Il teatro Morlacchi, the city’s main theatre, is located in the historic center of Perugia in Piazza Morlacchi, adjacent to the University of Letters and Philosophy. In 1777, the city’s bourgeoisie, led by Annibale Mariotti, decided to build a new theatre in response to the nobles who had built the Teatro del Pavone; to do this, ninety families established the “Società per l’edificazione di un nuovo teatro,” which bought an old convent of nuns and entrusted the project to the Perugian architect Alessio Lorenzini, who equipped the theatre with a horseshoe-shaped hall and five tiers of boxes for a total of twelve hundred seats. The ceiling and the curtain were decorated by Baldassarre Orsini, while Carlo Spiridione Mariotti created the sixteen cameos on the vault and the medallions with Icarus sacrificing to Bacchus, Dramatic Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, and the Pastoral Fable; Giovanni Cappelli decorated the box railings and painted a Bacchic scene on the proscenium ceiling, while the stuccoes were made by Giovanni Battista Cronici. In 1874, the theatre was completely renovated and reopened with the premiere of Aida. The renovation was carried out by Francesco Moretti and Matteo Tassi, Lucio Angeloni, and the architect Guglielmo Calderini, while Mariano Piervittori executed a new allegory on the ceiling depicting the Arts and Letters and illustrated in tempera on the curtain a local history theme depicting the Return of Biordo Michelotti to Perugia in 1398. The theatre has hosted actors of great caliber, such as Irma Gramatica, Virgilio Talli, and Oreste Calabrese. The theatre’s activity continued until the early 20th century but declined during the Fascist years, eventually being requisitioned by the Germans during the occupation of the city, to stage performances for their soldiers. At the end of the war, the theatre was seriously damaged, so the Municipality, to which it was ceded, financed restoration work between 1951 and 1953, consisting of rebuilding the roofs, modifying the stage, the proscenium arch, and the marble flooring in the atrium and foyer. Currently, the theatre has 785 seats. The stage measures 20 meters wide and 10.5 meters deep. The proscenium opening is 10.5 meters wide. Francesco Giuseppe Baldassarre Morlacchi (Perugia, June 14, 1784 – Innsbruck, October 28, 1841) was an Italian composer and operatic writer. He was one of the main promoters of the spread of Italian opera abroad.
Information about Teatro Morlacchi
Piazza Francesco Morlacchi, 19
06121 Perugia (Perugia)
075 57542213
morlacchi@teatrostabile.umbria.it
https://www.teatrostabile.umbria.it
Source: MIBACT
