Amazon Theatre
The Teatro Amazonas is an opera house in Manaus, Brazil. Inaugurated on December 31, 1896, it was funded by the proceeds of the rubber boom.
History and Architecture
The story of this opera house began when the deputy José Antônio Fernandes Júnior the project proposed in 1881 and it was approved. The contract to design the architectural work has received 1883 Gabinete Português de Engenharia e Arquitetura ( Portuguese Office of Engineering and Architecture ) from Lisbon. The first sod was delayed due to debates on the financing for one year. For the same reason the works were interrupted 1886-1893. Architects, builders, painters and artists were hired from all over Europe. Paris-based Brazilian Crispim do Amaral from Pernambuco designed the interior of the theater, while the Italians Enrico Mazolani took care of the exterior. The house was inaugurated on December 31, 1896, the first opera performance was on January 7, 1897, the premiere of the opera " La Gioconda " by Amilcare Ponchielli. The neo-baroque main hall is designed for 701 listeners. The ceiling is adorned by the image "A Glorificação as Belas Artes na Amazônia " ( To The Glory of Fine Arts in Amazonia ) by Domenico de Angelis. The paving stones around the building were specially made from a sand - rubber mixture so as not to disrupt the demonstrations by the passing horse-drawn vehicles. Much of the building material was imported from Europe. For example, the tiles of the dome from Germany and the pavers were introduced before the theater from Portugal.
Due to the sharp fall in rubber opera house experienced in 1907 its preliminary final performance. 1929 and 1975 were partly carried out botched renovations. It was not until the late 1980s, the opera house has been completely and successfully restored. Particular challenges were there, the moist climate with over 165 days of rain per year and the threat of termites. Finally Over eight decades after the last performance of the opera was reopened on 17 March 1990 Plácido Domingo and Marcia Haydée.
The film Fitzcarraldo by Werner Herzog 's 1982 made the Teatro Amazonas again in Germany known. In addition, Sharon Lockhart has released the film Teatro Amazonas in 1999 and had June-August 2000, a show about this opera house at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg.
In 1996, the German violinist Michael Jelden the largest music festival in Latin America (Festival de Manaus ) has founded the Teatro Amazonas, which brought back the first time after almost 90 years of opera in the theater. After Jelden had the festival serves as director two years, the line is now in the hands of the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and the National Cultural Foundation Funarte.
Christoph Schlingensief staged in 2007 Wagner's Flying Dutchman in Manaus. The premiere at the Teatro Amazonas was on 22 April 2007