Teatro San Samuele was 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 ...

and theatre located at the

Rio del Duca Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

, between Campo San Samuele and Campo Santo Stefano, in Venice. One of several important theatres built in that city by the

Grimani The House of Grimani was a prominent Venetian patrician family, including three Doges of Venice. They were active in trade, politics and later the ownership of theatres and opera-houses. Notable members Notable members included: * Antonio Grim ...

family, the theatre opened in 1656 and operated continuously until a fire destroyed the theatre in 1747. A new structure was built and opened in 1748, but financial difficulties forced the theatre to close and be sold in 1770. The theatre remained active until 1807 when it was shut down by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

ic decree. It reopened in 1815 and was later acquired by impresario Giuseppe Camploy in 1819. In 1853 the theatre was renamed the Teatro Camploy. Upon Camploy's death in 1889, the theatre was bequeathed to the City of Verona. The Venice City Council in turn bought the theatre and demolished it in 1894.

History

One of the most important Venetian theatres of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Teatro San Samuele was constructed in 1656 through a commission made by the

family a year earlier. Initially the theatre was used primarily for plays but in the 18th century the house became more closely associated with

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

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 ...

. The famous playwright and librettist

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays ...

notably served as the theatre's director from 1737 to 1741, and many of his works were premiered at the theatre during his career.Nicola Mangini. ''I teatri di Venezia'', Mursia, 1974. The original Teatro San Samuele was destroyed by fire on the last night of September 1747. A new theatre was built in almost identical design and opened in May 1748 as opulent competition for the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo. The new theatre became associated with the

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''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'', ''dramma bernesc ...

repertoire, as the Grimani family preferred to stage

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

and other more dramatic works at their other theatre, the

Teatro San Benedetto The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's ''L'italiana in Algeri'', and was the th ...

(built 1755). At the end of the 18th century, the Teatro San Samuele lost much of its former prestige. In 1770 the Grimani family had been forced to sell the theatre due to the economic crisis that hit the Venetian aristocracy. The theatre continued to operate until 6 April 1807 when it was ordered closed by a

ic decree which also shut down the

Teatro San Cassiano The Teatro San Cassiano (or Teatro di San Cassiano and other variants) was the world's first public opera house, inaugurated as such in 1637 in Venice. The first mention of its construction dates back to 1581. The name with which it is best known co ...

, the

Teatro San Angelo The Teatro San Angelo (in Venetian) or Teatro Sant'Angelo (in Italian) was once a theatre in Venice which ran from 1677 until 1803. It was the last of the major Venetian theatres to be built in the 1650s–60s opera craze following Teatro Santi G ...

, and the

Teatro San Luca Teatro Goldoni, formerly Teatro San Luca and Teatro Vendramin di San Salvatore, is one of the opera houses and theatres of Venice which today is the home of the Teatro Stabile del Veneto. The theatre building is located near the Rialto Bridge in t ...

. The San Samuele and the San Luca were re-opened after a 21 April 1815 Austrian decree. In 1819 the Teatro San Samuele was acquired by

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

Giuseppe Camploy. With the exception of the 1840s when performances were sporadic, the theatre remained continuously active until Camploy's death in 1889. In 1853 the theatre was renamed as the Teatro Camploy. In the third edition of Murray's ''Hand-book for travellers in northern Italy'' (1847) Sir

Francis Palgrave Sir Francis Palgrave, (; born Francis Ephraim Cohen, July 1788 – 6 July 1861) was an English archivist and historian. He was Deputy Keeper (chief executive) of the Public Record Office from its foundation in 1838 until his death; and he is ...

reported "It is a pretty theatre well adapted for hearing. Opera buffas are performed here" ''Hand-book for travellers in northern Italy'' y sir F. Palgrave? Murray - Page 362 1847 In his will, Camploy bequeathed the theatre to the City of Verona. The Venice City Council bought it and, after demolishing the theatre in 1894, built the A. Scarsellini elementary school on the former site of the theatre.

Selected premieres

* ''L'Artaxerse'',

dramma per musica The phrase ''dramma per musica'' (also spelled ''drama per musica''; Italian language, Italian, literally: 'play (or drama) for music', plural: ''drammi per musica'') is commonly found after the title in Italian opera librettos beginning in the ...

in 3 acts, music by Carlo Grossi,

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Aurelio Aureli Aurelio Aureli (Venice, before 1652 – id. after 1708) was an Italian librettist. Life Little is known about Aureli's life. He began his operatic career in 1652 with ''L'Erginda''. Until 1687, he worked as a librettist mainly in Venice, excep ...

, 28 December 1668. * ''Scipione nelle Spagne'', dramma per musica in 3 acts, music by

Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera co ...

, libretto by

Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 – 11 November 1750) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a Kingdom of Candia#Establishment_of_Venetian_rule, colonial branch of the ...

, 25 May 1724. * ''Dalisa'',

, music by Johann Adolf Hasse, libretto by Domenico Lalli after Nicolò Minato, 17 May 1730. * '' Griselda'', dramma per musica in 3 acts, music by

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

, libretto by

after

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...

, 18 May 1735. * ''La contessina'',

pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, ...

, music by

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

by Goldoni, 1743. * ''La ritornata di Londra'',

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The g ...

in 3 Acts, music by

Domenico Fischietti Domenico Fischietti (1725–1810) was an Italian composer. He was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatory of Sant'Onofrio Porta Capuana under the leadership of Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante. His first opera, ''Armindo'', premiered in ...

, libretto by Goldoni, 7 February 1756. * ''Catone in Utica'', opera seria in 3 Acts, music by

Florian Leopold Gassmann Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774) was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of ''dramma giocoso'' immediat ...

, libretto by

Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Met ...

, 29 April 1761. * ''L'idolo cinese'', dramma giocoso in 3 acts, music by Giacomo Rust, libretto by Giovanni Battista Lorenzi, 28 December 1773. * '' Le gelosie villane'', dramma giocoso in 3 Acts, music by

Giuseppe Sarti Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer. Biography He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729 and he passed away on 28 July 1802. Som ...

, libretto by Tommaso Grandi, November 1776. * '' Giannina e Bernardone'', dramma giocoso in 2 Acts, music by

Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Music of Italy, Italian composer of the Neapolitan School and of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il ...

, libretto by Filippo Livigni, Autumn of 1781. * '' La morte di Cesare'', opera seria in 3 Acts, music by Francesco Bianchi, libretto by Gaetano Sertor, 27 December 1788. * ''Il servo padrone'',

in 2 Acts, music by

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the ...

, libretto by Caternio Mazzolà, 17 January 1794. * ''L'accademia di musica'', farsa per music in 1 Act, music by Simon Mayr, libretto by

Gaetano Rossi Gaetano Rossi (; 18 May 1774 – 25 January 1855) was an Italian opera librettist for several of the well-known ''bel canto''-era composers including Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Saverio Mercadante in Italy and Giacomo Meyerbeer in on ...

after F. Albergati Capacelli, 24 November 1799. * '' Pietro il grande'',

in 2 Acts, music by

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

, libretto by Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini, 26 December 1819. * ''Marco Visconti'', opera seria in 2 Acts, music by Antonio Pedrocco, libretto by Nicolò Foramiti after

Tommaso Grossi Tommaso Grossi (20 January 179110 December 1853) was an Italian poet and novelist. Biography Grossi was born in Bellano, on Lake Como, and graduated in law at University of Pavia in 1810. He then went to Milan to exercise his profession but the ...

, 16 April 1853.

References

{{authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1656 San Samuele Theatres completed in the 1650s Theatres completed in 1748 Music venues completed in 1656 Music venues completed in 1748 Buildings and structures demolished in 1894 Demolished buildings and structures in Italy 18th-century architecture in Italy

History

Selected premieres

See also

References