The Theater Amazonas (in Portuguese: Teatro Amazonas ) was inaugurated the December 31st 1896 with Manaus. It is about a opera located in the Amazon forest.

It was built during the Belle Time at time when fortunes were done thanks to the extraction of the rubber. Its construction was proposed by Antonio Jose Fernandes Júnior, member of the House of Commons, in 1881 which wished to do of Manaus one of the high places of civilization Brésil ienne.

Although the State approved the project, its financing did not make consensus and the beginning of work took delay. In 1882, the president of the province, Jose Lustosa Paranaguá, approved a broader budget and put in competition the various plans suggested. In 1884, the project of the architect Italy N Celestial Sacardim was selected; this one taking as a starting point the architecture Rebirth. At this point in time the building site began.

Between 1885 and 1892, the construction of the theater is rythmée by stops and delay its inauguration. From Alsace the tiles come from the roof, Paris the furniture and the fabrics - of style Louis XV - of Italy the marble of the staircases, the statues and the columns and, of England, steel for the walls. The theater was equipped with 198 glosses including 32 of glass of Murano. The curtains, depicting a copy of the “Meeting of Water” , were created at the origin in Paris by the artist Crispim C Amaral, represent the junction between the Rio Negro and the Solimões, which form the Amazon. Outside, the dome is covered with 36.000 tiles glazed with the colors of the Brazilian flag.

Work took again in 1893. In 1895, the work of masonry was finished. Also, interior decoration and the installation of the lights could accelerate. Italian Domenico de Angelis signed the splendid painted panels which color the ceilings of the auditorium and the courtroom. Although it had an inauguration and some representations there, it took two more years so that the construction of the theater is completed, finishing 17 years of work on the whole.

The theater was inaugurated the December 31st 1896 and the first interpretation took place the January 7th 1897 with the Italian opera Gioconda of Amilcare Ponchielli. The building since was restored on four occasions: in 1929, 1974 and between 1988 and 1990. Currently, it has a gauge of 701 places with seats covered with red velvet.

The monument is present in the film Fitzcarraldo , carried out by German Werner Herzog in 1982. At the beginning of film, the insane character of opera, Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald known as “Fitzcarraldo” , seeks to settle to listen to Ernani, of Made green, sung by Enrico Caruso. It arrives at the end of work, where his interior is seen. If there were certain assumptions affirming that the building was built to attract Caruso, of the doubts persist as for knowing if it never played there.

A British journalist, Christina Lamb, noticed in 2001 the rebirth of the opera to the Amazonas Theater:

“four years ago, no representation had not been held since nearly 90 years. Then a new governor of the Amazon was elected, populist name of Amazonino Mendes, which issued that this city was to have an orchestra of the first quality, a chorus and a corps de ballet. He delivered nearly 1,5 million books per annum, an enormous quantity in a country where half of the population is illétrée and lives of 60 books per month.

That resulted in to place Manaus in first place for a rather unexpected musical migration. Some of the best European musicians were tempted to pass from the orchestras such as Kirov to Manaus, thus justifying better wages. Actually, 39 of the 54 members of the philharmonic orchestra come from Bulgaria, Bielorussia and Russia. Even the archivist was born in Bielorussia. ”

Every year, the place is the place of a cinematographic festival.