Acoustics in the competition for the construction of ‘‘La Fenice’’ opera house

Abstract

In 1789, a group of nobles wished to build a new large theater in Venice. They announced a competition, in which 29 architects from all over Italy took part, presenting many different projects. Although the prize was given to one project, a different one was chosen to be executed. The author of the latter project was Giannantonio Selva and was the cause of much criticism, but it was appreciated for the results it obtained from the acoustic point of view. In his memoirs, Selva explained how he adapted the shape of the theater so that it became a semicircle with extensions on both sides and added that there were no precise theories regarding the building of a ‘‘harmonic’’ theater. He also appeared to be well informed on the debate about different curves to use in the hall. He suggested leaving an empty space under the orchestra pit, because ‘‘it looks good.’’ This paper deals with the description of the acoustical requirements in the competition for the construction of ‘‘La Fenice’’ and with the analysis of some of the projects presented taking into account the knowledge of room acoustics in the XVIII century.