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Built between 1767 and 1769, the theater was designed by Antonio Galli Bibiena from Parma on commission of the rector of the Accademia dei Timidi, count Carlo Ottavio di Colloredo, with the purpose of hosting mainly scientific meetings, but also open to performances and concerts. he theater, no longer has a staircase like the Renaissance ones, has a bell-shaped plan and is arranged on several orders of wooden boxes, according to the kind of structure invented in the seventeenth century and that now reigned. With a prodigious liveliness equal to the resources of his inspiration, the architect Bibiena fulfilled in only two years the obligation he had contracted in 1767 with the Timidi: he conceived the special theater, directed the works of construction and finally, with the ability of a painter as well as an architect, he personally frescoed the interiors of the numerous boxes with monochrome figures, which are also a precious document of the artistic activity of the illustrious master. The classic facade was instead realized by Giuseppe Piermarini, from whom the salon on the second floor of the theater takes its name. The “scientific”, finished to perfection, could be officially inaugurated on December 3, 1769: it turned out to be an exquisite jewel for the balance between movement and elegance and one of the most significant architectural formulations of the late eighteenth century Europe. A little more than a month after the inauguration, on January 16, 1770, the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, just fourteen years old, came to Mantua during his first Italian tour, consecrated the incipient life of the “scientific”theater, holding there, together with his father Leopold, a memorable concert.
Even today the theater is used to host music festivals, concerts and conferences of high level.
