It is the city’s theater and as such represents a historic artistic landmark.
It hosts important festivals such as the Donizetti Opera that help keep the Italian opera tradition alive and enrich the city’s cultural life.
Features
The Donizetti Theater covers a total area of 3200 square meters.
The hall retains the original design of 1786: it measures 360 square meters and is capable of 532 seats (armchairs).
The boxes, divided into three rows, are 102 for a total of 1154 total seats.
You can easily understand the magnificence of this building and the amazement it caused the Bergamasks who saw it rise at a time when only small temporary wooden theaters existed.
In the center of the hall hangs a huge sparkling crystal chandelier with as many as 78 lamps, in addition to the light sources in the boxes.
For the distribution and harmony of sound it can be considered among the best in Italy.
Originally called “Riccardi,” after its builder, this theater is, however, above all the place where the works-more than 70!
– by the great Bergamasque master Gaetano Donizetti are made known and appreciated by the public.
Imagine Donizetti’s emotion as he was invested by an affectionate and heartfelt ovation from the audience in the theater during his opera L’esule di Roma.
This consecration took place in 1840.
Donizetti would die of illness in his hometown of Bergamo a few years later in 1848.
Donizetti ‘s most frequently performed operas in theaters around the world today are L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor and Don Pasquale.
Also frequently staged are.
La fille du régiment,
La Favorite, Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia and Roberto Devereux.
History
The Riccardi Theater was erected in 1791 with a plastered facade preceded by a small portico, very different from the present one.
After a probably arson fire in 1797, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1800.
In 1897, on the occasion of the centenary of Gaetano Donizetti’s birth, Teatro Riccardi was named after the famous composer: work was also carried out and the building assumed its present appearance.
In the 1920s the century-old barracks of the Fabbrica della Fiera were demolished and, to the design of architect Piacentini, the majestic buildings that you can still see in downtown Bergamo around the theater were built.
After expansion and renovation work began in 1958, in 1964 the renovated Theater began a rich new season of success.
In 1966 the City Council provides its own management of the theater.
In 1968 the ‘Donizetti’ is included, by government measure, in the list of ‘Theaters of Tradition,’ in recognition of its cultural identity.
In 1982 the ‘Donizetti and His Time’ Festival was born, an event aimed at studying and rediscovering the great composer.
The new Ridotto was inaugurated in 1992, as part of the Donizetti Festival, and is also used for meetings, concerts and various events.
Events and Shows
In addition to the Doremix – Opera and Ballet Season, at the Donizetti you can see a well-established and well-attended season of prose and contemporary theater Altri Percorsi, as well as numerous other performance initiatives including the Bergamo International Jazz Festival and the operetta season.
Also hosted by the city’s largest theater is the prestigious International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, organized by the Ente Festival Pianistico.
Curiosities
The theater debuted Giuseppe Verdi, who was present in the theater, with Ernani in 1844.
The outcome of the performance, curated by Verdi himself, was positive, in a theater crowded with many members of the artistic world of the time.
In 1847, again at Riccardi, there was a memorable performance of the opera I lombardi alla prima Crociata, with a very long ovation to the famous chorus ‘O Signore dal tetto natio,’ an expression of the desire for freedom present in every people.
DONIZETTI THEATER TICKET OFFICE
Piazza Cavour, 15 – Bergamo tel. 035.4160 601/602/603 fax 035.4160670 biglietteriateatro@comune.bg.it Info ticket office openings https://www.teatrodonizetti.it/it/biglietteria-teatro-donizetti/