3. - Schlösser-Magazin

3. six-gallery
The auditorium of the
Schwetzingen Rococo theatre.
100
3. Justification for Inscription
house from the beginning. In 1735,
architects Giovanni Antonio Medrano and
Angelo Carasale built the “Teatro di San Carlo”
for the Bourbon King of Naples, Charles III.
For many years the “San Carlo” with its 3300
seats was the largest opera house in existence
and considered the best in Europe, surpassing
even “La Scala” in Milan. 54 The theatre built
in 1756 by Antonio Carlo Galli da Bibiena in
Bologna features four galleries of boxes in
the shape of rows of arches stacked one on
top of the other, somewhat reminiscent of an
outside-in version of the Colosseum in Rome.
54 In 1816 large parts of the theatre were destroyed by a fire. It
was restored along the original lines but with a classicist décor
by the architect Antonio Niccolini (Klucker, Ehrenfried: Neapel.
Zürich 1980, p. 69).
The Italian theatres with their small
subdivisions were criticized by French
architectural theoreticians, who derided them
as “chicken coops“ and called for a more
monumental layout modeled on Classical
examples. Visitors were to be seated on open
balconies. 55 In 1758 Charles-Nicolas Cochin
demanded simplicity, a neat arrangement
and a clearly visible architectural structure.
Public criticism culminated in a treatise, “Del
Teatro” by Francesco Milizia, published in
1773. It summarizes the strictures levelled
at the Baroque “box” theatre, including
construction defects and the general lack of
fire prevention measures that contributed to
the short life span of many theatres. Other
points raised were functional defects like
narrow and insufficient entrances, stairwells
and corridors, the lack of lobbies and the
frequently unacceptable viewing conditions
and acoustics within the auditorium itself. 56
To Milizia the great unparalleled model is the
Classical amphitheatre. There is an element of
social criticism here too: the loftiest function
of Art is not to serve as an aspect of an
absolutist ruler’s self-display but to represent
the public. No longer should the theatre be an
elitist courtly pastime; instead it should serve
the people.
Schwetzingen
These enlightened ideas were put into
brilliant practice by Nicolas de Pigage, the
Palatine director-in-chief of building. The
Schwetzingen Rococo theatre, built 1752/53,
is the earliest example of an open-balcony
theatre in Europe, without any subdivision
of the galleries into boxes. The simplicity of
its décor, in keeping with the demands of
the French theoreticians, is in stark contrast
to the bombastic interior decoration of the
contemporaneous theatres in Munich and
55 Hesse, Michael: Klassische Architektur in Frankreich. Kirchen,
Schlösser, Gärten, Städte 1600-1800. Darmstadt 2004, p. 141.
56 Meyer, Jochen: Vom barocken Theatrum Mundi zum modernen
Theater. Kritik und Rezeption der barocken Theaterbauten im
späten 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert. In: Opernbauten des
Barock. Internationale Tagung des Deutschen Nationalkomitees
von ICOMOS und der Bayerischen Verwaltung der staatlichen
Schlösser, Gärten und Seen. Bayreuth 1998, pp. 15-25.