The construction of the Giuseppe Verdi Municipal Theater was deliberated by the City Council of Salerno on December 15, 1863, on the proposal of the then Mayor Matteo Luciani.The project and the direction of the works were entrusted to the architects Antonio D’Amora and Giuseppe Manichini who based their work on the measurements and proportions of the San Carlo Theater in Naples. The decorations were instead directed by Gaetano D’Agostino, a painter of great value who was joined by the most prestigious names in the Neapolitan artistic world. The Theater was inaugurated on April 15, 1872 with a performance of Rigoletto; on March 27, 1901 the Theater was named after Giuseppe Verdi, who died on January 27 of the same year.\n\The Theater was rendered unfit for use by the 1980 earthquake and remained closed for almost 14 years. It was restored and reinaugurated on July 6, 1994, during the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Salerno as capital of Italy. The restoration has brought to light historical and artistic details that make the theater, one of the few in Italy with a perfectly preserved 19th century wooden structure, even more precious.\On January 22, 1997 the staging of Verdi’s Falstaff, interpreted by the baritone Rolando Panerai, inaugurated the First Opera Season of the theater’s recent history, strongly desired by the administration of Vincenzo De Luca, Mayor then and now, and by the Artistic Director of the moment, Janos Acs. The event is also linked to the foundation of the Opera Chorus of the Theatre.
