Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Teatro Lirico: a project for Milan, a restoration for the future

Photo gallery - Maurizio Montagna: installation

Milan, June 10 2021 – The first inspection reserved for the press was held this morning at the construction site of the Opera House, after the inspection by the joint council commission on Housing, Public Works, ERP and Culture.

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The restoration works of the Lyric Theater are completed, construction activities will cease on 30 June 2021 and from 15 July the property will be handed over to the manager, Stage entertainment, who, in close collaboration with the Administration and will complete it within 90 days of the furnishings and commercial spaces, including the panoramic restaurant, to inaugurate the first official theater season of the Teatro Lirico from next autumn 2021.

The Lyric Theater had been closed since 1999, the restoration site was opened in 2016 and has now returned entirely to its original splendor, following the historical architectural layout of the horseshoe-shaped Italian theaters with stalls, tiers of boxes, balconies , finishes, decorations, acoustics and with an innovative system that will allow the stage to expand to the stalls and the elimination of architectural barriers to have a theater accessible to all.

The Lirico was founded in 1776 as the Teatro della Cannobiana, the second most important in Milan after the Teatro alla Scala, and was designed by the architect Piermarini. But only a few traces of that building remain. The architecture begins to change with the first architectural recovery intervention in 1894 (architect Sfondrini) and then in 1932 (architect Faduli) with the impoverishment of the finishes in gold, white plaster, marble and the figurative and decorative decorations as well as of the division/use of spaces.

In 1937 a violent fire devastated it entirely, leaving only the external shell standing. The Lirico was reopened in 1939, after a radical renovation by the architects. Cassi-Ramelli and Gerla, who retain only the facade of the old theater on Via Larga. The capacity was expanded and in 1943 it could host the season of the Teatro alla Scala, which was destroyed due to the serious Anglo-American bombings that had hit Milan.

The current restoration   
The restoration project was conservative in respect of the history of the Opera and in continuous agreement with the Superintendence for architectural and monumental heritage which constantly monitored the works. The designers worked to recover, restore and redevelop all the components that were still present, establishing a close dialogue with the general context which clearly could not be the original one, eliminating the interventions that had altered its architecture and forms.

The first phase was cleaning to remove all the deposits of various substances that had caused degradation and altered the appearance of the materials. In particular, the work to eliminate asbestos was very significant. The second was dedicated to the consolidation of the structure and its parts, finally the third phase for the protection of the materials which must be protected from attack by atmospheric agents capable of greatly accelerating their degradation.

The external part of the building (facades, volumes, finishing) has not undergone any changes, indeed the volumes above the roofs containing the machines/fans have been demolished and the initial state has been restored. The internal part has been completely redeveloped and further noble materials have been introduced, such as marmorino in the stairwells and corridors, Palladian marble floors and Trevira fabric coverings in the balconies. Stucco, plaster, marmorino and gilding have been redeveloped. The particular mosaic at the entrance has been restored.

The restoration and redevelopment interventions also involved the forepart, the stage tower, the dressing rooms/services body with the recovery of all the spaces to the current request for use as dressing rooms/bedrooms and rehearsal rooms. The theater can accommodate 1.517 people: 798 in the stalls, 505 in the gallery, 120 in the first tier of the balcony and 36 in the second.

The theater is now compliant from a seismic, fire prevention and systems point of view. It is connected to the district heating network, making the property consistent with the Administration's energy sustainability policies. The theater room, the rehearsal rooms, the panoramic restaurant area and the small hall, which has a capacity of up to 99 seats, can be heated and cooled individually and, in general, each of these spaces allows continuous, independent and flexibility of the building, enhancing its cultural vocation.

Since the 700th century, the theater included spaces for entertainment - foyers/recreations, games room, bottle shop/refreshments, points of sale - to carry out multifunctional activities inside and was a place of entertainment where people dined, gambled and parties were organised.

Particular attention was paid to the very innovative lower stage mechanics: in addition to a stage of over 400 square metres, it offers the possibility of modulating an additional proscenium space via three independent mobile bridges (mystical gulf) which allow positioning in the "pit" of a symphony orchestra, a "stage extension" configuration beyond the footlights or an expansion of the stalls.

The works carried out had a total cost of 16 million euros and were followed by a technical team made up essentially of personnel from the Technical Directorate of the Municipality (Department of Public Works) in collaboration with the Culture and Entertainment Directorate and the Department of Culture.

The theater centre: classical, jazz and light music, cabaret, dance, prose and opera shows  
The artistic project presented by Stage was found to be fully consistent with the Administration's objectives, including in particular: ensuring the city a new center of national and international importance, capable of offering detailed and quality entertainment programmes; promote programming that is accessible and usable to all, aimed at encouraging the growth of a new audience, bringing the new generations closer to both traditional forms of entertainment and new languages ​​and the most original contemporary experiments; promote interactions between public and private entities, including cultural foundations active in the metropolitan area to optimize costs and resources and rationalize and coordinate the offer of the entire city and metropolitan live entertainment system; to characterize the Teatro Lirico as a reference point for national and international operators and producers in the sector, with whom to work in concert, also with the formula of collaborations and co-productions.

The concession to Stage entertainment was determined following a public tender procedure. The company will ensure wide-ranging artistic and cultural programming, thanks also to an integrated and multidisciplinary approach divided into concerts of classical, jazz and pop music, cabaret, dance and prose shows in a modern key and a new accessibility to opera lyrical. The programming will take care to satisfy different targets with "tailored" offers for the younger generations, students and with dedicated routes for people with disabilities.

It will benefit from the commitment of a scientific committee and the collaboration of the best cultural and higher education institutions in the city, as well as the hospitality of international training groups.