Teatro Rossini

Pesaro

General

The nominated property includes the urban blocks adjacent to the Teatro Rossini, Palazzo Montebarocci, and the Conservatorio di Musica Gioachino Rossini. Of great cultural importance, the theatre is a standalone building in front of the Fontana del Trebbio, one of four ancient fountains recently restored and located right in the city centre.

The nominated property includes the urban blocks adjacent to the Teatro Rossini, Palazzo Montebarocci, and the Conservatorio di Musica Gioachino Rossini. Of great cultural importance, the theatre is a standalone building in front of the Fontana del Trebbio, one of four ancient fountains recently restored and located right in the city centre. Traces of the ancient Roman street layout are still visible: the Decumanus Maximus follows today’s Corso XI Settembre and Via San Francesco, and the Cardo Maximus, today’s Via Rossini–Via Branca, meeting at Piazza del Popolo, the heart of the city.

The nominated property also includes the Conservatorio di Musica Gioachino Rossini, one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious schools of music, founded with the legacy left in the famous composer’s will and testament.

The stage at the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro has an important historical legacy, particularly the main house curtain painted by Angelo Monticelli in 1818. Also known for the house curtain of La Scala in Milan, Monticelli created the curtain for the Teatro Rossini, the oldest in the region and still in use today. This neoclassical-style curtain represents The Hippocrene spring in a cave on Mount Helicon, where the Muses gathered, and the Poets quenched their thirst. The theme is consistent with the widespread rediscovery of Greek mythology and its value as a metaphor of contemporary life. The tondi and frame for the house curtain were made by Samoggia and Dal Pane in 1854.

Throughout the year, the Teatro Rossini hosts opera productions and concerts of the Rossini Opera Festival, a calendar of theatre productions and music, and the National Festival of Dramatic Art, making it an important cultural venue for Pesaro and the entire region.

The theatre is managed by AMAT and collaborates with more than 50 cultural associations. It maintains partnerships with important academic institutions, including the Conservatorio Rossini, the Rossini Opera Festival, and the Istituto Turismo e Nuove Tecnologie (ITS). It also provides training courses for ITS technicians and can be booked for guided tours and cultural visits.

Historical Context

Age of the Bourgeois Revolutions (1789–1848)

Design and Inauguration dates

1816–1818

Pietro Ghinelli (1759–1834)

Owned by

Municipality of Pesaro

Capacity

700

Continuity of use/Activity

486 days open/year (Teatro Rossini and Sala della Repubblica are used concurrently)
417 performance days
69 days of community cultural activities

Artists

Paolo Landriani and Alessandro Sanquirico (scenographers), Giambattista Martinetti, Felice Giani (figure painter), Gaetano Bertolani (decorative artist), Angelo Monticelli (curtain), Luigi Samoggia and Girolamo Dal Pane (painters, decorators), Cesare Recanatini (scenography, act drop).

Location

Pesaro

Pesaro and Urbino
,
Marche

Population in

1861

24,496 inhabitants

Current Population

95,580 inhabitants

Teatro Rossini
Church of Santi Giacomo e Lucia
National Rossini Museum
Palazzo Montani-Antaldi
Auditorium Palazzo Montani-Antaldi
"Il Filo Rosso" Preschool
Istituto Comprensivo G. Gaudiano
Conservatorio di Musica Gioachino Rossini

Plan

Horseshoe

Building
Auditorium

Building

Façade

The façade was consolidated in 1934 and incorporates the monumental Baroque entrance portal, designed by Filippo Terzi, of the former ducal stables of the Della Rovere family.

Layout of Interior Spaces

The theatre complex includes the vestibule and Sala della Repubblica, both of which serve as entrance halls and reception spaces. Two separate stairwells lead to upper and lower floors. The staircase to the gallery and an additional staircase lead directly to Sala della Repubblica. Access to the auditorium, the main part of the theatre, is via dedicated stairwells, designed to facilitate audience flows into and out of the house. Other key elements include the stage tower and the dressing rooms. Finally, the office area houses the administrative and organisational functions for the theatre’s activities.

Auditorium

Vertical Arrangement

Four tiers of boxes and a gallery. Panelled parapets protrude slightly from the dividing pillars and give the auditorium the appearance of a beehive.

Plafond

Flat ceiling. The upper ceiling resembles a large velarium divided into ten segments arranged in a circle, depicting the god Apollo and the nine Muses, a work by Luigi Samoggia and Girolamo Dal Pane.

Decorative Elements

The frescoes in the first three tiers of boxes feature colourful floral and grotesque decorations set within geometric panels against a grey-blue background. These decorative elements in the boxes and on the vault were produced by Felice Giani and Gaetano Bertolani.