Alessandra Farinelli Toselli in her extensive essay on the Teatro Comunale di Ferrara rightly emphasizes the significant importance of this city in the evolution of the stage space. From the first stagings at the court of Ercole I d’Este, to Ariosto’s comedies, gradually up to the 17th century which was marked in this field by the presence and work of extraordinary personalities. Giovan Battista Aleotti, who designed the Teatro degli Intrepidi in 1604 and worked here as a scene technician until 1628, Francesco Guitti, Alfonso Rivarola known as il Chenda, who worked in the field of stage apparatuses serving Borso Bonaccossi, and finally the set designer Carlo Pasetti who in 1660 took care of the remodeling of the Obizzi theatre. With these premises, she does not intend to identify a continuity between the scenic experiences at the Estense Court and the architectural features of the current Teatro Comunale, but rather to highlight the experimental and innovative character that links episodes that are quite different from each other, and the relationship established each time between the space intended for the show and the urban space. (cf. Fiocchi 1984, p. 93) The long and troubled realization of this particular building took place in decisive years for the typological definition of the “Italian-style” theater space. On the one hand, the theater asserts itself as an autonomous architectural structure at the service of the city, on the other (the Baroque scheme of the box hall is now established) the perfect theatrical hall form is sought, in order to allow the best enjoyment and maximum acoustic and visual pleasure for all spectators, mitigating as much as possible the defects inherent in the cellular arrangement of the space. Antonio Frizzi in Memorie per la storia di Ferrara, summarizes very effectively the events that followed around the first construction phase of this theater. “Since 1773 our fellow citizens had been eager to have a theater, public and larger and more elegant than the two old and only ones remaining in this city belonging to the Noble Families Bonacossa and Scrofa. The Legate Borghese tried to gather the necessary money through a lottery, but he failed. The successor Cardinal Carafa, urged to consider this matter, committed himself as usual. He had a design made by our talented young architect Giuseppe Campana, and having fixed the location in one of the best points of the city, he forced the owners of the buildings existing there to cede them to the Community at a fair price. Since then he foresaw that the owners, among whom was the Apostolic Chamber itself, would appeal in Rome, which could have delayed or even forever blocked the project, before a postal period elapsed from the day of the notified cession, the night before April 19, 1786, by torchlight, he began the demolition of the buildings, so that those who had luck to send complaints to Rome to save them, unable to do it in time, had to be content with the price. Then he began to find ways to make the necessary money, and he found them ready with the effectiveness of his absolute commands. Work was already going fast, the interior part was almost only missing the roof, and the foundations of the exterior were already prepared, when suddenly Cardinal Carafa was unexpectedly recalled to Rome” (cit. Frizzi 1848, V, p. 232-233).
It should be specified that Cardinal Borghese, welcoming the requests of citizens eager to have an adequate theater, commissioned the project around 1773-1775, both to Cosimo Morelli and Antonio Foschini. At the same time, it seems that the most suitable site for erecting the new theater was already identified, the same that would be subject to expropriations operated by Cardinal Carafa. It was the so-called Isola del Cervo, located opposite the Estense Castle at the beginning of corso Giovecca, site of some workshops and the main post station with attached stables (owned by some Ferrarese aristocrats and largely by the Apostolic Chamber). This area had the advantage of being sparsely populated and as central as possible. In compliance with the dictates according to which the theater had to be located in the city center, urbanistically in close relationship with the buildings housing power and those most significant to social life (Cf. Farinelli Toselli 1993, p. 267).
In 1778 the energetic Cardinal Carafa was called to lead the Ferrara Legation, to whom, among other things, the ‘decency’ of the city was especially dear, therefore a new theater more in line with the citizens’ needs would have represented the rightful crowning achievement of the restoration works he had initiated. What followed is well described in the above-mentioned passage by Frizzi. Upon the arrival of the new Cardinal Legate, Spinelli, the theater construction site stopped and Campana’s work was heavily investigated. Initially, shortcomings in financial management were noted, then his work as designer and director of works was questioned, pointing to defects in the building (elevated up to the roof). From this moment furious controversies and disputes, including legal ones, began, involving distinguished characters, called as experts and consultants (Piermarini, Valadier, and Stratico) and designers (Marchelli, Morelli, and Foschini). Recent studies have clarified two important issues regarding this building. Firstly, much of the structure already built under Campana’s direction was reused. According to the advice of Valadier, Stratico, Piermarini and even Morelli himself, introducing some improvements including the extension of the stage and modification of the cavea profile, which had to be elliptical. Secondly, the different contributions as designers of Foschini and Morelli have been identified. Within a collaboration imposed from above and never accepted, Cosimo Morelli acted as a supervisor, contributing with continual checks of various work phases and concrete design suggestions, while Antonio Foschini is to be regarded as the actual builder of this theater. The theater, the fruit of many disputes, was rightfully judged from its origin as the most harmonious and well-designed in our peninsula. It represents the synthesis of the experiments that in the 17th and 18th centuries had invested the theater in its entirety. From the research on the harmonic effect of the hall (not coincidentally one of the most insidious disputes between Foschini and Morelli was about the choice of the elliptical line to adopt), to the great attention reserved for its urban setting and relationship with the city. “The presence of the theater in the city is imposed not certainly in a monumental key, as contemporary experiences would have suggested, but by the dialogue of the two sides of the building with the street and the square, by the interpenetration between external and internal space realized in the so-called ‘rotunda’, the elliptical inner courtyard intended for the flow of carriages which entering from the portico opposite the castle could flow onto the Giovecca.” (cit. F.Fiocchi 1984, p. 94) In fact, the relationship between theater and urban space is realized through an effective corner solution characterized by stylistic uniformity of side and facade. The main facade, characterized by seven arches inserted in a rusticated order, is not imposing at all and, also for economic reasons, was designed without decorative elements. While outside this theater refuses to declare its functions, internally it realizes a distributive organization of spaces in harmony with those contemporary and famous of the Scala in Milan and the Fenice in Venice. Analyzing Foschini’s project, it can be noted that both the hall and the very large stage are richly endowed with numerous accessory rooms well arranged. At the service of the public are the large rooms of the Ridotto, once intended as a ballroom therefore equipped with an ‘unusual balustrade’ for the orchestra, other adjacent small rooms, and a ‘trattoria’ and ‘shops’ located in the basement under the stalls defined as “grotta”. The cavity of the hall carefully studied (see Foschini’s Dissertazione sulle curve teatrali) is characterized by an elliptical plan with four orders of boxes with balconies protruding relative to the supports and the gallery, a lowered vaulted ceiling, and above all by the elimination of the cumbersome architectural proscenium with related boxes. The architectural separation between hall and stage is thus less marked thanks to two very simple pillars supporting a semi-elliptical arch. Another element of interest is constituted by the materials and construction techniques used, employing a particular brick as thin as wood could have been, from the very light structure of the ceiling to the cambered profile of the boxes, in order to achieve a good harmonic effect. Finally, the stage structure, treated in the smallest details, was built according to schemas and canons already established at the time, with additional improvements from Foschini. Since its inauguration, held in September 1798 with The Horatii and the Curiatii from Portugal, the theater has been subjected to several restorations and embellishments. The original decoration, made by Serafino Barozzi in collaboration with the quadraturist Santi and with Zuliani, was replaced during the first restorations carried out in 1825-1826; the commission was given to Angelo Monticelli who painted on the vault the Apotheosis of Ariosto. The creator of the current decorative apparatus is Francesco Migliari. In 1833 he was commissioned a new curtain on which he would depict Orlando handing the shield to Rinaldo, with a view of Ferrara in the background. In 1845 Migliari, helped by Gaetano and Girolamo Domenichini and Davia, created a new decoration for the current Ridotto. This brings us to 1849-1851, years in which the theater underwent significant restorations and embellishments. On this occasion, Migliari worked on the vault, his last grand enterprise. The new decorative arrangement provided, besides the friezes, four scenes of the life of Julius Caesar: Oath on the Altar of the Fatherland; Promulgation of the agrarian law; Gift to the Praetorians of the lands of the vanquished; Laying of the first stone of the temple of Mars. The patriotism of the era is probably the inspiration for the chosen subject symbolizing the sacredness of the Fatherland, the healthiness of ancient customs, civilization and economy, and finally Mars the god of war who must bring back united Italy. (Cf. Farinelli Toselli 1993, pp. 276-279, to which we refer for greater knowledge of the theater’s decorative apparatus and the changes made during the nineteenth century).
During these ‘re-embellishments’ structural restorations were also carried out, the most significant being those in 1849-1851 as the entire theater was in urgent need of restoration. In our century, despite the carrying out of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance works (such as the installation of the electrical system and the creation of the mystical gulf), no major works were performed until the early 1960s. In 1940, part of the premises annexed to the theater were occupied by German troops and staging commands, as well as by evacuees, this caused severe degradation of the entire complex. After the war, the theater opened sporadically until 1956 when it was declared unfit for use and therefore closed. Engineer Carlo Savonuzzi, entrusted with the restoration, carried out the intervention with deep knowledge of the historical stratifications and recovery and replacement techniques. The considerable scope of work completed between 1961 and 1964 mainly involved the ‘aula’ part of the theater. In summary, modifications were made, respecting the original lines, to the entrance hall and the Ridotto (formerly used as a recreational club) which was suitably reorganized to serve functions pertaining to the theater. Furthermore, the historic curtain and Migliari’s decorations were restored, furnishings were redone, the gallery was renewed, and the so-called “grotta” under the stalls was modified to include toilets. Finally, floors, stairs, the stage floor, systems were renewed, and a fire curtain was installed. In 1987 the latest important restoration began (mostly completed) directed by architect Giulio Zappaterra and associates from Ferrara. The work concerned the so-called pertinenze of the Teatro Comunale and above all the adaptation of the entire plant to current safety regulations, which in this specific case required a considerable amount of interventions difficult to implement given the historical and typological characteristics of the building. This was the occasion to recover all those environments which, although part of the theater, were unused or destined for incongruous activities and therefore forbidden by regulations. Thus, rooms for dramatic and musical rehearsals, administrative offices and management, caretaker’s accommodation, carpentry, and props workshop were created. With the advice of an international expert, some refined interventions were also carried out to improve the acoustics of the hall, already good, which became necessary when maestro Claudio Abbado accepted to establish in Ferrara – after London, Vienna, and Berlin – the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The theater carries out an activity of excellent and very intense and diversified level. (Lidia Bortolotti)
Information about Teatro Comunale di Ferrara
Corso Martiri per la Libertà,
44121 Ferrara (Ferrara)
Source: MIBACT
