Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
Eclectic 1911 opera house that hosted the 1922 Week of Modern Art; home to the city's opera and ballet.
Inaugurated on 12 September 1911, the Theatro Municipal was commissioned as São Paulo grew rich on coffee and wanted a stage to match the opera houses of Europe. Ramos de Azevedo worked with the Italian architects Cláudio and Domiziano Rossi on a design that blends Renaissance and Baroque motifs with Art Nouveau detail, and its marble, mosaic and bronze were largely imported from Europe. The auditorium seats about 1,523 people beneath a painted ceiling, reached by a grand staircase in the foyer.
The building is best known outside music circles as the setting for the Semana de Arte Moderna of February 1922, the week of readings, concerts and lectures that launched Brazilian modernism and involved Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, Anita Malfatti and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Restoration campaigns in the 1980s returned the interiors and sandstone façade to something close to Ramos de Azevedo's intentions, finishing in 1991. The theatre now houses the Municipal Symphony Orchestra, the City Ballet, two choirs and the Experimental Repertory Orchestra.
Highlights
- Marble and mosaic foyer with its sweeping grand staircase
- Venue of the 1922 Semana de Arte Moderna
- Auditorium for roughly 1,523 under a painted ceiling
- Free guided tours of the halls, stage and backstage areas
