Ski-doo Tundra Trouble

The quarrels between the Teatro Riccardi and the Teatro Sociale, the two faces of Bergamo

G. Manzini, Plant City and Suburbs external to it, 1816

There was a time when the walled city on the hills was called Town and the Villages at his feet .

seems that among the inhabitants of the "two" city ran a sort of antagonism: in the initial part of the Perdues Balzac's Illusions - apart from place names and features of the landscape - has been identified (6) a ' very eloquent and striking analogy with the reality of that time in Bergamo.

"Angoulême is an ancient city, built on top of a sugar-loaf rock overlooking the plains where the Charente flows. From the Périgord this rock is adjacent to a long hill that abruptly stops on the way from Paris to Bordeaux, forming a sort of cape lined by three picturesque valleys. [...] At the time this story took place there, the government tried to push the city toward the Périgord building down the hill to the palace of the Prefecture, a naval school, the military buildings, streets and drawing. But trade was developed elsewhere. Dell'Houmeau a long time the village had grown like a mushroom farm at the foot of the rock and the edge of the river along which runs the Paris-Bordeaux road great. [...] Traffic, mail, hotels, the carters and their workshops, public companies of cars, all activities of living of the road and river, regrouped at the foot of Angoulême to avoid the difficulties of the entrances. [...] The dell'Houmeau suburb became a city so rich and industrious, a second Angoulême jealous that the city remained high where the Government, Bishop, Justice, aristocracy. [...] Top Nobility and Power, Money and Trade in the bottom two social areas everywhere increasingly in conflict, it is difficult to guess which of the two cities hate more than her rival. "

In Bergamo, the dominance of the Church's culture, the weakness of the municipal authorities and local contrasts within the noble class conspired to prevent the building of a permanent theater for a long time. His absence, however, does not threaten the development of spectacular activities in precarious structures and occasional , and the consolidation of two separate seasons theater, the Carnival and Fair in August , located in areas where naturally Bergamo is in two parts, respectively City High and Borghi .

While in City , political and administrative seat of power, there were reports of theaters "stable" , though born with pre-existing spaces obtained in other vocation - stowed in private or public buildings - in the enclosure of the Fair , - The level of traffic - had gone crystallized over time, including the traditional secondary activities connected with, such as' entertainment industry, theater system based on the construction of temporary buildings .

During the festival S. Alessandro, patron saint of the city, held every year between August and September, an event of considerable commercial importance, the Fiera di Bergamo , also known abroad since the Middle Ages, especially for trade in livestock, wool and silk. It occupied a large square in Bergamo Bassa, the new offshoot of town that had been created in pianura, avente pressappoco come confini la Piazza dei Baroni a nord (in parte dov'è attualmente la Piazza della Libertà), il Sentierone a sud, l'asse Largo Belotti - Chiesa di S. Bartolomeo a oriente e Piazza Cavour - inizio via Venti Settembre a occidente.

Piazza Baroni in tempo di Fiera

Secondo la toponomastica attuale, naturalmente: allora il luogo si chiamava genericamente Prato (in tempi antichi era adibito a pascolo) e vi si ergeva la Fabbrica della Fiera , un insieme di baracche di legno in cui i mercanti esponevano le their goods, replaced in 1740 a permanent brick building designed by Gian Battista Caniana.

A famous poster of the traditional Fair of Bergamo

In each city, was primarily in the squares that were housed shows and entertain a variety of , which in good seasons revolved around in preference to the fairs, a place of high influx of foreigners, also recalled the invitation of dall'allettante theatrical posters, just as it was also at the Fiera di Bergamo, where the period dedicated mainly to the shows coincided with the August fair, featuring a full calendar of events.

Within the enclosure of the Fair stood some temporary wooden theaters, called provisional since demolished and rebuilt at the end of the season, responded with the material in special storage, the next season. So it was
theaters ephemeral, ephemeral sites where, at the regular theater, there are also the most varied forms of entertainment: from masked to mimic and comic performances, from puppets to the circus, the exhibition of exotic animals the performances of the charlatans and the jugglers, the tournament works in which music, of all the shows were off the field: since the ' work in music had been invented (2) are probably the 'bait more appetizing.

During the eighteenth century therefore, the fruitful combination of Opera and Fair was well known and practiced in Bergamo : or rather, in its Borghi . The moment of transition
( 1740) from wood to masonry of commercial installations in Lawn Fair , sealing the final movement of the headquarters of the economy by the City on the hill to the villages in the plain, is an eloquent indicator social dynamics in place, and new balances : Fair, with its Surrounding areas, is now become the centerpiece of the city, meeting place is the center of gravity of the social and urban between the ancient city on the hill and the new city that expands beyond the Muraine.

Thus, that in 1786 in socializing center space, Bortolo Riccardi (belonging to a family Bergamo lively and resourceful, enriched with the production and trade of silk), took the initiative to replace the existing temporary theater (the Teatro Bolognesi, a circus-theater built in wood, built in this area in 1770) a building stable part brick and part wood , definitely reinforcing the link Fair- Theatre.

just as had happened in Lugo, Riccardi also designed therefore to build a building from scratch "in the lawn Sant'Alessio. Or where the show is done." Indeed, it had to be so complementary to commercial installations, to be perfectly situated aligned with respect to them (the theater was placed between the Muraine and Sentierone, they use) "in the prospectus and Rastello half across the street to the door of Grace" In short, a sort of extension of their appendix, as shown exemplarily a plant of the early nineteenth century.

troubled were the events (3) linked to this project of 1786: the completion of the construction of masonry in August of 1791 there was the inauguration and remained open until, in January 1797, was destroyed by fire.
Meanwhile, in City functioned theater Cittadella (all'interno del Palazzo del Capitano), che restò aperto sino al gennaio 1797 , anch'esso distrutto da un incendio pochi giorni prima. (4) . 

1890 circa. Bergamo, il Teatro Riccardi prima della trasformazione in Teatro Donizetti 

Ma com'era il nuovo teatro - ora Teatro Riccardi - inaugurato il 24 agosto 1791 ?
Aveva una facciata intonacata preceduta da un piccolo portico , very different from the monumental facade of the present day, el 'internal , designed by Francesco Lucchini , had the classic form with boxes Italian (originally three tiers of boxes plus a loggia, with reconstruction after the 'Fire of 1797 will add another lodge), the ellipses plant, measures around the perimeter of m. x 58 m. 35, the audience long m. 21.40, off the proscenium m. 15.30.
For distribution and harmony - says a witness of the time - can be considered among the best of Italy.

years after the opening, the theater functioned regularly allowed periods (Spring and Summer, as well as the Fair), but, as mentioned, in 1797 the theater was destroyed by fire . The flames ate up all the wood parts of the night ' January 11, and the fact he had suspicions of implications because it seems that the accident was not entirely accidental but caused by people who had an interest in creating unrest in the turbulent moment of transition from the Venetian domination French domination (4) .
Il Riccardi, che aveva avuto delle noie per le sue idee favorevoli a Bonaparte, ora che i Francesi avevano portato a Bergamo un soffio di libertà, pensò a ricostruire con sollecitudine il suo teatro. Tanto più che Bergamo, in quel frattempo, era completamente priva di teatri e doveva ricorrere a (sfortunate) stagioni in baracconi provvisori.
La municipalità decise per conto suo la costruzione di un locale per spettacoli in Città alta, chiamato Teatro Cerri (nel Palazzo della Ragione, attivo dal 1797 al 1807), ma si tratta ancora di una costruzione in legno; il rinnovato Teatro Riccardi invece venne ricostruito interamente in muratura and again by the architect Gianfranco Lucchini, resources more imposing than before, adorned with paintings of chiaroscuro Bono, one of the most original painter of the period between the eighteenth and nineteenth century (but in connection with the work of Restoration of 1870 as its contribution to the theater is lost).

Bergamo, nineteenth century. The theater Riccardi (Luciana Guerrero)

Theatre Riccardi was opened on June 30, 1800 with a show of prose. So ended a century, the eighteenth century, and he opened another. In the early nineteenth century, namely, after the victory of Marengo, Napoleon dominated the European scene. He was born
the Second Cisalpine Republic and the French troops garrisoned Bergamo. Al Teatro Riccardi you gave performances of various kinds, including ballet and other performances in honor of the new rulers.

fact is that the company's economic Riccardi clashed with the claims of privilege and great nobles, who had to sell the antlers ( 1790) to collect the sum necessary to complete the building .
And in that regard, so complained Bortolo Riccardi:
"Some few gentlemen ill Sofer, that it 'time exclusively to the City, where they have their homes, exercised in the Village Theatre with misuse, and the expense of the Town Theatre , studied the way you want to disable the Riccardi to open his, and called by them called the most Palchettisti, heard with their adherents, and riding with a petition to persuade groped mischievously ambiguous March 31, 1802 did not want to pay any Riccardi canon of their box, so its remaining theater without any dowry, then had necessarily to remain closed. "
(in: Ermanno Comuzio, Teatro Donizetti I, Two centuries of history, Bergamo, Lucchetti 1990).

It was whether or not the obligation to pay royalties for the seasons out of the fair, which broke out in 1802 , a dispute that led "many of the major families eager to preserve the luster to the City was still in possession of the play in the season that " to unite and build - at their expense - " a second in vivo rival Teatro del Teatro Riccardi " (from a report of 1817).

Riccardi The initiative of the entrepreneur - a man alien oligarchy town - from the time the immobility of the upper town, had in fact significantly unbalanced the balance between the two joints urban rivals in favor of the foothills . His, in fact, was the first permanent theater citizen, a specially erected building for theater and independent , while any previous theater spaces housed in Bergamo was born with pre-existing other vocation, the stable foundation of that theater sanctioned the very real role played by the villages than in cities.

Theatre Riccardi was in fact very popular and appreciated. The writer Stendhal , presente a Bergamo come sottotenente di cavalleria dell'esercito napoleonico, scrive a casa che la nostra città ha due teatri: uno molto bello nel borgo, che è la Bergamo situata in pianura, e l'altro in legno sulla piazza della città (ossia di Città alta: si tratta del Cerri ).

 Luoghi di spettacolo in Città Alta (da Francesca Fantappiè, "Per i teatri non è Bergamo sito")

Sull'onda della competizione tra la Città e i Borghi, il Teatro della Società - inaugurato il 26 dicembre 1808 - nasceva dunque (5) come iniziativa secessionista da parte della costola aristocratica del Riccardi, con il preciso intento di restituire alla Città quella supremazia che il questi le aveva insidiato.

La competizione si palesava anche sul piano estetico, a partire dalla scelta del progettista (L. Pollack): nonostante si prospettasse su di una via piuttosto angusta (lo spazio era stato ricavato attraverso una serie di demolizioni), elegant and decorated with his statement, the Social appeared outside with very different traits of dignity by Riccardi that, seen from outside, gave the impression of an elephant awkward and clumsy.

The elegant foyer

Looking at the billboards Social and Riccardi of the show with music in their peak seasons, the spirit of 'emulation beginning shines clear: the two rooms immediately enter into competition work on the ground between 1810 and 1814 , Feeding and reflecting at the same time the situation conflict exists between the inhabitants of City and the Village of . In this regard, the Milanese '"Corriere delle dame" of 12 January 1812, announced:
" This city is divided into high and low, is now competing very amused or alternatively the high drama of the Company, or low Riccardi theater "
And again in 1833, Donizetti, writing from Rome to his father, commented
" I learned from Coghetti the quarrels of the Music Academy, and laughed a lot. I do not know still hard as the society of ancient village for it is that what the village is, we'd like the city destroyed, and vice versa ".

Despite this, essentially, with a few exceptions, was not put into question the 'hierarchical rotation between the two theaters : Carnival belonged to the Social (6) (which traditionally ensured the carnival entertainment for aristocrats, nobles and bourgeois in the ramparts) and of course to the Fair Riccardi and to ensure, even so did the Social that the truce was imposed office (1819), avoiding at least the race during these opera (and limiting their competitive offer to the spoken theater, considered of lower rank), and thus avoiding a huge volume of economic Outreach could not sustain.

latter demanded and obtained from the 1825 1856, the provision of a municipal financing (dowry) , then removed because of economic difficulties due to war events and policies of the following years: they began ; difficult years for the social theater, in which more than one occasion, had to economize.

With regime change - and the annexation Bergamo to Kingdom of Sardinia (later of Italy) - flared up again race opera (in carnival 1860 Riccardi and Social faced each fielding first, works by cutting it or Risorgimento equivalent), which again, however, trailed off because of economic reasons (as early as 1861 1862 Outreach and silent, in 1863 organized more than a season of theater, spoken, and even just 1864 some concerts for students of the Conservatory of Milan), restoring the old balance they wanted to Carnival City and la Fiera al Borgo .

Le eccezioni, nei carnevali, furono sporadiche (nei carnevali 1868, 1873, 1882, 1898, 1899, 1921, 1924; nelle fiere 1890 e 1896; nella quaresima 1911), e ancora una volta limitate al teatro parlato opposto allo spettacolo in musica: ora la competizione - con biglietti di costo inferiore e quindi per un pubblico meno abbiente - puntava su di un pubblico più vasto.

Nel carnevale 1871 fu però il Riccardi a offrire l’opera, profittando forse delle crescenti difficoltà del Sociale che si vide costretto a contentarsi - nella sua tradizionale stagione - soltanto di una compagnia filodrammatica. The same thing happened in 1878 . When the summer of 1877
word spread that the company hired Riccardi's opera orchestra for the next carnival, they were also traders to City High to be alarmed, fearing to see "their income diminished by the lack of drew ordinary people to enjoy the city during the musical show ". In this complaint, the "Journal of Bergamo province," said invoking the theory of free competition "and the merits of deregulation.
that time (1878 carnival ) Outreach took a momentary revenge (his 3 titles, Riccardi objected only two more performances of Norma a concert of pieces of work), but in 1891 had to fall back again on the prose (though, at least with professional actors). Other satisfaction - on - in 1908, when both spoken theater posters suggested, but with a flick of the tail, the Social pulled a surprise Tosca (7) .

Bergamo, about 1887: Porta Nuova octroi barriers (Photo Archive Sestini)

Soon, however, the difficulties of the Social , who had started since the end of the dowry municipal became the emblem of those of the Upper Town . His sporadic openings gave at least a semblance "of that past life, that a force irresistible, overpowering pushed elsewhere," as the gloss local newspaper in December 1878 .
Even during the years of Austrian construction propylaea of Porta Nuova and road Ferdinandea , but most of station and its rail link to Milan (1857) , were many stages of 'emancipation Lower City , crowned in 1872 with the transfer of the Municipality . The opening of the funicular
in 1887, if nothing else improve relations between the two parties , but the fortunes of the Social also tend to decline . There are also spy recruitment of direct responsibility by cooperatives in the orchestral 1885, 1919 , 1923 (forced): in the absence of entrepreneurs who will take the risk, they were the same musicians on trying not to waive quell'introito season. And rightly
has been reported substantial margin of Social celebrations Donizetti de the other hand in 1897 they had Riccardi and Lower Town center and background.

Around 1900 and the first decade of the century the room (subject to restoration in 1902, visible in the 1903 season, then in 1907 for 1908) will also open to new genres like the 'operetta (1898 from 1908 ), or even displays of modern technology such as the gramophone ( 1898) and the cinema (from 1908) that, if other conditions could be a sign of openness to novità, in quel contesto di vita sempre più difficoltosa  appaiono come ripieghi su repertorî più facili e meno impegnativi finanziariamente (anche per il pubblico). Buone stagioni si avranno ancora, nel 1915 , e meno sporadicamente nei primi anni Venti (1921, 1922 e 1924): ma che per il Sociale - e non solo - fosse iniziata un’era nuova di prosperità, fu illusione di breve durata.

Musica vi risuonò fino al 1929 (quando si tenne l'ultimo allestimento operistico, Il barbiere di Siviglia di Rossini); gli ultimi spettacoli risalgono al 1932. La storia Next is marked only by demolition plans, intentions rash of reuse and continuous changes in ownership. This and the abandonment and degradation are becoming more worrisome, at least until the acquisition of the property by the municipality of Bergamo ( 1974) and the work of maintenance and safety measures taken between 1978 and the 1981. Since then, the space has hosted art shows and exhibitions in particular, to the definition and the beginning of the restoration undertaken joint initiative of the City and Superintendent from 2006 .
But that's another story (And we'll talk).

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NOTES

(1) In Upper Town, the seat of the Venetian nobility wire, the first shows were set up in public buildings, "option which allowed city officials" who were living "to exercise more control."

In the upper part of the city is also recorded, between 1686 and 1695, for individual initiative of Count Giuseppe Secco Suardo, albeit brief the significant experience building and managing a real private theater.

Regarding the reconstruction of the "modalities and time through which between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was affirmed in Bergamo a theatrical representation of events for the public to pay, both in prose and in the musical", see the volume Francesca's Fantappiè , " For theaters not Bergamo site . The Bergamo company and the organization of public theaters between 600 and 700 . Bergamo, Foundation for Social and Economic History of Bergamo, 2010

(2) The opera performances related to the Fair since the late fifteenth already found fertile ground in Paris and at the end of the sixteenth century in Bologna professional comedians used to give their seasons during the fairs. And so, by the mid-seventeenth century, even in Reggio Emilia, Venice, Senigallia, Pesaro and Lugo for summer fairs. After the Senigallia, the fair of Lugo was the most important of the Papal States. Here, between 1758 and 1761 , just on the edge of the fair was built a brick theater (Francis Petrocchi the outer casing of Antonio Bibiena the room) to accommodate permanently set up events in conjunction with the trade show.
with the fair of Lugo was created a local exhibition schedule coordinated between neighboring cities, corresponding to a constellation of opera seasons in succession, with probable migration of the public . This is true for Ravenna (Fair from May to June, up to 24 days of St John), Faenza (Fiera di San Pietro, 29 June), Rimini (St. Anthony's Fair, early August), Imola (Fair St. Cassiano, 13 August), Cesena (fair in August, 15), precisely Lugo (Fair from August to September), Bagnacavallo (Autumn Fair).
(3)  Per edificare un teatro stabile, Riccardi dovette aggirare le norme cittadine e dell'ente proprietario del terreno di Fiera - l'Ospedale Maggiore - che imponevano le caratteristiche della provvisorietà. Con decisione e spregiudicatezza, il Riccardi, adducendo a pretesto l'umidità del terreno, piantò le fondamenta in pietra e cominciò a erigere i piloni in mattoni.
La fabbrica venne sospesa perché l'iniziativa aveva suscitato un putiferio di polemiche , ma di sicuro il Riccardi non ne attese il compimento per utilizzare il teatro (che per il momento non ha nome: venne chiamato indifferentemente Theatre at the New Meadow Fair, or the New Theatre, Theatre or Fair): between controversy and financial difficulties, half fact and half in the theater no (built piece by piece), arranged in some way with roofs of wood and canvas, well before the official opening, and shows began to be taken as early as 1784 the work is represented in music Medon (O Medon, king of Epirus) Guseppe of Sarti.
[...] Probably the first , certainly on the evening of September 5, when the theater is home to the Royal Highness the Archduke and Archduchess of Milan (belonging to the Austrian imperial family) , are the two Rectors Veneto di Bergamo, the mayor Alvise Bernardo and Captain Pataro Buzzacarini.
The decision to build all masonry building and to begin the activity is 1788 and in 1790 there was the sale of antlers to finance the completion of the building and, in ' August of 1791, the inauguration.
(4) While the French troops of Napoleon (revenue in Bergamo in 1796) were preparing (1797) to conclude the campaign of Italy and seal the end of the Republic of Venice, Alessandro Ottolini (last Captain of the Republic of Venice, head of the armed forces of the city), probably for reasons of public policy made destroy , January 7, 1795, the Citadel Theatre (who was replaced by Cerri Theatre, opened in 1798 and remained active until 1807, setting up comic and serious operas. With its 74 boxes arranged in three rows surmounted by a loggia, theater, wooden, survived until 1818), who worked in Bergamo, just within the perimeter of a government residence. Four days after disappearing also Riccardi , but - Bergamo was divided between the followers of the French and the Venetians - not si seppe mai chi, realmente, ne fu responsabile.
(5) Il 3 marzo 1803 si costituì una società di 54 membri (una ventina almeno dei quali, proprietarî di palchi al Riccardi) che pochi giorni dopo elessero al proprio interno una deputazione teatrale, che si occupò della scelta del luogo, dell’acquisizione e predisposizione del terreno (con demolizione dei fabbricati preesistenti), della commissione di un progetto all’architetto prescelto (Pollack, che lo data 7 dicembre 1803). I lavori iniziarono a fine 1804, concludendosi nel 1808 (morto Pollack nel 1806, il cantiere passò ad Antonio Bottani). Il 16 aprile 1808 vi fu la stesura e l'approvazione del regolamento per l’estrazione dei palchi, effettuata il 30 luglio; il 26 dicembre 1808 , vi fu l' inaugurazione del Teatro della Società.   (6) Va però precisato che l’inizio della stagione del Carnevale cadeva notoriamente il 26 dicembre, per cui ad esempio la dizione ‘carnevale 1810’ significava che i suoi spettacoli potevano principiare a partire dal 26 dicembre 1809.  
(7) Per una più congrua lettura del citato elenco degli spettacoli musicali allestiti al Sociale e al Riccardi, si veda il pdf below. The same applies to historical sources, as well as by reports about the presence (and the important influence) of the Social Mayr and the reality, presence and weight of the National Theatre in the orbit.


Link main source
Paolo Fabbri, Two Cities (from Teatro Sociale di Bergamo. Life and Works of Louis Pilon), an interesting pdf accompanied by very detailed information about the history of socialism and Riccardi in those years.

Three books do not miss: The
Teatro Sociale di Bergamo. life and works of Louis Pilon.
Il Teatro Sociale di Bergamo , di Walter Barbero.

Per i teatri non è Bergamo sito , Di Francesca Fantappiè