Malibran Theater

Interior view of the Teatro Grimani a San Giovanni Grisostomo from 1709 by Vincenzo Maria Coronelli

Facade of the Malibran Theater today

The Teatro Malibran , formerly the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (today mostly: Crisostomo ) is an opera house in the Cannaregio district of Venice , which is located about fifty meters east of the church of San Giovanni Crisostomo . It is known for its extraordinary importance for opera in the 17th and 18th centuries. The theater was richly decorated and comprised five floors of boxes and a large ground floor. Today there are no boxes to the side and two tiers at the back.

history

The theater was designed by Tommaso Bezzi for the Grimani family and inaugurated during Carnival in 1678 with a performance of Vespasiano by Carlo Pallavicino . At that time the theater had the largest stage in Venice and was known for its extraordinarily lavish productions and its good singers - such as Margherita Durastanti , who worked here as prima donna from 1709 to 1712. The heyday of the theater was associated with composers such as Carlo Francesco Pollarolo , Alessandro Scarlatti and Georg Friedrich Händel . The castrato Farinelli also stood on the stage of this house.

One of Venice's premier theaters began to decline in the 1730s, although this was typical of most theaters in the mid-18th century. In 1737, when Carlo Goldoni was in charge of the theater, his plays and other plays were given here. In 1755 the Grimani family opened a new and smaller theater, the San Benedetto , which made the San Giovanni Grisostomo even less important among the theaters in Venice.

After the French occupation of Venice in 1797, this theater was one of the few that did not close. In 1819 it was bought by Giovanni Gallo, who restored it in 1834, and in 1837 it was named Teatro Malibran in honor of its patron, the famous Spanish mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran . In 1849 the Austrians returned to Venice, leaving only one of the numerous theaters open.

In 1919 the theater reopened after a number of years and was a center for opera, operetta and also served as a cinema hall in the first half of the 20th century . In 1992 the theater was acquired by the city of Venice, on which occasion it was restored and expanded.

After the fire at Teatro La Fenice (1996), Teatro Malibran was quickly renovated and reopened in 2001. Since then, the house has been used by the ensemble of the Teatro La Fenice. Marcello Viotti , the first musical director after the reopening, stipulated in his usage concept that the house would be used for the performance of the Baroque repertoire and Mozart operas.

Night view of the theater

First performances 1678 to 1808 (selection)

Vespasiano by Carlo Pallavicino , 1678
Nerone by Carlo Pallavicino, 1679
Il ratto delle Sabine by Pietro Simone Agostini , 1680
Antioco il grande by Giovanni L Limiti , 1681
Creso by Giovanni L Limiti, 1681
Flavio Cuniberto by Gian Domenico Partenio , 1681
Carlo re d'Italia by Carlo Pallavicino, 1682
Flavio Cuniberto by Domenico Gabrielli , 1682
Il re infante by Carlo Pallavicino, 1683
Licinio imperatore by Carlo Pallavicino, 1683
Ricimero re de 'Vandali by Carlo Pallavicino, 1684
Massimo Puppieno by Carlo Pallavicino, 1685
Penelope la casta by Carlo Pallavicino, 1685
Amore inamorato by Carlo Pallavicino, 1686
Didone delirante by Carlo Pallavicino, 1686
L'amazone corsara, ovvero L'Alvida regina de 'Goti , 1686
Elmiro re di Corinto by Carlo Pallavicino, 1686
La Gerusalemme liberata by Carlo Pallavicino, 1687
Carlo il Grande by Domenico Gabrielli, 1688
Orazio by Giuseppe Felice Tosi , 1688
La pace fra Tolomeo e Seleuco by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo , 1691
Onorio in Roma by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1692
L'Ibraim sultano by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1692
La forza della virtù by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1693
Ottone by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1694
Irene by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1694
Il pastore d'Anfriso by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1695
La Rosimonda by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1695
Ercole in cielo by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1696
Amor e dovere by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1696
Marzio Coriolano by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1698
Il Faramondo by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1698
Il repudio d'Ottavia by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1699
Lucio Vero by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1699
Il colore fa 'la regina by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1700
Il delirio comune per l'incostanza dei genii by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1700
Catone Uticenze by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1701
L'odio e l'amore by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1702
Venceslao by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1703
La fortuna per dote by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1704
Il giorno di notte by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1704
Il Dafni by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1705
Filippo, re della Grecia by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1706
Flavio Bertarido, re dei Longobardi by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1706
Il selvaggio eroe by Antonio Caldara , 1707
Alessandro in Susa by Luigi Mancia , 1708
Sofonisba by Antonio Caldara, 1708
Il vincitor generoso by Antonio Lotti , 1709
Agrippina by Georg Friedrich Handel , 1709
Ama più chi men si crede by Antonio Lotti, 1709
Il comando non inteso et ubbidito by Antonio Lotti, 1710
Isacio tiranno by Antonio Lotti, 1710
Il tradimento traditor di se stesso by Antonio Lotti, 1711
La forza del sangue , by Antonio Lotti, 1711
L'infedeltà punita by Antonio Lotti, 1711
Publio Cornelio Scipione by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1712
L'infedeltà punita by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1712
Spurio postumio by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1712
Porsenna by Antonio Lotti, 1713
Irene Augusta by Antonio Lotti, 1713
Semiramide by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1714
Il germanico by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1716
Foca suberbo by Antonio Lotti, 1716
Ariodante by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, 1716
Alessandro Severo by Antonio Lotti, 1717
Eumene by Tomaso Albinoni , 1717
Astianatte by Antonio Maria Bononcini , 1718
Ifigenia in Tauride by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini , 1719
Leucippo e Teonoe by Antonio Pollarolo , 1719
Paride by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, 1720
Il Lamano by Michelangelo Gasparini , 1720
Teodorico by Giovanni Porta , 1720
Nerone by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, 1721
Lucio Papirio dittatore by Antonio Pollarolo, 1721
Plautilla by Antonio Pollarolo, 1721
Giulio Flavio Crispo by Giovanni Maria Capelli , 1722
Romolo e Tazio by Carlo Luigi Pietragrua , 1722
Venceslao by Giovanni Maria Capelli, Antonio Pollarolo and Giacomo Porta , 1722
Mitridate, re di Ponto vincitor di se stesso by Giovanni Maria Capelli, 1723
Gli equivoci d'amore e d'innocenza by Francesco Gasparini , 1723
Ipermestra by Geminiano Giacomelli , 1724
Il trionfo della virtù by Francesco Brusa , 1724
Il più fedel tra gli amici by Michelangelo Gasparini, 1724
Berenice by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, 1725
Siface by Nicola Porpora , 1725
Il trionfo di Flavio Olibrio by Giacomo Porta, 1726
Meride e Selinunte by Nicola Porpora, 1727
Aldiso by Giacomo Porta, 1727
Arianna e Teseo by Nicola Porpora, 1727
Argene by Leonardo Leo , 1728
Ezio by Nicola Porpora, 1728
Catone in Utica by Leonardo Leo, 1729
Semiramide riconosciuta by Nicola Porpora, 1729
L'abbandono di Armida by Antonio Pollarolo, 1729
Onorio by Francesco Ciampi , 1729
Artaserse by Johann Adolf Hasse , 1730
Idaspe by Carlo Broschi , 1730
Massimiano by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, 1731
Demetrio by Johann Adolf Hasse, 1732
L'Issipile by Giacomo Porta, 1732
Epaminonda by Geminiano Giacomelli , 1732
Adriano in Siria by Geminiano Giacomelli, 1733
Merope by Geminiano Giacomelli, 1734
La clemenza di Tito by Leonardo Leo, 1735
Rosbale by Nicola Porpora, 1737
Demofoonte by Gaetano Latilla , 1738
Alessandro Severo by Andrea Bernasconi , 1738
Viriate by Johann Adolf Hasse, 1739
Ottone by Gennaro D'Alessandro , 1740
Oronte re de 'Sciti by Baldassarre Galuppi , 1740
Didone abbandonata by Andrea Bernasconi, 1741
Tigrane from Giuseppe Arena , 1741
Merope by Niccolò Jommelli , 1741
Statira by Nicola Porpora, 1742
Il Bajazet by Andrea Bernasconi, 1742
Semiramide by Niccolò Jommelli, 1742
La ninfa Apollo by Andrea Bernasconi, 1743
Arsace by Baldassarre Galuppi, 1743
Siroe re di Persia by Gennaro Manna , 1743
Meride e Selinunte by Pietro Chiarini , 1743-4
Ipermestra by Christoph Willibald Gluck , 1744
Semiramide riconosciuta by Johann Adolf Hasse, 1744
Antigono by Andrea Bernasconi, 1745
Sofonisba by Niccolò Jommelli, 1745
Artaserse by Girolamo Abos , 1746
Tito Manlio (second version) by Niccolò Jommelli, 1746
Evergete by Lorenzo Gibelli , 1748
Ciro riconosciuto (second version) by Niccolò Jommelli, 1749
Siroe by Gioacchino Cocchi , 1750
Artaserse by Antonio Gaetano Pampani , 1750
Didone abbandonata by Gennaro Manna, 1751
Le nozze di Paride by Baldassarre Galuppi, 1756
Cajo Mario by Baldassarre Galuppi, 1764
Notte si fausta by Ferdinando Bertoni , 1764
Achille in Sciro by Florian Leopold Gassmann , 1766
Il finto pazzo per amore by Michele Mortellari , 1779
L'arrivo del burchiello da Padova a Venezia by Luigi Caruso , 1780
Il geloso corretto by Francesco Gnecco , 1803
Il finto fratello by Francesco Gnecco, 1803
La prima prova dell'opera Gli Orazi e Curiazi by Francesco Gnecco, 1803
Irene e Fliandro by Luigi Antonio Calegari , 1808

literature

Luca Zoppelli: Venice. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Volume 4: Roe - Z, Appendices. Macmillan et al., London et al. 1998, ISBN 0-333-73432-7 , pp. 913 ff.

Individual evidence

^ Derek Weber: Opera house on historical ground - reopening of the Teatro Malibran in Venice. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , October 12, 2001.

Web links

Commons : Teatro Malibran (Venice) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (Venice) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

45.439167 12.337222Coordinates: 45 ° 26 ′ 21 ″ N , 12 ° 20 ′ 14 ″ E

[1] Derek Weber: Opera house on historical ground - reopening of the Teatro Malibran in Venice. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , October 12, 2001.