TEATRO MASSIMO BELLINI

The Teatro Massimo ?V. Bellini?, built to the design of Milanese architect Carlo Sada, was inaugurated in 1890. In the hundred years of its existence this propulsive center of Catania's musical life has seen many of the greatest musicians of the 20th century pass over the boards of its stage: from Gino Marinuzzi to Vittorio Gui, from Antonio Guarnieri to Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Alain Lombard; from Toti Dal Monte to Callas to Caballé to Scotto to Freni; from Schipa to Gigli to Corelli to Pavarotti to Pertile to Del Monaco to Di Stefano; from Galeffi to Bechi to Gobbi to Nucci, and has performed practically all the masterpieces of musical theater, from Mozart to Berg, as well as contemporary works such as, most recently, Azio Corghi's Divara in its world premiere performance in the original Italian language version. The ?Bellini? has a 105-piece orchestra, an 84-piece chorus, a large group of stage technicians, and scenic workshops that in recent years have produced stagings by Ezio Frigerio, Pet Halmen, Maurizio Balò, Hugo de Ana, Luciano Ricceri, Dante Ferretti, and Franca Squarciapino. Shows have been curated by directors such as Pierre Ponnelle, Werner Herzog, Claude D'Anna, Gilbert Deflo, Giuliano Montaldo, Denis Krief. In its 1,200-seat hall, with perfect acoustics, an opera season, with seven subscription rounds, and a symphonic and chamber season, with two subscription rounds, are held annually. Many concerts are repeated in localities around Sicily, and intense promotional activity is carried out by small instrumental and vocal ensembles made up of elements of the orchestra and chorus.