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By Frank Cadenhead
16 Oct 2009
After 18 years, one of Italy's most important opera houses, the Teatro Petruzzelli in the southern Italian city of Bari, has risen from the ashes.
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One of the country's leading venues, it was burned to the ground in 1991.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony was the work chosen for the inaugural concert on Oct. 4, with the Orchestra della Provincia di Bari conducted by Fabio Mastrangelo. Built by two wealthy brothers, Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli, the Teatro orginally opened in 1903 with a performance of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.
After six years of reconstruction, the theater is again in brilliant form. The investigation into the cause of the fire, an apparent arson, produced no suspects. The Italian press has speculated about mafia links to both the fire and the funds to restore the house.
The opera season commences with Benjamin Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream in a production designed by Daniele Abbado and conducted by Jonathan Webb, running Oct. 26-29.
Further details about programs at the theater may be found at www.fondazionepetruzzelli.it
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Photos by Cofano Iesseppi and Vito Mastrolonardo.
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