The
Teatro Sociale of Bergamo, ordered with the intent of elite opposition to the more "popular" Teatro Riccardi in Lower Town (later Teatro Donizetti), began as Theatre Company, on ' wave of competition between the City and Borghi as secessionist initiative by the Society of Nobles, with the specific intent to repay the City the supremacy that the new pitfalls theater (1) .  |
| circa 1890. Bergamo, Teatro Riccardi before processing in Teatro Donizetti |
arguments, since, as a matter of priority and prestige. Dispute on the edge of the duel, even, so that the count Grumelli Pedrocca was tasked to establish the shift of the two rooms: the Social performances in Carnival time. Al Riccardi, in time of the Fair.
A deputation theatrical elected by the company of the Theatre (formed March 3, 1803), dealt with the choice of location, acquisition and preparation of land and the Committee of a draft (dated December 1803), for which he was appointed the architect Leopoldo Pollack (student of Piermarini, designer of the Scala of Milan), chosen as indicative of the competition is clearly not only in terms of music, but also in terms of architecture.
to build the theater, was converted into a specific site nell'edificatissima High City, pursuing a determined policy of a hasty purchase, demolition of existing buildings and constructions, not always sealed by the necessary governmental approvals .
Work (2) began with Pollack at the end of 1804 and ended in 1808 under the auspices of Bottani Antonio, who had replaced after his death in 1806.
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| Teatro Sociale |
Opened the December 26, 1808, following a custom consolidated within the ramparts The social insurance for many years the ' carnival entertainment for nobles, patricians and burghers of the City (whose season was about to begin on December 26 of each year) , clotted for many generations the heart of artistic and cultural life within the walls .
Particularly active until just over half the 800 , with the termination of municipal financing (the famous dowry , abolished in 1856 because of economic difficulties due to war and political events of those years), Outreach began to face a growing economic difficulties , which sometimes caused him to fall back on the prose (the spoken theater was considered to lower rank), or on events of secondary importance (already in 1864 took place only a few concerts for students of the Conservatory of Milan).
All, however, not always prevented him from fielding more operatic performances of great importance.
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| Joseph Berlendis, aquatint, 1840 |
Moreover, the Austrian domination are witnessing an acceleration of the 'emancipation of Lower Town at the expense of that high, with the construction of the Porta Nuova propylaea e della strada Ferdinandea , ma soprattutto della stazione e del relativo collegamento ferroviario con Milano (1857) e, nel 1872, col trasferimento del Municipio . E nonostante l’apertura della funicolare (1887), migliorerà i rapporti tra le due parti, le fortune del Sociale tenderanno ugualmente a declinare. Emblematico in questo senso fu la sostanziale marginalità del Sociale alle celebrazioni donizettiane del 1897, che ebbero invece nel Riccardi e Città Bassa centro e sfondo.
Agli inizi del nuovo secolo, with a few glorious gasp (1915, 1921, '22 and '24), the openings of the Social became more and more sporadic: the last operas took place in 1929 , with The Barber of Seville by Rossini , while the latter shows date back to 1932 , then was left to an inexorable decline, a sort of reflection of the decline of cities as high as driving force of social and cultural life of Bergamo .
The subsequent history is marked only from demolition projects, adventurous intentions to reuse and continuous changes in ownership. This and the abandonment and degradation are becoming più preoccupanti, almeno fino all’acquisizione dell’immobile da parte del Comune di Bergamo ( 1974 ) e ai lavori di manutenzione straordinaria e messa in sicurezza compiuti tra il 1978 e il 1981 .
Da allora, lo spazio ha ospitato soprattutto esposizioni (mostre d'arte e varie manifestazioni culturali), sino all’inizio dell’intervento di restauro, intrapreso per iniziativa del Comune di Bergamo a partire dal 2006.
Il restauro e il recupero del teatro alla destinazione originaria attestano oggi una nuova centralità di Città alta , e l’ormai raggiunta integrazione of both entities city: the old city and the suburbs grew at its feet.
ACTIVITIES 'OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY SOCIAL
the wake of the competition with the Teatro Riccardi in Lower Town, Outreach was memorable performances during the opera's musical high-profile authors, such Rossini, Verdi, Ricci, Ponchielli, Mayr Donizetti and his pupil, often accompanied by known performers (in this regard is reminiscent of the best seasons between 1809 and 1840).
important were the performances of new works for Bergamo : in the first year of activity Social Mayr with ' Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung , in 1798 and in 1860 , Pacini with Stella di Napoli . The hall of the Social
also shared with the Verona Philharmonic Theatre the honor to christen the 'before' the Italian Rogues of Verdi , data simultaneously in both rooms starting from 26 December 1847 , a privilege granted to the 'square' in Bergamo, which is thought to have played a role Alfredo Piatti (which not only took part in the 'first' londinese dell’opera, il 22 luglio 1847, ma per il quale Verdi aveva concepito il Preludio come pagina per violoncello concertante).
Anche i balletti e la prosa ricoprirono un ruolo rilevante grazie alla presenza di importanti compagnie, tra gli spettacoli di teatro parlato, va menzionata ( 1816 ) la farsa del grande Farinelli , L’effetto naturale .
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Ritratto di Johann Simon Mayr |
Among other initiatives, there was also revived the title of a recent but now 'classic' of its catalog as Geneva Scotland that Mayr was revised by replacing or adding new 'numbers'. Even in the years following
Mayr participated directly in some of the carnival season , as happened, for example, 1819, when his Lodoiska was enhanced recovery of new songs he has written for the occasion. The following year he even debuted its new work specially commissioned Alfred the Great king of the Anglo-Saxons , for which he received in February 1820 the friend complimented Malanotte Adelaide.
Even school students musica di Mayr, nel corso degli anni andarono a coprire ruoli più o meno significativi nei cartelloni del Sociale : fra gli altri, in qualità di cantanti vi troviamo Gaetano Donizetti , che subentrò come secondo buffo ad un certo punto della stagione di Carnevale 1814 .
Il Sociale godette altresì del prestigio - non comune ad altri teatri di pari livello nel corso dell'Ottocento - di proporsi come committente di opere ad autori affermati: quella per il suo battesimo - Ippolita regina delle Amazzoni -, affidata a un compositore come Stefano Pavesi che nel giro di pochi anni si era affermato sul mercato italiano; in 1820 to Mayr ( Alfred the Great), who still haloed despite many years Rampant 'cyclone Rossini'.
Pollack could only partially adopt new strategies that were beginning to spread in those years prevented by the narrow street Corsarola to retrofit the building facade monumental portico, columns or whatever would have helped identify a theater at a glance - as was the scale Piermarini - he had to settle for una facciata elegante sì, ma senza soluzione di continuità con i palazzi limitrofi . Solo gli elementi decorativi, attinenti al mondo delle arti teatrali, attestavano la sua natura di luogo deputato a pubblici spettacoli.
Nonostante ciò, col suo prospetto elegante e decorato, il Sociale si presentava all’esterno con tratti di dignità ben diversi dal Riccardi che, visto da fuori, dava l’idea di un pachiderma goffo e sgraziato.
L'INTERNO
Pollack decise per un teatro all’italiana, with multiple tiers which carried out the need for public visibility the aristocratic classes and their hierarchical relationships.
The planting of audience, Pollack chose not to repeat the dominant plant in the shape of a horse at the time, opting instead for a more refined and elegant oval-shaped mold francesizzante .
The combination of this shape with the vertical development of the boxes is perhaps the most original aspect of the project .
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| Plant structural |
The hall was decorated by Vincenzo Bonomini, and Francesco Lattanzio Querena Pirovani. The boxes
The 86 boxes are distributed on three levels were , which insists on fourth order gallery. Pollack designed the wooden railings of the boxes according to a continuous line, as Piermarini had done for the scale, and it emphasizes the horizontal dimension of the rows of boxes (rather than vertical clear cutting in a model derived from the balcony Bibiena) e conferisce alla forma complessiva della sala una armoniosa uniformità di impronta classica .
I parapetti lignei erano ricchi di decorazioni policrome , spesso sgargianti, come i colori delle pareti interne ornate talvolta anche con finti marmi, e in contrasto con i materiali poveri della pavimentazioni e delle volte a calce.
I RESTAURI DEL 2006-2009
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| Progetto di restauro e messa a norma del Teatro Sociale |
L’intervento di restauro, completato nel maggio del 2009, consegna alla città a fully restored historic theater to its original theatrical vocation.
works director, and designer of the recovery was the 'architect Nicola Berlucchi , which underlies the entire project to a 'harmonious mediation between history and modernity, with the specific intent to maintain the historical and cultural characteristics of the theater, thus including all the original decor and functionality provided 800.
Social Return to its original theatrical vocation has also meant the establishment of a modern stage machinery with a new stage in which it was inserted steel structure (flies) composed of arches, weighing 35 tons, a reinforcement of the existing wood. The orchestra pit
was equipped with a mechanical platform (mobile pit), with the ability to move the plan based on three levels with respect to the audience.
were implemented recovery first three rows of boxes (a total of 550 seats), dissected by new partitions, according to the original design.
hath been done also to the strengthening of wooden parapets of the boxes, which were made discrete using a retouching job cabinet making, fixing and protection of the decorations and shooting gaps.
hath been carried out with a wooden remains of painting and also with regard to the pillars and ceilings.
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| antlers and the decorations in the finished work (photography and high definition) |
For the fourth order, the gallery was provided the static consolidation, to make it in the future through simple steps to complete, readily available public access.
In place of the old dome, which had collapsed because of bad weather, we opted for a wooden trusses, which allows better acoustics and is also more attractive to a coperchione on which they had to run fake paintings and decorations.
A true gem, unique, returned to the city.
To facilitate access to the theater to a broad range of categories, was recently established the House of Arts , putting the theater as cultural space at 360 degrees over the opera, music and dance, Outreach also hosts multimedia performances, conferences and exhibitions.
NOTES
(1) For the events on - inter alia - the quarrel between the two theaters, see The quarrels in the Riccardi Theater and the Teatro Sociale, the two faces of Bergamo.
(2) During construction, some members of the delegation theater had the singular and futuristic idea to instruct the famous organ builder Joseph Bergamo Serassi , to design a stable audio equipment for the new theater, which was a organ registers in imitation of the various orchestral timbres , which increases when for all the sound volume of the orchestra, like the modern musical demands required. The function of this instrument so innovative (for projects which will Serassi also consulted with the composer Mayr), would be to release at least in part, the orchestra's sound volume on the number of musicians employed. The investment would contribuito a contenere i costi generali di gestione. Proprio mentre a Bergamo si accarezzava la stessa idea, Mälzel nel 1803 a Vienna aveva ideato e costruito il Panharmonicon (un organo provvisto di registri a imitazione orchestrale), che presentò l’anno successivo nella capitale imperiale, e nel 1807 a Parigi. Si pensi che per un suo prototipo del 1812 ampliato e perfezionato, nel 1813 Beethoven scriverà la prima versione del Wellingtons Sieg, e che il ricordo di questo strumento, o di quello omonimo realizzato da Gurk a Vienna nel 1810, giungerà fino a Balzac tramite il suo consulente musicale. L'aver concepito una simile idea, che alla fine non venne realizzata, is certainly significant.
(3) It was one of his first Italian performances, if not the first integral, was accompanied by a true 'theater program ', as we understand it today , saw the collaboration between professionals, the ' orchestra, (more or less the same of the most important functions of S. Maria Maggiore ) and students of the newly music school founded and directed by Mayr, and open in 1806 including the children of the Conservatory, including Gaetano Donizetti .
With its initiative, Mayr was intended for educational purposes (it was a 'work has great educational value) and philanthropy (the establishment of a solidarity fund for musicians, the Music Institute Pio), a view of the former pupil of the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt and enlightened advocate of educational ideals, which in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy were fertile.
References
Paolo Fabbri, Two Cities (from Teatro Sociale di Bergamo. Life and Works of Louis Pilon). Pdf
Teatro Donizetti
Discussion
THEATRE OF SOCIAL BERGAMO
