The Municipal Theatre of Lima (Spanish: Teatro Municipal de Lima), inaugurated as the Teatro Forero, is a theatre and concert hall in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. It is home to the country's National Symphony Orchestra.
Teatro Municipal de Lima | |
 | |
 | |
| Former names | Teatro Forero |
|---|---|
| Address | Block 4 of Jirón Ica |
| Capacity | 1,181 people |
| Construction | |
| Opened | July 28, 1920 |
| Closed | August 2, 1998 |
| Rebuilt | October 11, 2010 |
An open space next to the theatre known as the Plazuela de las Artes (or as the Plazuela Rosa Merino)[1] hosts open-air activities.[2]
History
editThe Forero Theatre (Spanish: Teatro Forero) was built in 1915, replacing the demolished Olimpo Theatre (Spanish: Teatro Olimpo), according to the design of Manuel María Forero Osorio, born in Tacna. The Renaissance/Baroque-style theatre was inaugurated on July 28, 1920 with the start of the season of the "Grand Italian Opera Company of Adolfo Bracale" (Spanish: Gran Compañía de Opera Italiana de Adolfo Bracale), who performed Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida.[3][4] The theatre was named after its builder.[5]
Its façade displays three busts of the three most famous musicians in the history of classical music: Wagner, Beethoven and Liszt; The hall has neo-classical columns in the Ionic style and the spacious lobby is accessed through two imposing staircases, in the Louis XVI style, made of marble. The spectator room is in the Italian Renaissance style.
The newspaper El Comercio noted the following regarding the first night of the theater:
It is a theater that satisfies the most demanding, beautiful, monumental, elegant, with severe elegance, comfortable and spacious; We have never had anything like it in Peru and it is one of the best theaters in South America.
— El Comercio article[6]
It was bought by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima in 1929 and renamed to its current name through a Mayor's Resolution of June 15 of that year.
Fire and reconstruction
editOn August 2, 1998, during a show rehearsal, the theater was consumed by a raging fire that lasted two hours and destroyed part of its structure without causing definitive structural damage.[7][8]
The building was partially destroyed by in 1998, and while the building was sporadically open for special performances; it remained unrestored for 12 years. The theater was eventually reconstructed following its original structural design, and it was expanded to include additional parking, anti-seismic technology and updated fireproofing. It was re-inaugurated on October 11, 2010.
On April 23, 2008, 10 years after that fateful fire, the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima announced that in 12 weeks the theatre's restoration would begin; Counting on the best architects and restorers in the field, it was expected that at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, the new theatre would be inaugurated. On April 29, 2010, after more than 12 years, a date was set for the completion of the work, the end of 2010. It was planned that on October 7, 2010, the theatre would open its doors again. It was ultimately reinaugurated on October 11, 2010.[9]
See also
edit- Casa Fernandini, Lima, located across the street
References
edit- ^ "Conoce nueva Ruta de la cultura 1K en el Centro Histórico de Lima". Andina. 2024-06-15.
- ^ "La Plazuela de las Artes presenta "De la calle a la plazuela"". RPP Noticias. 2013-01-21.
- ^ Balta, Aída (2001). Historia general del teatro en el Perú (in Spanish) (Escuela de Ciencias de la Comunicación ed.). Lima: Universidad de San Martín de Porres. pp. 145–146. ISBN 9972-54-072-3. OCLC 47705542.
- ^ Obando, Manoel (2023-03-01). "Esta es la historia de los orígenes y construcción del Teatro Municipal de Lima". Infobae.
- ^ Chávez Noriega, Jorge (2020-07-28). "Teatro Municipal de Lima: diez imágenes que resumen sus 100 años de historia". Somos.
- ^ "Reseña de los teatros municipales". Municipalidad de Lima. Archived from the original on 2015-06-23.
- ^ Paz Campuzano, Oscar (2018-08-02). "Incendio en el Teatro Municipal de Lima: el drama que no debe repetirse". El Comercio.
- ^ Puertas, Laura (1998-08-04). "Un incendio destruye el histórico teatro de Lima". El País.
- ^ "Teatro Municipal de Lima: A 20 años del incendio que apagó sus reflectores". RPP Noticias. 2018-08-03.
12°02′43″S 77°02′06″W / 12.0454°S 77.0349°W
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