The Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli is an

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

located in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.Lynn, pp. 19-20 For more than 250 years it has been that city's primary venue for opera and other theatrical presentations. The original theatre, built in 1747, was named the Teatro Nazari, but it was renamed as the Teatro della Società in 1785. It was sometimes referred to as the Nobile Associazione. After the original theatre burned down in 1806, construction began on the present theatre soon after. The current theatre was designed by Luigi Canonica and it opened in 1808 under the name the Teatro della Concordia. Its name was changed again to the Teatro Ponchielli in 1907 after the famous native of Cremona,

Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera La Gioconda (opera), ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro ( ...

. In 1986 the theatre was purchased by the city of Cremona which renamed it once again as it is known today. The opening performance took place on 4 October and featured performances on the city-owned

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

"Il Cremonese" and

Guarneri The Guarneri (, , ), often referred to in the Latinized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati ...

"del Gesu" violins of 1715 and 1734 respectively. With its original horseshoe-shaped auditorium, the theatre was remodeled in 1989 to create three box tiers and two galleries with a total of 1,249 seats.

References

;Notes ;Sources Lynn, Karyl Charna, ''Italian Opera Houses & Festivals'', Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005

External links

Official Website of the Teatro Ponchielli

Theatres in Lombardy Buildings and structures in Cremona Theatres completed in 1747 Music venues completed in 1747 Theatres completed in 1808 Music venues completed in 1808 18th-century architecture in Italy 19th-century architecture in Italy {{opera-struct-stub