Premises and the cultural context During the golden age of
Italian drama, even before the
unification of Italy, the growing Genoese upper-middle class demanded the construction of new theaters to serve the city's entertainment needs. Theater managers, sometimes dealing only with entrepreneurial aspects and sometimes also with cultural organization, met this demand. Although significant national theaters were already present in the capital city (such as the
Teatro Carlo Felice, the
Teatro Colombo, the
Teatro del Falcone, the
Teatro di Sant'Agostino, the
Teatro Apollo, and others), the demand was particularly intense and was seized upon by Francesco Sanguinetti (or Sanguineti), already the manager of the
Teatro Carlo Felice. The construction of the new theater was chosen for the area of Via Caffaro, an important artery that connected the city center uphill with the upscale neighborhood of
Castelletto, recently developed through the projects of
Carlo Barabino and
Giovanni Battista Resasco.
Opening of the theater and the start of dramaturgical activities Inaugurated on 9 April 1855, Paganini Theater was designed by Tommaso Carpineti. Although sometimes attributed to G. B. Carpaneto, the oldest sources agree on Tommaso Carpineti as the architect (despite another G.B. Carpineti being listed in the contemporary registry as well). The theater construction plans are preserved in the
State Archive of Genova. Sanguinetti decided to name it after the renowned Genoese violinist
Niccolò Paganini. The building was located in front of the Collegio-Convitto Commerciale d'Ippolito d'Aste, at the intersection with Via Bruzza. The inauguration took place with a performance of
Rigoletto. The
Annuario dei teatri di Genova from 1845/1855 summarized the steps that led to the birth of the theater: The building was of great elegance and sumptuousness: externally adorned with columns, and internally rich in stuccos, gildings, friezes, and draperies. In 1873, it was described as "an extremely elegant theater", and compared in importance with the
Teatro Manzoni in
Milan and the
Carignano in Turin. On several occasions, to generate higher profits from more popular works, performances or concerts of greater importance than those of Carlo Felice were staged due to the organization of the ownership of the boxes.
Theatrical season lineup The performances at the Paganini covered the entire year and varied according to the seasons: At that time, Italy had become a unified state less than a year prior, with
Victor Emmanuel II as its
King. However, the new
Kingdom still did not include
Venice or
Rome, a situation that was a source of tension in internal politics. The assembly took place shortly after the resignation of
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour's successor,
Ricasoli. During the meeting at the Paganini Theater, Garibaldi pointed again to
Venice and
Rome, and the assembly ended with the establishment of the Emancipatory Society of which Garibaldi was appointed president.
The successes of the late nineteenth century during the performance of
Agatodémon by
Felice Cavallotti at Paganini Theater, in February 1890 In 1874, the theater hosted the first staging of the opera ''Non c'è rosa senza spine'' by
Ippolito Tito D'Aste, by the
Sadowksy company directed by Knight
Luigi Monti, on 18 April 1874. In December 1877, the violinist
Camillo Sivori, a student and friend of Paganini, staged a highly successful concert accompanied by pianist
Rafael Joseffy. The following evening, the renowned
soprano Adelina Patti, along with
Ernesto Nicolini, performed
La Traviata. The success was remarkable, so much so that the correspondent of the Gazzetta musicale di Milano enthusiastically reviewed the city's response to the event:
A brief decline, the arrival of cinema, and the revival After some financial problems, common to most theaters between the 19th and 20th centuries, which did not stop its activity, the theater regained its momentum at the beginning of the new century. In the 1920 season, performances included
Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Ena Surinach, Romano Ciaroff, and Carlo Cavallini;
Mignon by
Ambroise Thomas;
Cavalleria rusticana with
Tina Poli-Randaccio and Socrate Caceffo; and
Pagliacci with Nedda Gina Viganò and
Aureliano Pertile conducted by
Federico Del Cupolo. In 1926,
Ermete Zacconi held three consecutive performances there.
The Allied bombing and complete destruction During one of the dozen
Allied bombings on Genoa on 23-24 October 1942, the building was almost completely destroyed, along with the historical archive kept in the premises, as reported by the superintendent on 25 October 1942. After the war, it was not rebuilt, and in the same space, with civic number 12, a modern-rationalist style building was later constructed for residential use. ==Description==