1385 ITALY (Veneto) - Teatro La Fenice in Venice

Teatro La Fenice (The Phoenix) is an opera house in Venice, one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" as well as those in Europe. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers - Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi were performed. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of three theatres to fire, in 1774, 1836, and 1996. Last time La Fenice was rebuilt in 19th century style on the basis of a design by architect Aldo Rossi who, in order to obtain details of its design, used still photographs from the opening scenes of Luchino Visconti's 1954 film Senso which had been filmed in the house.

Critical response to the rebuilt La Fenice was mixed. The music critic of the paper Il Tempo, Enrico Cavalotti, was satisfied. He found the colours a bit bright but the sound good and compact. However, for his colleague Dino Villatico of the La Repubblica, the acoustics of the new hall lacked resonance and the colours were painfully bright. He found it "kitsch, a fake imitation of the past". It was reopened on 14 December 2003 with an inaugural concert of Beethoven, Wagner, and Stravinsky. In 2013 the Italian Post issued on November 11 a stamp and a maxicard to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the reopening of the theater, within the series The Italian Cultural and Artistic Heritage. 

About the stamp
The stamp belongs to a series of definitive stamps, about which I wrote here.

References
La Fenice - Wikipedia

sender: Marius Vasilescu
sent from Venice (Veneto / Italy) on 12.08.2014