by Tim Harry

Created on: July 24, 2010

Considered by aficionados as one of the world’s premier opera houses, the San Carlo Opera House in Naples has been a popular venue for opera and ballet for almost three hundred years. Many people will have heard of Milan’s Scala Opera House or Venice’s Fenice, but the San Carlo Opera House is less well known.

Originally opened in November 1737 at the behest of King Carlo III of Naples, the San Carlo Opera House replaced the older Teatro San Bartolomeo. With the ability to seat over three thousand patrons, the opera house was the largest in existence at the time. It received high acclaim for its modern architecture as well as its exquisite upholstery adorned in the blue and gold colours of the Bourbon family, the opera house’s main benefactors.   

The San Carlo Opera House has been accredited with the rise in importance of Neapolitan opera, and indeed the style of the Naples opera travelled all over Europe and influenced the most famous of composers of that era. The age and importance of the opera house has ensured that it has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage site list of important buildings.

Since then the San Carlo Opera House has been rebuilt in the early nineteenth century after a fire had gutted the original building. Thirty years after the rebuilt the interior upholstery of the building was redone in red and gold, the colours now associated with the opera house. Indeed in many ways the building as much as it was in 1844, although the San Carlo Opera House has emerged in 2010 from a two year refit.

Today the San Carlo Opera House can pre-book a guided tour of the building, although opportunities and availability are limited. Visitors can then take in the marvels of the five levels of theatre boxes, the red and gold decoration, and the ceilings completed with famed frescoes.

Opera is of course still viewed as relatively elitist, but in much the same way as the Broadway musical is now open to a much wider target audience, the San Carlo Opera House provides the opportunity for visitors to Naples to appreciate opera in a superbly acoustic venue.

The San Carlo Opera House may not be the first attraction visitors to Naples think of, but a visit is a must for those who appreciate the history and cultural importance of opera to Italy and Europe.

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