The Amazon Theatre is an opera house located in Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. It is the location of the annual Festival Amazonas de Ópera and the home of the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra which regularly rehearses and performs at the Amazon Theatre along with choirs, musical concerts and other performances. More than 120 years old, it represents the city's heyday during the rubber boom. It was chosen by Vogue magazine as one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world.
History
The Amazonas Theatre was built during the Belle Époque at a time when fortunes were made in the rubber boom. Construction of the Amazon Theatre was first proposed in 1881 by a member of the localHouse of Representatives, Antonio Jose Fernandes Júnior, who envisioned a "jewel" in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. In 1882, the State legislature approved some limited financing, but this was considered insufficient. Later that year, the president of the Province, José Lustosa Paranaguá, approved a larger budget and initiated a competition for the presentation of plans. The chosen project was made by the Gabinete Português de Engenharia e Arquitectura, an engineering and architecture office from Lisbon. By 1884, construction was ready to begin under the Italian architectCelestial Sacardim. Work proceeded slowly over the following fifteen years with some stops and restarts from 1885 to 1892. By 1895, when the masonry work and exterior were completed, the decoration of the interior and the installation of electric lighting could begin more rapidly. The theatre was inaugurated on December 31, 1896, with the first performance occurring on January 7, 1897, with the Italian opera, La Gioconda, by Amilcare Ponchielli.
Show room: Has the ability to seat 701 people, its distribution of posts is given in the following way, ground floor with 266 seats, cabins with 100 seats distributed, 1st floor with 110 seats distributed in cabins, 2nd floor with 125 seats distributed in 25 cabins, 3rd floor with 100 seats distributed in 20 cabins.
Principal Stage of Presentation: Owns 10.50 metres wide, 6.40 meters high and 11.97 meters deep, the principal stage has 14 meters high, the total area is 123.29 square meters.
Part of the Orchestra: Height: 2 m; Width: 6 ' 11; Length: 7 m.
The theatre is featured in the film Fitzcarraldo directed by the German director Werner Herzog in 1982. At the beginning of the film, the opera-obsessed character Brian Sweeney "Fitzcarraldo" Fitzgerald makes his way by paddling his own boat to the opera house to hear Enrico Caruso sing in Verdi's Ernani, which also features aging Sarah Bernhardt whose role is sung by an off-stage soprano.
It is featured twice in novels by Eva Ibbotson: Journey to the River Sea and A Company of Swans. Both are adventure stories set principally in the city of Manaus and surroundings in 1912. In the former book a visiting acting group performs the play, Little Lord Fauntleroy at the theatre, which is briefly described. In the latter novel a visiting ballet troupe performs Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker and La Fille Mal Gardee at the theatre.
The theatre was featured in Ann Patchett's 2011 novel, State of Wonder.
The film Pavarotti opens with Luciano Pavarotti traveling to the theatre in 1995 to replicate Caruso's performance there.
