Teatro Fraschini

Four Pavian noblemen — Gambarana Beccaria, Bellisomi, Bellingeri Provera and de' Giorgi Vistarino — paid for a theatre and gave it their collective title: the Teatro dei Quattro Nobili Cavalieri, built from 1771 to designs by Antonio Galli Bibiena, of the dynasty that had furnished Europe with stage architecture for a century. It opened on 24 May 1773 with Mysliveček's Il Demetrio, the Archduke Ferdinand in attendance; Napoleon and Joséphine danced there in May 1805. In 1869 the city took the house over to save it from closure and renamed it for Gaetano Fraschini, the Pavian tenor who created leading roles for Verdi. With 409 seats it is small, exact and old, and Italy recognised it as a teatro di tradizione in 2003.