The Theatre
Teatro Comunale reopens: on 14 February 2027 the Sala Bibiena welcomes audiences back
After the restoration works, a day of celebration with Daniele Gatti on the podium and a month of events across the city. On 2 March the Opera Season opens with Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria
Where the restoration of the Comunale is measured in centimetres.
On the scaffolding beneath the ceiling of Teatro Comunale di Bologna, even the labels on the jars tell a story. “Raw umber”, “burnt sienna”, they read: pigments with old names, sitting beside swabs and mixtures prepared on the spot. This is the domain of Phyllis Novara, site manager for Leonardo
Inside a hidden corner of the building site.
There is a place in Teatro Comunale di Bologna that the public never sees: it lies above the vault of the Sala Bibiena. With 198 days to go to the reopening on 14 February 2027, that is where the heart of the site beats. On the scaffolding built up against the ceiling works Adele Galetti, site director for Leonardo, the firm carrying out the restoration: «We are on the ceiling scaffolding and the restoration of the wall paintings is under way. Behind me are the restorers at work».
«A historic theatre never stops living». Restorer Bevilacqua on the Comunale’s building site
212 days to 14 February 2027, the date on which Teatro Comunale di Bologna will open its doors again. On the scaffolding that fills the Sala Bibiena today, the conservation and maintenance of the surfaces advances centimetre by centimetre, led by Fabio Bevilacqua, conservator of cultural heritage and operations director of the works, who drew up the project together with the architect Francesco Dalmastri.
Thank you, Comunale Nouveau
All the stage technicians, lined up on stage for one last photograph: this is the image with which Teatro Comunale di Bologna says goodbye to the Comunale Nouveau, its home from February 2023 to June 2026 while the historic building in Piazza Verdi was being restored. It was they, together with the Orchestra and the Chorus, who turned a pavilion built for other purposes into a theatre.