DK Travel : Naples & the Amalfi Coast : Performing arts

Naples & the Amalfi Coast : Performing arts

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Ballet

San Carlo shares with La Scala the record for the first Italian ballet school (1812).
Castrati

An 18th-century Neapolitan speciality, renowned castrati who sang at the San Carlo included Caffarelli (Gaetano Majorano), Farinelli (Carlo Broschi) and Gian Battista Velluti.
Eduardo De Filippo

De Filippo (1900–84) combined the roles of comic actor, manager and playwright. His comedies, originally in the Neapolitan dialect, revolve around the petty concerns of family life and were performed by his family troupe. His best known film is Napoli Milionaria (1950).
Enrico Caruso

Arguably the most famous tenor ever, Caruso was born in Naples in 1873. His 1901performance at the San Carlo was so heavily criticized that he never sang in Naples again.
Fire

In February 1816 fire destroyed the San Carlo. In a few months the theatre had been rebuilt with perfect acoustics.
Gaetano Donizetti

Donizetti composed 16 operas for the San Carlo, including Lucia di Lammermoor .
Gioacchino Rossini

The composer wrote some 50 operas and was artistic director of the opera house between 1815 and 1822.
Giuseppe Verdi

The “god” of Italian opera wrote his first opera for the theatre, Alzira , in 1845.
Inauguration

On 4 November 1737 the San Carlo was inaugurated with Metastasio’s opera Achille in Sciro .
Massimo Troisi

Embodying the heart of the Neapolitan character, this actor made international waves with Il Postino (The Postman) , nominated for an Academy Award in 1995. Sadly, after the film was completed, Troisi died at the age of 41.