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QUATUOR HERMÈS 47
Teatro Scientifico Bibiena, Mantoue
Built between 1767 and 1769, the theatre was designed by Antonio Galli Bibiena
from Parma with the main purpose of hosting scientific assemblies, but also plays
and concerts. It is part of the much larger Palazzo Accademico complex and has
a bell-shaped floor plan. The auditorium is laid out in several galleries of wooden
boxes, according to the type of structure invented in the seventeenth century and
which had become dominant by that time.
On 3 December 1769, the Teatro Scientifico was officially inaugurated: it proved
to be an exquisite gem, thanks to its balance between movement and elegance,
and one of the most significant architectural creations of late eighteenth-century
Europe.
Just over a month after its inauguration, on 16 January 1770, the fourteen-year-old
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrived in Mantua on his first Italian tour and gave a
memorable concert there with his father Leopold. In a letter to his wife, dated 26
January 1770, Leopold Mozart described the theatre as follows: ‘Never in my life
have I seen anything more beautiful of its kind.’