Il Teatro Nuovo di Ferrara was first inaugurated on January 3, 1926 with the comedy by Umberto Giordano La cena delle beffe. The construction of the hall took place between 1920 and 1926, while the facade was completed in 1931. The project is attributed to the engineers and architects Sesto and Adamo Boari, who were brothers. In designing the theater hall the two made use of experiences gained in the construction of buildings outside national borders, for example in Switzerland, Mexico City, and other American locations; for the Teatro Nuovo they created the “Boari sound curve,” a successful outcome of experiments on acoustics conducted in major European theaters, without neglecting the rich theatrical tradition of Ferrara. Righini wrote in the “Corriere padano” on the eve of the inauguration: “Before, I can say I had never seen it, because what I had seen once, three or maybe four years earlier, was the skeleton of the building: an impressive skeleton in the large iron ribs that joined around a powerful framework, a kind of industrial building framework. Last night something completely different: a wonderful harmony of light and profiles. I could only recall what was masked by cement, lime, and stuccos shaped with the taste of the best Renaissance.” The theater hall has an elliptical shape, two orders of open and superimposed galleries with very sober decoration, consisting on the first order of a balustrade with small columns and on the second order of a continuous band decorated with stucco bas-reliefs in late Art Nouveau style. Slender columns support the arches of the third and last order boxes, from which the ribs of the umbrella-shaped roof with a skylight at the center start. The proscenium arch, supported by slender columns adorned with capitals, features four proscenium boxes. In 2005 the theater was closed as it required essential works for compliance with safety regulations, restoration of the original features, and repair of walls and stalls, as well as reopening of the summer dome. Currently the theater functions as a multifunctional center for both theatrical and cinematic shows, with a cafe and a shop on the ground floor, a characteristic gallery with shop windows from which one accesses, through the foyer, the theater hall furnished with characteristic red velvet seats and painted in beige and cream tones; on the first floor there is also a Liberty-style restaurant. The facade is very sober and articulated on two levels, with a portico on the ground floor; on the second floor there are two large round-arched windows separated by pilasters, and it is topped with a thin cornice. After completion of the upgrading and restoration works, the theater reopened on September 26, 2009 with the “SoundFe” festival, a series of trendy musical meetings. (Lidia Bortolotti)
Information about Teatro nuovo di Ferrara
Piazza Trento Trieste, 52,
44121 Ferrara (Ferrara)
Source: MIBACT
