Theatro Municipal (São Paulo)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Municipal Theatre of São Paulo [1] is one of the most important theatres in South America and one of the landmarks of the city of São Paulo. It is significant both for its architectural value as well as for its historical importance, having been the venue for the Week of Modern Art in 1922, which revolutionised the arts in Brazil. The building now houses the São Paulo Municipal Symphonic Orchestra, the Coral Lírico (Lyric Choir) and the City Ballet of São Paulo.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Design, construction and inauguration
The idea of building a representative theater for the city of São Paulo was inspired by its increasing importance on the international stage. From the beginning of 20th century it was inhabited by the Brazilian bourgeoisie, of which a great part was involved in the business of coffee farming. The city had also quite a large Italian population. So far, the city could rely only on the Teatro São Bento, which after a fire was no longer suitable for large foreign productions. That is why the paulistana aristocracy demanded a creation of a new theatre, with a structure similar to some of the best theatres in the world and suitable for staging large opera productions.
The place which was chosen for the construction was the Mount of the Tea, which already was the site of the new Teatro São José. Ramos de Azevedo was the engineer assigned to the construction. He was also helped by two Italian architects Cláudio Rossi and Domiziano Rossi. In 1903 the public work was started and São Paulo gained one of the best venues in the world for the presentation of theatre productions, mainly operas. As it was customary in those days, the majority of the materials was imported from Europe, and the point of the architectural reference was Teatro alla Scala of Milan. The construction lasted about 8 years. The first staged production was the opera “Hamlet” by Ambroise Thomas. The initial idea was to present an opera “Il Guarany”, but the company, directed by an Italian Titta Ruffo, a celebrated baritone voice of the time, did not want to count on putting works by Brazilian composers in its repertoire. Also other problems had happened before the opening night. The stage decorations had not arrived in Brazil in time which caused the postponement of the opening date. When the new date arrived on 12 September of 1911, the result surpassed all the expectations of the public and the paulistana high society.
[edit] The first years
Between 1912 and 1926, the theatre presented 88 operas of 41 composers (Italian, French, Brazilian and German), in 270 performances. But perhaps the most important event in the history of the theatre in that period and in all of its existence was not an opera, but something that would infuriate many paulistanos at the time: the Week of Modern Art in 1922.
[edit] The Week of Modern Art
Between 11 February and 18 February the Municipal Theater hosted a modernista event that become known as the Week of Modern Art[2] of 1922. During the seven days of event there was an exposition of the art of Brazilian Modernismo and in the evenings of 13, 15 and 17 February there were presentations of music, poetry and lectures on modernity in Brazil and the rest of the world. The Modernismo defied all the existing esthetic and artistic values dominating the painting, the literature, the poetry and other arts until that time. The “week” presented artists who were to become some of the most celebrated names in the Brazilian modernismo, such as: Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, Tarsila do Amaral, Anita Malfatti and Menotti Del Picchia (who formed the famous Group of Five), as well as Victor Brecheret, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Di Cavalcanti.
[edit] Middle of 20th century
With passing of the years, the theatre which had been made almost exclusively for the opera, hosted also other artistic events, for example performances of dancers such as Anna Pavlova and Isadora Duncan. In 1960s, under the mayor José Vicente Faria Lima, the construction went through the first refurbishment - the walls of the theatre had been painted and the original project was deprived of its characteristics.
[edit] From the end of 20th century to the present day
In 1980s the theatre went through further refurbishments, initiated by the mayor Jânio Quadros. Its main purpose was to restore the original work of Ramos de Azevedo. The external façade was restored with sandstone coming from the same mine which supplied the materials for the original construction of the building at the beginning of the century. The reconstruction was finished in 1991, already under the new mayor Luiza Erundina. Currently, being nearly 100 years old, the Municipal Theater of São Paulo is considered as one of the most celebrated cultural venues in South America, one which hosted theatrical plays and operas by the greatest national and international writers and composers.
[edit] Famous personalities who appeared in the theatre
People of renown who appeared in the theatre ranged from actors to ballerinas, coming from various countries. Some notable visitors included the following: Carla Fracci, Rudolph Nureyev, Titta Ruffo, Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Bidu Sayão, Tito Schipa, Arturo Toscanini, Procópio Ferreira, Cacilda Becker, Vivien Leigh, Raymond Jérôme, Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, Tarsila do Amaral, Anita Malfatti, Menotti Del Pichia, Victor Brecheret, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Di Cavalcanti, Lasar Segall, Márcia Haydée, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Paulo Szot.
[edit] See also
- Week of modern art of 1922
- Ramos de Azevedo
[edit] References
- ^ The city council prefers to keep the archaic spelling, theatro with “th” as on the theatre's façade.
- ^ The week of modern art, 1922 - Modernist art in Brazil. UNESCO Courier. Dec 1986.
