It was built by private initiative between 1798 and 1801. The original design was by Giannantonio Selva, also designer of the Fenice in Venice, who was responsible for the interiors. Matteo Pertsch took over the commission later and worked mainly on the facades. In the main facade the influence of Giuseppe Piermarini, Pertsch’s teacher and designer of La Scala in Milan, is evident.
It was inaugurated under the name Regio Teatro Nuovo and was later called Teatro di Trieste. The first performance on April 20, 1801 was the premiere of Salieri’s opera Annibale in Capua with Luigi Marchesi, Giacomo David and Teresa Bertinotti-Radicati and on April 21 Ginevra di Scozia by Simon Mayr.
n January 27, 1901 it was named after Giuseppe Verdi upon a decision by extraordinary resolution of the city council, convened on the very night of the great composer’s death.
The theater underwent several maintenance and restoration works, the most important in 1881.
The 1951 Boris Godunov (opera) conducted by Antonino Votto with Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Fernando Corena and the 1953 Norma (opera) conducted by Votto with Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Boris Christoff and Elena Nicolai still remain in memory.
