The Jungle Opera House
This is one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses. Where would you place it? If you thought of Paris, you are cold. Milan? Not anywhere near!
Called the Manaus Opera House or Teatro Amazonas, this enchanting piece of Renaissance architecture was built in the middle of the Amazon jungle! …or at least this is what it was during its construction spanning 1885 to 1892.
Christopher Columbus reported in one of his memoirs seeing Indians bouncing a ball made from a strange, sticky substance that bled from tropical trees.
In 1896, the American industrialist, B. F. Goodrich manufactured the first automobile tires. The “rubber boom” was born and consumed the Amazon, which held the virtual monopoly on the highest-quality latex.
The renowned Italian architect of the time, Celestial Sacardim planned the theatre and the roofing tiles were brought from Alsace, France, whereas furnishings in the style of Louis XV were imported from Paris. From Italy came Carrarra marble for the stairs, statues, and columns, and the steel walls were ordered from England. Not only materials but also artists were imported for the theatre’s creation, with the Italian artist Domenico de Angelis painting the decorative panels that sit on the ceiling of the auditorium and audience chamber.
The theatre houses 198 chandeliers, 32 of which are made from Murano glass. The painting of the curtain, “The Meeting of the Waters”, was originally created in Paris by Crispim do Amaral, and depicts the junction of the Rio Negro and the Solimões, tributaries of the Amazon River. The dome of the building is covered with 36000 decorated ceramic tiles set in a mosaic design depicting the Brazilian flag.
The theatre opened on 7 January 1897 with a presentation of the La Gioconda by the Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli.
Much like the Manaus Opera House, the city’s history consists of good and bad phases, not fully reaching its potential until the late 19th century. Although Manaus enjoyed unparalleled wealth at the time of the theatre’s construction, the city later fell into extreme poverty.
This was due to rubber trees being planted by the English in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Africa with much cheaper prices, resulting in the loss of the Brazilian monopoly. During this period the theatre also fell into disrepair, but it never failed to open its doors to its visitors.
After decades of neglect, interest in reviving the Amazon Theatre finally picked up thanks to an unlikely source: a movie. Werner Herzog’s 1982, world acclaimed film “Fitzcarraldo” featured a concert in the Amazon Theatre. Its popularity brought the eyes of the world back to Manaus’s fabled theatre.
