Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma has had a unique, long, and arduous journey from its founding to the prestige it has enjoyed to this day. Born from the tenacious dream of its founding father, the building contractor Domenico Costanzi, from whom it takes its name today, its construction was commissioned in 1879 by Costanzi himself to Achille Sfondrini. The design, conceived by the Milanese architect, a specialist in theater construction, prioritized acoustics thanks to a horseshoe-shaped structure, conceived as a sounding board that would enhance the sound of the operas performed. Three tiers of boxes, an amphitheater, and a gallery that could accommodate up to 2,212 spectators (currently 1,560 seats), topped by a splendid dome frescoed by Annibale Brugnoli of Perugia: finally, the capital had its "home" for opera. Completed in just eighteen months, the Teatro Costanzi opened on November 27, 1880, with Gioachino Rossini's Semiramide , in the presence of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. The theater's programming thus began thanks exclusively to the financial and organizational efforts of Costanzi himself, who remained in direct management of the theater, deprived of a public authority by the state, which refused to buy it out. It was Costanzi, and later his son Enrico, who brought world premieres of operas to the capital's stage that would later become cornerstones of the universal operatic repertoire.