It descends, through numerous transformations, from the oldest theater in Spoleto, the “Teatro Nobile”; the construction works of the Teatro Caio Melisso di Spoleto began in 1657 when the Accademia degli Ottusi managed to obtain a space in an extremely interesting urban location, between the Opera della Cattedrale and the church of Santa Maria della Manna d’Oro.
Finely decorated, the Teatro Caio Melisso di Spoleto contains interesting 19th-century paintings made by the Perugian Domenico Bruschi. Its particular location, inside piazza del Duomo di Spoleto, makes the visit even more evocative.
In its current appearance, the Teatro Caio Melisso is the work of Giovanni Montiroli, 1877-1880, who corrected the horseshoe curvature of the hall to improve visibility for the audience, and built three tiers of boxes, demolishing the old wooden structures. The Perugian painter Domenico Bruschi decorated the ceiling with Apollo and nine Muses, interspersed with lunettes with floral compositions topped by monochrome putti, and the curtain displaying the Apotheosis of Caio Melisso. The theater is dedicated to the Spoletan friend of Mecenate, trusted librarian of Augustus, writer, playwright, grammarian, Caio Melisso.
The Teatro Caio Melisso was restored in 1958, after a long abandonment, on the occasion of the first edition of the Festival dei Due Mondi, with a complete revision of its fundamental structures. Interest in theatrical activity has always been very lively in Spoleto, which in the seventeenth century gave birth to numerous playwrights including Campello, Castelli, Lauri, Luparini, and Vittori, as well as Giovanni Gherardi, the progenitor of one of the most famous genealogies of Harlequins and commedia dell’arte actors.
In 1817 Gioacchino Rossini participated, as a double bass player, in a performance of L’Italiana in Algeri, just in time to admire the beautiful 18th-century decorations which were partly destroyed and partly stolen in 1819 by unknown Florentines. Source: MIBACT
Information about Teatro Caio Melisso
Piazza Duomo,
06049 Spoleto (Perugia) 0743 2181
Email: sandro.frontalini@comune.spoleto.pg.it
Internet: https://www.comunespoleto.gov.it
