A Cozy 19th Century Theater

The Verdi Theater can accommodate up to 300 people between stalls, boxes and gallery. It is called "small Scala" as it recalls the famous Milanese theater in terms of structure and colors, fully falling into the list of nineteenth-century neoclassical theaters.

In the stalls there are 96 armchairs, the most recent part of the whole room: they date back to 2001 and were donated by Verdi enthusiasts on the occasion of the centenary of the Maestro's death.

The orchestra pit is obtained by removing the first three rows of seats in the stalls and the fake marble cover below the stage. It was commissioned by Arturo Toscanini, who twice, in 1913 and in 1926, directed Verdi operas there.

The floor is made up of original planks, never modified to avoid acoustic alterations. It is raised above the underlying pavement of the orchestra pit.

The stage, decidedly deep when compared to the overall length of the hall, is also very inclined to give an impression of even greater depth.

The large supporting pillars on the sides of the stage are decorated with the gilded effigies of six musicians, placed inside frames and ovals.

There are 32 boxes developed on two orders, in addition to the royal box.

The royal box.

The golden decorations and the numbers of the boxes are in papier-mâché. The use of this material, together with the raised wooden floor and the presence of a false ceiling (also made of wood), recreates the effect of a sound box ensuring excellent acoustics. It seems to be inside the soundbox of a guitar!

The third order is that of the gallery, in which there is a horseshoe-shaped wooden bench that follows the perimeter from one end to the other, as well as a central tribune in the second row.

The vault of the ceiling, at the center of which hangs a large bronze chandelier with glass bowls, is enriched by frescoes made by the famous painter from Busseto Isacco Gioacchino Levi, who painted the allegorical figures of the Comedy, the Tragedy, the Melodrama and Romantic Drama.