliss's Coliseum and Opera House, which opened at the top of Hope Street in 1867, became the Theatre Royal in 1869, with a royal charter granted by Queen Victoria but was damaged by fire in 1879, 1956 and again in 1970. This particular blighted theatre is said to have two ghosts: Norah, a cleaning lady who reportedly threw herself off the balcony following a bad audition, and a fireman who died in one of the blazes and now haunts the orchestra pit. The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego (Nikreates / Alamy) 5.

Old Globe Theatre, San Diego A triumph of community spirit over the odds, the Old Globe, which was built in 1935 as a temporary theatre for the California Pacific International Exposition, was due to be demolished once the event was over, but was saved by a fundraising group of theatre enthusiasts. During the Second World War the theatre was used by the Navy, with the theatre group continuing to perform in other locations but by 1947 the company was back in its home. In 1978, an arsonist ignited a velour curtain draped over a rear stage entrance door and the theatre was destroyed prompting the largest fundraising campaign in San Diego’s history. Car washes, cake sales, TV telethon’s featuring Globe alumni and large corporate gifts contributed to the $6.5 million needed not only to rebuild but reinvent the Globe. The new Globe complex opened in 1982, staging shows all year round with a new company of largely professional actors. 6. Tonle Bassac Theatre, Cambodia Cambodia’s former national theatre, designed to resemble a huge ship on the banks of the Bassac river, opened in 1968.

Staging a varied programme including folk dance, bassac opera, spoken theatre and acrobatics, the venue thrived until Pol Pot’s rule sent its artists fleeing from Cambodia. During the 1980s, the Ministry of Culture lured many theatre practitioners back to the venue and a cultural revival had begun but in 1994, while the theatre was being renovated, a fire thought to be caused by sparks from welding work reduced the theatre to a shell. At the time of the fire, the building was not insured and despite the cultural minister's appeal for $12 million to rebuild the theatre, and numerous proposals since, the theatre has never been restored. The shell of the lobby, however, is still used for Khmer classical dance practice. A 19th-century coloured engraving of Las Ramblas and the Liceu Theatre (left) in Barcelona (Alamy) 7. Liceu Theatre, Barcelona Built in 1847 on Barcelona’s bustling Ramblas boulevard, the opera house in which Montserrat Caballe and Jose Carreras began their careers has been razed by fires twice in its lifetime.

The first was in 1861 but the theatre was quickly rebuilt thanks to its shares being sold to the city’s culture-loving bourgeoisie. The second was in 1994, when a spark from a solderer’s torch ignited some scenery and sent 100 people fleeing onto the Ramblas. This time, the families who had owned the previous theatre cashed in their insurance policies, while also agreeing to give up their ownership and traditional rights to boxes, but 8000 other individual Barceloneses also contributed. The new theatre, which is three times the size of the old building and spreads backwards into the underprivileged Raval district (around 90 small properties were bought up and their owners relocated during the rebuild) opened in 1999 with a performance of Puccini's Turandot, the same opera that was due to be staged the day after the theatre burned down. 8. Brooklyn Theatre, New York One of the worst theatre fires in New York’s history took place in December 1876 when the Brooklyn Theatre caught fire during the last act of a performance of The Two Orphans.

The stage manager first noticed the fire, which started when a border was ignited by one of the border lights, but since it was small, the curtain was raised and the final act began while two carpenters were sent to deal with the flames. As the blaze grew, the actors took the phrase ‘the show must go on’ to new levels of foolishness, urging the audience to stay calm and seated, with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reporting that one actor told spectators, “There is no danger; the flames are a part of the play.” Eventually panic broke out and the audience fled the auditorium but for many, particularly those in the top gallery, which was served by only one staircase, it was too late. Around 300 people died in the disaster and a common grave was created in Green-Wood Cemetery for around 100 unidentified victims. Derby Playhouse (Andrew Woodyatt) 9. Derby playhouse Derby may not have a theatre at all were it not for the efforts of a tenacious group of drama fanatics. In 1948, unsatisfied with the city’s lack of theatrical venues, they took matters into their own hands, converting a dilapidated schoolroom into a private theatre club.

Four years later, having staged both professional and amateur productions, the group decided that city also needed a public theatre and set about transforming a former Baptist Sunday School into Derby Playhouse. The theatre opened in 1956 but just four years later, while the theatre was portentously staging a drama called The Wick And The Wax (the following week a production called High Temperature was due to open), a night-time fire reduced the building to a roofless shell. Not to be deterred, the thespians rebuilt the theatre in just over a year, reopening it with a new symbol above its door: a phoenix. 10. The Red Barn Theatre, Ontario The Red Barn was Canada’s oldest summer theatre until it burned to the ground on the year of its 60th anniversary. Built in 1883 by the Sibbald family, the wooden barn in the rural hamlet of Jackson’s Point was converted into a theatre in 1949 by a group of actors, who chipped in money to build the set and begged props and furniture from the locals.

In the theatre’s early years, the company drove around the area in a hay wagon rounding up audience members, but its popularity soon grew and the venue became a proving ground for some of Canada’s most successful actors. In 2009, a fire whose cause is still a mystery, razed the theatre to the ground. The company rallied and held their 60th anniversary season in a nearby rented theatre but in April 2010, the Red Barn folded. Hugh Sibbald, whose great great uncle built the barn, hopes to one day restore it with the help of a local trade school.

Question: Where is the opera house "La Fenice" that reopened in 2003 after its second fire in just under 200 years?
Answer: Venice