Venice celebrates rebirth of opera house

Seven years after its beloved opera house burned down, Venice threw itself a big party today to celebrate the rebirth of La Fenice with a gala concert attended by the Italian president and Hollywood stars.

To Venetians and opera and Venice lovers throughout the world, the 18th century theatre represents the soul of this unique lagoon city, and its resurrection from the ashes – like its phoenix namesake – was cause for celebration across Italy.

Fans lined up throughout the day to admire the theatre’s newly polished marble façade, with the Fenice symbol, a gilded phoenix rising from the ashes, hanging in the entranceway.

“We are all happy to see the Fenice the way it was,” said Stella Marchisello, a cashier in the fast-food restaurant down the street.

With so many VIPs in town for the opening, security was tight, with carabinieri paramilitary police patrolling the fog-shrouded Grand Canal and the narrow streets and bridges of the lagoon city.

Riccardo Muti was conducting La Fenice orchestra and chorus in an inaugural concert, which featured Ludwig van Beethoven’s fitting overture, “Consecration of the House,” as well as works by composers whose lives were touched by Venice.

Muti, in town for rehearsals earlier in the week, called it a “great moment for Italian culture and music around the world.”

He conducted at the Fenice for the first time in 1970 at the beginning of his musical career and hosted the orchestra and chorus at Milan’s La Scala after the 1996 fire.

At the time of the fire, La Fenice was undergoing renovation. Two electricians set the theatre ablaze during the night of January 29, 1996 to avoid stiff fines their company risked for being behind in its work. They were charged with arson and sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

In the ensuing years, the rebuilding of the ornate 18th century theatre was delayed by red tape, political disputes and the mere difficulty of reaching the site, which is between two canals connected by tiny bridges.

Using sketches and photographic documentation, the project by the late Aldo Risso sought to reproduce the original theatre built in 1792, from its inlayed wooden floors and frescoed ceilings to the minute papier-mache gilded detailing of the loges.

The total cost of the renovation is estimated at €71m.