One late October I added another name to my list of Italian cities well worth the journey: Trieste.
Trieste is a small city that feels deeply Viennese, or rather Austro-Hungarian, blending a Central European elegance with its Roman roots and the sea, a deep sea that embraces it and lets it breathe. A real little gem. It can be seen on foot, in the footsteps of the great writers who lived here, up the hill to the Roman ruins that command the bay, or along the waterfront. But the old town I will save for another time. Today I want to tell you about what actually brought me to Trieste, and what I hope will bring you: the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi.
I should say where I am standing when I write this. I spent fifteen years working in opera houses, including the Paris Opera and the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, so when I walk into a theatre I cannot help reading it as both a traveller and someone who knows what happens behind the curtain. Trieste’s Verdi is, to me, one of the real ones.
The Giuseppe Verdi Theatre
A few steps from Piazza Unità d’Italia, the largest sea-facing square in Europe, the theatre was built between 1798 and 1801. Its interior, a classic horseshoe auditorium, was designed by Giannantonio Selva, the architect of La Fenice in Venice; its facade was then entrusted to Matteo Pertsch, a pupil of Piermarini, who designed La Scala in Milan. The result is a building that is, wonderfully, La Fenice on the inside and La Scala on the outside. It was inaugurated on 21 April 1801 with two operas, Ginevra di Scozia by Simone Mayr and Annibale in Capua by Antonio Salieri.
The house is sumptuous: gilding, red velvet, elegant boxes, a frescoed ceiling worthy of any great capital, and, a kindness to the visitor, surtitles in Italian and English. What I call a real theatre.
In its first century, it changed its name several times: it opened as the Teatro Nuovo, and became in turn the Teatro Grande and the Teatro Comunale. Then, on 27 January 1901, within hours of the death of the Maestro of Busseto, the board renamed it for Giuseppe Verdi, a composer with real Trieste ties: the house had staged the premieres of his Il corsaro (1848) and Stiffelio (1850). Over two centuries, it has hosted the greatest names in opera, from Maria Callas and Boris Christoff to Franco Corelli and, more recently, singers like Juan Diego Flórez.
Another jewel is the Ridotto, the foyer on the top floor: a beautiful rectangular room with a wooden colonnade down one side, a stunning upper gallery, elegant oak floors, a huge Murano-glass chandelier, and a ceiling painted with the masks of Greek tragedy and the muses. Ask whether you can see it.
A night at the opera in Trieste, and why you should have one
The heart of this post is a memory, and I will place it clearly in time: it was the night of 30 October 2015, and I was there for the opening of the season, a new Don Giovanni. I had a personal reason to be, several friends and colleagues I had worked with for years were involved in that production and in the theatre’s new chapter. That is the honest backdrop to my enthusiasm, and I would rather tell you than pretend to a stranger’s distance. (Opera is a small world; the superintendent who opened that chapter, Stefano Pace, has since gone on to lead the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.)
It was a fine opening night. I loved the sober lines of the staging, which set the story in a De Chirico-like space out of time, and I was moved by the costumes and direction that sharpened the characters’ strength in complete harmony with Mozart’s score and Da Ponte’s libretto. And of course, it was Don Giovanni, of which I have never, ever had enough.
I tell you all this not because that particular night is on tonight; it is long past, but because it is exactly the argument for going. A great regional opera house like Trieste’s gives you world-class music in an intimate, historic room, often for a fraction of what you would pay at La Scala or the Paris Opera, and it makes a wonderful reason to build a trip around. Check the Teatro Verdi’s current season and, if a title you love is on, plan Trieste around it. A city this beautiful hardly needs the excuse, but an evening at the Verdi is a glorious one.
If you have ever wondered why you should spend a night at the opera at all, this is my answer: do it once, in a room like this, and you will understand.
For a taste of Don Giovanni
If you would like to hear the opera before you go, two recordings I love: the classic one conducted by Herbert von Karajan, and the celebrated version conducted by Claudio Abbado. (The links below are affiliate links; if you buy through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.) You can find the Karajan Don Giovanni and the Abbado Don Giovanni easily online. And I will leave you with “Fin ch’han dal vino”, the champagne aria, which for me carries one of my toughest but most satisfying professional memories.
Further reading
- The official Teatro Verdi Trieste site, for the current season
- More from me on a night at the opera
- My work in tourism, born from fifteen years in opera houses
Frequently asked questions
The Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi is one of the oldest continuously active opera houses in the world, inaugurated in 1801, and a beautiful one: designed to be La Fenice on the inside and La Scala on the outside, a few steps from Trieste’s grand seafront square. Even without a performance it is a stunning piece of architecture; with one, it offers world-class opera in an intimate, historic setting, an excellent reason to visit the city.
It was built between 1798 and 1801 and inaugurated on 21 April 1801, originally as the Teatro Nuovo. The interior was designed by Giannantonio Selva (architect of Venice’s La Fenice) and the facade by Matteo Pertsch (a pupil of Piermarini, architect of Milan’s La Scala). It was renamed after Giuseppe Verdi in 1901, hours after the composer’s death.
Yes. The theatre can often be seen on guided visits outside performance times, including the auditorium and the beautiful top-floor Ridotto foyer; check the theatre’s official site for current tour times and booking. To experience it fully, though, attending an opera or concert in the season is unforgettable.
Tickets for the opera, ballet and concert season are sold through the theatre’s official website and box office. Seasons are announced in advance, so check the programme, choose a title and date, and book ahead for popular productions. Regional Italian opera houses like Trieste’s often cost far less than the big-name theatres for comparable quality.
Very much. Trieste is an elegant, atmospheric city with a strong Austro-Hungarian character, a literary heritage (James Joyce, Italo Svevo and others lived and wrote here), Roman remains, grand Viennese-style cafés and a beautiful seafront. The Teatro Verdi is a wonderful anchor for a trip, but the city rewards a longer, slower stay.
