The Teatro Lirico (known until 1894 as the Teatro alla Canobbiana) is a theatre in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...

, Italy. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it hosted numerous

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

performances, including the world premieres of

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...

's ''

L'elisir d'amore ''L'elisir d'amore'' (''The Elixir of Love'', ) is a ' (opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's ' (1831). The opera premiere ...

'' and Giordano's ''

Fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

''. The theatre, located on Via Rastrelli, closed in 1998. However, a restoration project was begun in April 2007, and it has finally re-opened in December 2021 as the Teatro Lirico

Giorgio Gaber Giorgio Gaber (), byname of Giorgio Gaberscik (25 January 1939 – 1 January 2003), was an Italian singer, composer, actor, and playwright. He was also an accomplished guitar player and author of one of the first rock songs in Italian ("Ciao ti ...

. Stage Entertainment carried on the renovation of the Theatre, completing all finishes and all workings started by the administration "Comune di Milano".

History

The

Teatro Regio Ducale The Teatro Regio Ducale (Italian, "Royal Ducal Theatre") was the opera house in Milan from 26 December 1717 until 25 February 1776, when it was burned down following a carnival gala. Many famous composers and their operas are associated with it, ...

, the court theatre of the

Royal Palace of Milan The Royal Palace of Milan (Italian: ''Palazzo Reale di Milano'') was the seat of government in the Italian city of Milan for many centuries. Today, it serves as a cultural centre and it is home to international art exhibitions. It spans through ...

, was destroyed by fire on February 26, 1776. With the city deprived of its only theatre,

Giuseppe Piermarini Giuseppe Piermarini (; 18 July 1734 – 18 February 1808) was an Italian architect who trained with Luigi Vanvitelli in Rome and designed the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1776–78), which remains the work by which he is remembered. Indeed, "il P ...

was commissioned to design and build two new theatres on land surrounding the Palace. The church of Santa Maria della Scala was demolished to build the

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

. A second theatre was built nearby, on the site of the Scuole Cannobiane and was called the Teatro alla Canobbiana. The Teatro alla Scala was intended for the more aristocratic audiences, while the Cannobiana was considered the theater for the public at large.Il Mirino
article on the Teatro Cannobiana, 18 novembre 2014 – by Carlo Radollovich. It was inaugurated on August 21, 1779 (a little more than year after the opening of La Scala) with an

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarch ...

. Like La Scala and many Italian opera houses of the time, it was built in a horseshoe shape, surmounted by a cupola, with four tiers of boxes and a gallery (or ''loggione''). For nearly a century it was Milan's second opera house. By the 1880s, with the increasing lack of public funds and fewer and fewer private subscriptions, the Teatro alla Canobbiana had fallen on hard times. In 1894, it was taken over by

Edoardo Sonzogno Edoardo Sonzogno (21 April 1836 – 14 March 1920) was an Italian publisher. A native of Milan, Sonzogno was the son of a businessman who owned a printing plant and bookstore. When he inherited the business upon his father's death he set ab ...

and renamed the Teatro Lirico Internazionale, although it is normally referred to in Milan simply as the Teatro Lirico. The theatre continued to be used for opera, ballet, and plays into the 20th century, but was taken over by the city of Milan in 1926, after which it was increasingly used for public assemblies. It was in the Teatro Lirico that

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

made one of his first public speeches in 1921 and his last public speech and radio broadcast in 1944. The building was badly damaged by a fire in 1938, but was repaired in time to host the 1943 season for La Scala after its own theatre had been largely destroyed by the American aerial bombardment of Milan during World War II. Theatrical performances, and public meetings resumed after the War, and for a period in the 1960s, the Teatro Lirico was the home of

Giorgio Strehler Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an actor, Italian opera and theatre director. Biography Strehler was born in Barcola, Trieste; His father, Bruno Strehler, was a native of Trieste with family roots in Vienna and died ...

Piccolo Teatro di Milano The Piccolo Teatro di Milano (translation: "Little Theatre of the City of Milan") is a theatre in Milan, Italy. Founded in 1947, it is Italy's first permanent theatre, and a national "teatro stabile", or permanent repertory company, and is consid ...

. In 1998, facing financial difficulties, Milan could no longer afford to run the theatre, and in the absence of outside funding, it was closed. In April 2007, after several false starts, work was begun to renovate and modernise the theatre while keeping the Piermarini facade and the basic design of the original interior. When it re-opens, it will be called the Teatro Lirico

in honour of the Milanese singer, songwriter, actor and playwright who had frequently performed at the Teatro Lirico from the early 1960s until its closure in 1998. The renovated theatre will also house the archives of the Fondazione Giorgio Gaber.

World premieres

Opera

's ''Il talismano'' – 21 August 1779 *Vaccai's ''Romeo e Giulietta'' – 31 October 1825 * Pugni's ''Il Disertore Svizzero'' – 1831 *

's '' Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali'' (two-act version) - 20 April 1831 *Donizetti's ''

'' – 12 May 1832 *

Cilea Cilea or CILEA may refer to: * Consorzio Interuniversitario Lombardo per l'Elaborazione Automatica, academic consortium in Italy * Francesco Cilea Francesco Cilea (; 23 July 1866 – 20 November 1950) was an Italian composer. Today he is parti ...

's ''

L'Arlesiana () is an opera in three acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Leopoldo Marenco. It was originally written in four acts, and was first performed on 27 November 1897 at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. It was revised as a three-act oper ...

'' – 27 November 1897 * Giordano's ''

'' – 17 November 1898 *

Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera ''Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained hi ...

's ''

Zazà ''Zazà'' is an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with a libretto by the composer. The story concerns the French music hall singer, Zazà, and her affair and subsequent decision to leave her lover, Milio, when she discovers that he is married. The mu ...

'' – 10 November 1900 *Cilea's ''

Adriana Lecouvreur ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' () is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1849 play '' Adrienne Lecouvreur'' by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. It was first performed on 6 November 1902 ...

'' – 6 November 1902 *Giordano's '' Marcella'' – 9 November 1907 * Lehár's ''Gigolette'' – 30 December 1926

Ballet

* Ponchielli's ''Il genio della montagna'' February, 1874

References

Notes

Sources

* *Cevolani, A., 1999, ''Le Scuole Allievi Ufficiali della Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana durante la RSI: l'esperienza di Fontanellato'', Università degli Studi di Milano
Doctoral Thesis
(accessed 24 May 2007) *Colussi, P., 2002, 'Palazzo Reale dagli Spagnoli ai Savoia'

(accessed 24 May 2007) *Fondazione Giorgio Gaber

'Nasce a Milano il Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber', April 19, 2007. (accessed 24 May 2007) *Piano, R., 1995, ''Torino: la stampa racconta l'operetta'', Università degli Studi di Torino
Doctoral Thesis
(accessed 24 May 2007) *Zonca, P. 'Il Lirico sarà la casa di Gaber', ''La Repubblica'', 31 December 2005. Further Reading *Cambiaghi, M. 1996, ''La Scena Drammatica Del Teatro Alla Canobbiana in Milano (1779–1892)'', Bulzoni. {{Authority control Music in Milan Theatres in Milan Theatres completed in 1779 Tourist attractions in Milan