Treasures From Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo

This week, the Italian Cultural Institute opened its exhibit Treasures from Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo, the premiere event to kick off the upcoming “Concert of the Two Bays” performance of Verdi’s Requiem by the orchestras and choruses of the San Francisco Opera and the Teatro di San Carlo Opera jointly, in honor of Verdi’s 200th birthday and the Year of Italian Culture in America. 

 

A delighted Mauro Battocchi, Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, and Paolo Barlera, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, presented an exceptional exhibit of the Treasures of Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo, curated by Amelia Antonucci and Paolo Pontoniere of Campania Felix.  Besides presenting these rare treasures for the enjoyment of San Francisco, it was also a showcase for a future fund-raising event to defray the costs of bringing the Italian opera company to San Francisco in October 2013.

 

The opera costumes on display at the Italian Cultural institute through May 19th include a long, red and black patterned lamé dress, with lateral folds and stole of the same material.  It was designed by Aldo Buti in 1982 for the opera Vivì by Franco Mannino.  The gown was provided by the Teatro di San Carlo, and is only one of the many costumes that will be placed on the auction block on June 15th. 

 

Rising Phoenix-like from devastating aerial bombing during WWII, Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo is one of the oldest opera houses in the world, having been established in 1737.  It is the oldest continuously-active venue for public opera in Europe, opening decades before both the Minalese La Scala and the Venetian La Fenice theaters.

 

Unbeknownst to many, the Teatro di San Carlo and the San Francisco Opera share an important common connection. The founding Director of the San Francisco Opera, Gaetano Merola, was born in Naples, trained at the Naples Conservatory of Music, and was the son of a violinist at the Court of the King of Naples. In 1918 or 1919, Gaetano Merola was playing poker in North Beach with nine of his Italian friends, including Giuseppe Brucia, a successful businessman and philanthropist, when one of them asked: If San Franciscans liked Opera so much, why didn’t the City have its own opera company? They all agreed it was a great idea, and pledged to back and finance Merola in establishing a San Francisco Opera company. Giuseppe Brucia gave the seed capital with further financing from  A.P. Giannini and the Bank of Italy (now Bank of America).  

 

On June 3, 1922, Gaetano Merola opened the new San Francisco Opera Company in the Stanford Football Stadium with three operas—Pagliacci, Carmen, and Faust. By 1932, the San Francisco Opera Company, now world-renowned, had moved into its permanent home, the War Memorial Opera House, where it is today one of the most important opera centers on the planet. 

 

Now the ties binding the two institutions are set to be strengthened with the much anticipated once-in-a-lifetime “Concert of the Two Bays” performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, celebrating Verdi’s Bicentennial and the Year of Italian Culture in America, to be held on October 25, 2013 at the War Memorial Opera House, featuring the choruses and orchestras of the Teatro di San Carlo and San Francisco Operas on the same stage, under the direction of Maestro Nicola Luiso] tti, the current Music Director of both companies.

 

This landmark concert will be preceded and supported by Treasures from Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo, an exhibit featuring stage costumes, jewels, tapestries, and other Treasures from the Teatro di San Carlo Historical Collection, which date back to the end of the 1700’s, as well as set design lithographs by renowned Transavanguardia artist Mimmo Paladino, appearing at the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco.  

 

This is a unique one-time exhibit, as the artifacts on display are to be auctioned on June 15th at the Fairmont Hotel during a Gala benefit and auction to raise funds to bring the Teatro di San Carlo orchestra and chorus to San Francisco.