The Teatro Lirico was inaugurated in 1993, at the end of an extremely long construction period. The project, which dates back to 1964, involved the construction of a building to replace the ancient Teatro Civico, destroyed by bombardments in the old town during the Second World War. In 1967, the plan by Ginoulhiac and Galmozzi, architects from Bergamo, was approved and the construction of the modern building, which has an area of 5,000 square metres, began. The foyer, 1650 seats including stalls and circle, the expansive stage and orchestra pit were built first. In the years following the inauguration, rehearsal rooms, workrooms, store rooms and office premises were added. The latest work of the Teatro Lirico includes renovation of the foyer, a new bookshop, the bar and an elegant restaurant.

The Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, in which the Foundation with the same name has its premises, is open throughout the whole year with concert, opera and ballet seasons. Together with the Teatro Lirico Orchestra and Chorus, which play a leading role in the many prestigious productions, top level artists have followed one after the other onto its stage and have contributed to reviving the music scene in Cagliari.

We have to mention among others, the conductors Riccardo Muti, Georges Prêtre, Mstislav Rostropovich, Zubin Mehta, Iván Fischer, Carlo Maria Giulini, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Pierre Boulez, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Lorin Maazel, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Neville Marriner, Carlos Kleiber, Valery Gergiev, Trevor Pinnock, Christopher Hogwood; the directors Dario Fo, Beni Montresor, Luca Ronconi, Hennings Brockhaus, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Graham Vick, Denis Krief, Gilbert Deflo, Stephen Medcalf, Giancarlo Cobelli; the soloists Maurice Bourgue, Kim Kashkashian, Murray Perahia, Mikhail Pletnev, Viktoria Mullova, Truls Mørk, Sabine Meyer, Vadim Repin, Yuri Bashmet, Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Canino, Uto Ughi, Trevor Pinnock, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Julian Rachlin, Fazil Say, Maurizio Pollini; the orchestras Filarmonica della Scala, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonia Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk, St Petersburgh Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, New York Philharmonic.
In the past few years, particular attention has also been paid to contemporary Italian composers, such as Aldo Clementi, Sylvano Bussotti, Azio Corghi and Marco Tutino from whom new works have been commissioned.

Among the many important operas performed, Italian premières and new productions stand out: Sebastian (from Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien by Claude Debussy), Dalibor by Bedˇrich Smetana, Die Feen by Richard Wagner, ˇ Cerevi ˇ cki and Opriˇ cnik by Petr Il’i ˇc ˇ Cajkovskij, Die ägyptische Helena by Richard Strauss, Euryanthe by Carl Maria von Weber, A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederich Delius, Alfonso und Estrella by Franz Schubert, Hans Heiling by Heinrich Marschner, OEdipe by George Enescu, Chérubin by Jules Massenet and Die Vögel by Walter Braunfels.

Thanks to the quality and the innovative character of its programme, the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari received the 2001 Franco Abbiati Prize. The prestigious Italian music critics’ award was also assigned to Denis Krief and Marcelo Alvarez for Lucia di Lammermoor in the year 2000 and to Stephen Medcalf for Carmen in 2005.






Brochure open monuments 2007

Plan of the concert hall