Teatro Bibiena

Inside the Teatro Bibiena, four tiers of wooden boxes curve around a small hall in the shape of a bell, each box painted with its own monochrome decoration, so that the whole interior feels like a jewel case turned inside out. It is one of the most intimate and complete theatres of 18th-century Italy, and it was here, in January 1770, that the thirteen-year-old Mozart gave a concert a few weeks after the building opened.

The theatre was commissioned for the academy of Mantua, soon absorbed into the new Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters (today's Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana), and was designed by Antonio Galli da Bibbiena, a member of the famous family of theatre architects. It was built in just two years, between 1767 and 1769, in a late Baroque manner verging on Rococo, and Bibiena not only directed the works but also painted the frescoes of the boxes himself. It was meant as a hall for scientific gatherings, which gave it the name Teatro Scientifico, as well as for concerts and plays. It was inaugurated on 3 December 1769, and Leopold Mozart, writing to his wife after his son's concert, said he had never in his life seen anything more beautiful of its kind.

The neoclassical façade belongs to a later phase: the academy's palace was rebuilt to a design by Giuseppe Piermarini, carried out by Paolo Pozzo in 1773 to 1775, and the new front was extended across the theatre without touching its interior. The hall is modest, with a stage about 12 m wide, and seats some 363 people; it still hosts concerts and lectures. Mantua itself, ringed on three sides by lakes formed from the Mincio river and long ruled by the Gonzaga family, has its historic centre inscribed with nearby Sabbioneta on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008.

Getting there

The theatre stands on Via Accademia in the historic centre of Mantua. The nearest airport is Verona Villafranca Airport (VRN), about 27 km away in a straight line.