This theater stands in San Lorenzo on the area once occupied by the Teatro dell'Accademia degli Intrepidi, then by the Teatro degli Obizzi, built by Carlo Pasetti and inaugurated in 1660 on the occasion of the arrival in Ferrara of Cardinal Frasone, the new Legate, with the Dafne by Pio Enea degli Obizzi. The ancient Teatro degli Obizzi, after 1674, following the death of Pio Enea, remained inactive for some years and was destroyed by fire in June 1679. The ruins remained in place until the first decade of the nineteenth century, when they were removed to complete the San Paolo bridge. The area thus liberated gave rise to Piazza Nuova, later named after Giuseppe Verdi, on which the Tosi Arena was built Borghi. Since 1855 the Community Council of Ferrara had discussed the possibility of providing the city with a stable daytime arena or theatre, which was needed as until then only temporary venues had been used for this purpose. The following year, the project for the construction of an arena for public daytime entertainment was approved, presented by Giulio Tosi Borghi, chief engineer of the Teatro Comunale, who had already built a temporary arena in the past. On 14 June 1857, with a show given by the Chiari dramatic company, this arena was inaugurated, uncovered with a circular stall protected by a railing and a loggia. The following year it was covered by a curtain, later by a real roof and equipped with a second loggia supported by wooden columns. However, a first radical restoration was carried out only in 1871, on that occasion the wooden columns were replaced with cast iron ones and two years later it was equipped with a new curtain painted by Giuseppe Migliari. In 1912 the Arena was acquired, through public auction, by new owners who entrusted engineers Faust Finzi and Antonio Mazza with the transformation of the structure into a real theatre. The stage (equipped with spacious dressing rooms) and the hall were enlarged and, after the traditional railing was demolished, boxes and boats were erected. The first tunnel was built as a cantilever with a rounded parapet while the second was made deeper. The new blue and gold curtain matched the tapestries, and an "advertising curtain" was also introduced. The construction of the skylight was entrusted to the Polish Guido Marussig, the decorations in white and gold stucco (currently no longer present) were the work of the Venetian Lina Zanetti and the Ferrarese Cleonte Chianarelli; from the foyer there was access to a new café and an elegant smoking room. The new theater was named after Giuseppe Verdi, the centenary of whose birth it was, and inaugurated with the staging of Aida on 13 May 1913. Very active until the Second World War, it then inexorably fell into disuse until its definitive closure after being It was used for some time as a cinema and for vaudeville. In the nineties the Municipality of Ferrara purchased it, starting a complex restoration project with the aim of converting it into an auditorium, based on indications suggested by the maestro Claudio Abbado. Structural consolidation has currently been carried out. (Lidia Bortolotti)
Information on the Giuseppe Verdi Theater in Ferrara
Via Castelnuovo, 6,
44121 Ferrara (Ferrara)
Source: MIBACT
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