Ciro Pinsuti Theater
The history of the theater takes us back over the centuries and, as with other Tuscan centres, is closely linked to the proliferation of literary academies that characterized the region between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, not only in its main centres, but also in many towns in its area. Also in this town in the Valdichiana a space was already used for performance since the beginning of the seventeenth century and it had been created in the premises occupied at the end of the sixteenth century by the lay company of the Holy Cross. These rooms corresponded to the space then occupied by the stalls and stage of the current theatre.
However, the further arrangement of this room as a theater space is connected to the Accademia degli Smantellati. This citizens' academy was founded in 1673 with the name of Accademia dei Concordi and in 1705 it took on the new name in memory of the destruction of the city walls carried out by the Sienese in 1312. This literary academy, which had specified its activity in the theatrical field , decided in 1772 to buy and restore the old city theater space. The architect Leonardo De Vegni, a cultured and refined intellectual of an Enlightenment style and appreciated designer of the Teatro degli Astrusi in Montalcino, was entrusted with the rearrangement project. De Vegni's project, of great civil scope, in fact featured an elegant Doric portico with a large central body and two side wings intended not only as a theater but also as a market, commercial and artisan activities, agricultural warehouses and a recreation center. However, the grandiose project was judged disproportionate to the size and resources of the town in the Valdichiana.
Thus De Vegni's ideas in 1796 were taken up and reworked by the academician Gian Paolo Terrosi and the definitive project of the new theater was formulated, which was inaugurated in 1807.
The new theater had a horseshoe plan with 36 boxes distributed over three orders and resumed the De Vegni project, as well as the planimetric setting, the solution, on the floor of the stalls, of the ambulatory of Ionic columns, the sizing of the boxes interspersed with pillars, and the conclusion of the last order with arches and lunettes. The internal decoration is also rich, centered on mythological themes such as The Fall of Phethon and The Dance of the Hours (ceiling), Achilles (curtain), trophies in bas-relief and stories of Hector (boxes). These decorations were completely redone and with a different taste during the restorations made necessary in 1884 and directed by Augusto Corbi who made use of numerous decorators who had already worked with him in other theaters in the Sienese area. The new decoration of the ceiling, in antique style and consisting of nine medallions with the allegories of the Muses, was created by the painter Gaetano Brunacci.
In September 1885 the theater was inaugurated with a program of operas including La Margherita by the master Ciro Pinsuti of Sinalunga after whom the theater was named. Sinalunga was thus equipped with one of the most beautiful and elegant theaters in southern Tuscany, able to satisfy the artistic and cultural needs of a particularly lively center due to the presence not only of the Academy but also of numerous musical and amateur dramatic societies. Confirming this liveliness, the Accademia degli Smantellati in the first decades of the twentieth century launched other important projects to expand the theater with the acquisition of new premises to be used as a cafeteria with kitchen and a ballroom.
After the passage of the theater to the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (1931), the theatrical activity, which had already slowed down significantly during the First World War, was supplanted by the cinematographic one.
Declared unusable in 1984 the recovery of the theater to its role as the center of cultural life of Sinalunga and of the Valdichiana area only took shape in 2002 after the acquisition of the structure by the municipal administration and the implementation of a substantial intervention of recovery based on a project by the architect Vieri Franco Boccia of Florence.
However, the further arrangement of this room as a theater space is connected to the Accademia degli Smantellati. This citizens' academy was founded in 1673 with the name of Accademia dei Concordi and in 1705 it took on the new name in memory of the destruction of the city walls carried out by the Sienese in 1312. This literary academy, which had specified its activity in the theatrical field , decided in 1772 to buy and restore the old city theater space. The architect Leonardo De Vegni, a cultured and refined intellectual of an Enlightenment style and appreciated designer of the Teatro degli Astrusi in Montalcino, was entrusted with the rearrangement project. De Vegni's project, of great civil scope, in fact featured an elegant Doric portico with a large central body and two side wings intended not only as a theater but also as a market, commercial and artisan activities, agricultural warehouses and a recreation center. However, the grandiose project was judged disproportionate to the size and resources of the town in the Valdichiana.
Thus De Vegni's ideas in 1796 were taken up and reworked by the academician Gian Paolo Terrosi and the definitive project of the new theater was formulated, which was inaugurated in 1807.
The new theater had a horseshoe plan with 36 boxes distributed over three orders and resumed the De Vegni project, as well as the planimetric setting, the solution, on the floor of the stalls, of the ambulatory of Ionic columns, the sizing of the boxes interspersed with pillars, and the conclusion of the last order with arches and lunettes. The internal decoration is also rich, centered on mythological themes such as The Fall of Phethon and The Dance of the Hours (ceiling), Achilles (curtain), trophies in bas-relief and stories of Hector (boxes). These decorations were completely redone and with a different taste during the restorations made necessary in 1884 and directed by Augusto Corbi who made use of numerous decorators who had already worked with him in other theaters in the Sienese area. The new decoration of the ceiling, in antique style and consisting of nine medallions with the allegories of the Muses, was created by the painter Gaetano Brunacci.
In September 1885 the theater was inaugurated with a program of operas including La Margherita by the master Ciro Pinsuti of Sinalunga after whom the theater was named. Sinalunga was thus equipped with one of the most beautiful and elegant theaters in southern Tuscany, able to satisfy the artistic and cultural needs of a particularly lively center due to the presence not only of the Academy but also of numerous musical and amateur dramatic societies. Confirming this liveliness, the Accademia degli Smantellati in the first decades of the twentieth century launched other important projects to expand the theater with the acquisition of new premises to be used as a cafeteria with kitchen and a ballroom.
After the passage of the theater to the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (1931), the theatrical activity, which had already slowed down significantly during the First World War, was supplanted by the cinematographic one.
Declared unusable in 1984 the recovery of the theater to its role as the center of cultural life of Sinalunga and of the Valdichiana area only took shape in 2002 after the acquisition of the structure by the municipal administration and the implementation of a substantial intervention of recovery based on a project by the architect Vieri Franco Boccia of Florence.
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Teatro Ciro Pinsuti - Stagione teatrale
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