The Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo has a complex history. It began in the 18th century with the Riccardi Theatre, named after a merchant who built the city’s first permanent theatre on the site where the Donizetti now stands. The Theatre, designed by Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, was inaugurated on 24th August 1791. But the dream lasted only a few years: in 1797 the Theatre was destroyed by fire. The architect Lucchini was commissioned to rebuild it and it was reopened on 30th June 1800. The Theatre was named after Gaetano Donizetti in 1897, to mark the centenary of the Composer’s birth. Since that year, the Theatre, always attentive to experimentation and innovation, has distinguished itself for the quality and variety of its theatrical offerings, becoming one of the most important theatres on the Italian scene.
