“Both national and foreign architects were invited to propose the form of a theater… the most satisfying to the eye and ear of the spectators…”. La Fenice was born from this competition announcement for the construction of a new theater, which was wanted to be large and important. One of the most prestigious theaters in the world. It was November 1789, XNUMX and the Noble Society of Palchettisti had wanted it because in those years it had found itself ousted from another important Venetian theatrical institution, that of San Benedetto. The name was chosen immediately, Gran Teatro La Fenice, like the mythological bird able to rise from its ashes.
The direct reference was to the rebirth of the Noble Society ousted from another important theater. In reality it would have become a very guessed and prescient reference. In fact, the Phoenix has risen twice in its history from its ashes. A first after the serious fire that destroyed the theater in 1846. A second exactly 160 years later. It was January 29, 1996. That night the flames left standing only the skeleton of the theater which was rebuilt under the motto of "as it was and where it was". The same one who had led the reconstruction of the bell tower of San Marco after the collapse of 1902. The "new" Fenice was inaugurated in December 2003 with a concert by Riccardo Muti and in the presence of the then president of the republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
The inauguration of the La Fenice Theater on May 16, 1792 with I giuochi d'Agrigento by Alessandro Pepoli
Already in 1789 the clients asked the designers to pay particular attention to the use of materials such as wood, which is essential but which in some way had to be protected from any exposure to fire with "ready and easy repairs". Twenty-eight studies were presented, nine competing architects, the winner was the architect Giannantonio Selva. The theater should have been worthy of a capital “where Palladio, Sansovino, Sammicheli, Scamozzi and other valentuomeni of the Bel Century have left such illustrious monuments”. This is what the clients indicated in the announcement. So it was. La Fenice Theater was inaugurated on May 16, 1792 with Count Alessandro Pepoli's I Giuochi d'Agrigento. Non-random date. That 16 May was in fact the feast of the Sensa, the Ascension. An important religious appointment. In Venice also the day in which the rite of the wedding with the sea still takes place today.
"This anniversary must be the birthday of the rebirth" so the superintendent Fortunato Ortombina
Just in these days, as then, the Teatro La Fenice is experiencing a new renaissance. Yet another of the many that it has lived in its history. The superintendent and artistic director Fortunato Ortombina. “This anniversary must be the birthday of the rebirth, once again. In that 1792 La Fenice was already reborn from another theater. Then it has risen again many times. From fires, from high water, from wars. It was closed for years during the third war of independence, it was closed for five years during the first world war…. Each time it started again. In this past year we have not been bombed but society has been devastated. Many people will no longer be able to come to the Phoenix because they lost their lives with this pandemic. So this will be the birthday of rebirth once again ”.
The concert, for young people, dedicated to Verdi and the Teatro La Fenice
The Teatro La Fenice's birthday will be remembered through social media. This year it was not possible to do more. “They had also thought - he adds orthombine - to postpone the reopening to 16 May. Then we felt it was essential to reopen on April 26, as indicated by the minister. And it was a strong signal to organize this first concert dedicated to Verdi and La Fenice, in compliance with all safety regulations, for children, for young people, as we did. There were only two hundred tickets, we had thousands of requests. We can just say that we did not reopen the theater but these young people who did everything to participate. Unfortunately in very small numbers. These are the rules at the moment ”.
The current capacity of the theater and is reduced to one third of what the normal availability of the theater. “I think it will stay that way until security measures change, I don't think until mid-June. The problem is linked not only to the seats of the spectators but also to the fact that increasing the spectators means giving less space to the workers. To the orchestra, choir, singers, forcing them to gatherings that would be against the provisions of health protocols. We hope that by going ahead with the vaccination campaign we can arrive in a short time, a month, a month and a half, to finally make a show in a more normal condition. We are ready to increase even one spectator per day, according to what they will indicate and it will be possible to do".
Meanwhile, happy birthday at La Fenice Theater. Which in its long artistic history has seen many world premieres of works by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi. And in more and more recent times, world premieres of Igor Stravinskij, Benjamin Britten, Sergej Prokofiev, Luigi Nono, Bruno Maderna, Mauircio Kagel, Adriano Guarnieri, Luca Mosca, Claudio Ambrosini.
(ph credit: La Fenice Theater Foundation, Michele Crosera)
