Teatro Regio (Turin) facts for kids
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| Address | Turin, Piedmont Italy |
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| Coordinates | 45°4′14″N 7°41′16″E / 45.07056°N 7.68778°E |
| Owner | City of Turin |
| Designation | Opera house |
| Capacity | 1500 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1740 |
| Reopened |
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The Teatro Regio (which means Royal Theatre) is a famous opera house in Turin, Italy. It's a place where people go to watch opera shows. The opera season usually runs from October to June. During this time, they put on about eight or nine different operas. Each opera might be performed five to twelve times.
For a long time, Turin had different places for opera shows. But it wasn't until 1713 that people thought about building a special opera house. An architect named Filippo Juvarra started planning it. However, the actual building work didn't begin until 1738. This was during the time of King Charles Emmanuel III. Juvarra had already passed away by then. Another architect, Benedetto Alfieri, took over the work. The theatre was finished and decorated by Bernardino Galliari.
A famous opera called La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini was first performed at the Teatro Regio in 1896.
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Teatro Regio: The First Building (1740-1936)
The first Teatro Regio opened on December 26, 1740. The first opera performed there was Arsace by Francesco Feo. It was a very fancy building. It could seat 1,500 people. It also had 139 private boxes on five levels, plus a gallery.
In 1792, the theatre was closed by royal order. It was used as a storage building for a while. When the French army took over Turin during the Napoleonic War, the theatre's name changed. It became the Teatro Nazionale (National Theatre). Later, when Napoleon became Emperor, it was renamed the Teatro Imperiale (Imperial Theatre). After Napoleon lost power in 1814, the theatre got its original name back, the Regio.
In the years that followed, the opera house faced money problems many times. The city of Turin took it over in 1870. Other theatres in Turin also put on opera shows. One of these was the Teatro Carignano, which was fixed up in 1824. The city bought the Carignano theatre in 1932. After the Teatro Regio burned down in 1936, the Carignano became the main opera house in Turin. It served this role until the Regio reopened in 1973.
Even before the fire, people in Turin were talking about what to do with the Regio. Should they rebuild it or build a brand new theatre? Two plans were suggested. The chosen plan made the theatre much bigger. It removed the fourth and fifth levels of boxes. This created a huge seating area like an amphitheatre. This work was finished in 1905. The theatre closed during First World War and reopened in 1919. Opera seasons continued until February 1936. That's when a fire destroyed almost everything except the front of the Teatro Regio. It stayed closed for 37 years. Arturo Toscanini was the conductor of the Turin Opera from 1895 to 1898. During his time, several operas by Richard Wagner were performed for the first time in Italy.
Teatro Regio: Rebuilt and Reopened (After 1973)
After the fire, a national competition was held to find a new architect. But because of World War II and money problems, the rebuilding didn't start right away. The first stone for the new building was laid on September 25, 1963. However, the actual construction didn't begin until September 1967. Architect Carlo Mollino led this project.
The rebuilt theatre has a very modern design inside. But from the outside, it still looks like the original building. It opened on April 10, 1973. The first show was I vespri siciliani by Giuseppe Verdi. This performance was directed by famous opera stars Maria Callas and Giuseppe Di Stefano.
The new theatre can seat 1,750 people. It has an oval shape with a large main seating area. There are also 37 private boxes around the edges. A special acoustic shell was added to make the sound better.
The theatre puts on many different types of operas each season. This includes newer works. However, in recent years, due to money issues, the theatre has focused more on older, more popular operas from the 1800s.
The Unique Facade
The outside of the Teatro Regio is made of brick. It has a very special brick pattern. The bricks are cut in a unique way to create a raised design of stars. This design looks like it's overlapping, almost like fish scales. This is an amazing trick created by the way the bricks are laid. The wall is actually straight, but the shadows from the sticking-out parts make it look like it's curving.
The front of the Teatro Regio is one of the buildings in Piedmont that are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means it's a very important historical and cultural place.
See also
In Spanish: Teatro Regio (Turín) para niños
- Category:Opera world premieres at the Teatro Regio (Turin)
