Teatro Bellini in Catania Sicily

The Theatre and the City

There was talk of a public theatre in Catania as far back as the XVIII century during the hubbub of reconstruction following the 1693 earthquake that had destroyed the city. But the foundation stone was not laid until 1812. The Catania people wanted it to be a "Great Municipal Theatre" worthy of an expanding city. The work was begun by the architect Salvatore Zahra Buda in piazza Nuovaluce, in front of the Santa Maria di Nuovaluce monastery, the very area of the present day theatre. The plan of the "Teatro Nuovaluce" (New Light Theatre) was a grandiose one in all respects, and was conceived to create one of the most innovative works in Italy.

However, after a promising start, work had to stop due to lack of funds, caused re-routing of finance to build an off-shore jetty, given priority for defence purposes. Some years later the Catania Senate decided to provide the city with a smaller theatre - the "Provisional Municipal Theatre" - which, in fact, was built in a former naval warehouse, and was opened in 1822. (After a more than worthy "career", this theatre was destroyed by bombs in 1943 and was never rebuilt). In the meantime, in 1838, The Teatro Nuovaluce changed its name, being dedicated to Maria Teresa the sovereign, but its name was later changed another three times (Nuovaluce again, then Arena Pacini, and lastly Teatro Arena Nuovaluce). After being partially completed and converted into a multi-purpose hall, it was devoted mainly to summer use. This continued until 1865 when the area was sold to private persons to finance the construction of a new theatre.

In 1870, Andrea Scala, an architect specialising in theatre construction, was appointed to find a suitable site for the new theatre. There was some lively debate about the choice: where should the long desired "Massimo" theatre be built? There were several options: piazza Stesicoro, where the amphitheatre can be seen today, but was still concealed at the time; or, as an alternative, the area of the piazza where the San Marco hospital once stood; or to continue, piazza Cutelli, largo Manganelli, via Lincoln (the present day via Sangiuliano) in the area adjacent to the Teatro Sangiorgi, and lastly piazza Cavour, which then lay on the outskirts of the city. Almost everybody ruled out the Arena Pacini area in piazza Nuovaluce. Finally Piazza Cutelli was chosen.
However, financial difficulties once again stopped the initiative. It was then decided to re-structure arena Pacini turning it into a multi-purpose hall to house all types of shows, equestrian events included. Amid many obstacles and much uncertainty, Scala's project was eventually approved. With the help of Carlo Sada, another architect, Scala proceeded with the work, financed by the shareholders of the Società Anonima del Politeama. This Society then gave way to the Municipality, through lack of funds. And a municipal committee, which supported Sada, then decided that the structure should be recovered with appropriate modifications, not as a multi-purpose hall but as a lyric Theatre.

So Sada modified the plan, to meet the financial requirements of the Municipal Administration which set aside 605,000 lire in 1880 to complete the work (the overall cost of the work was about a million lire of those days). This time, work proceeded fairly smoothly and the theatre was completed in the space of seven years. Moreover, there was a cholera epidemic in that period, and quite understandably, this steered everybody's attention away from all matters not involving public health. Under these circumstances, although it was ready, the Theatre had to wait a further three years for its official opening. The theatre was opened on 31 May 1890 with a performance of Norma, Vincenzo Bellini's masterpiece.

Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry - QLD