Teatro Lirico di Milano Reopens After 20 Years with €16M Restoration

After two decades of closure, Milan's historic Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber reopens its doors on December 22, 2021, following a €16 million restoration funded by the city. Designed by Giuseppe Piermarini—the same architect behind La Scala—the theater originally opened in 1779 as the Cannobbiana. It hosted the premiere of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore in 1832 and was later renamed Teatro Lirico Internazionale by publisher Edoardo Sonzogno. Owned by the Comune di Milano since 1926, it was rebuilt by Antonio Cassi Ramelli after a fire and served as a venue for La Scala during postwar reconstruction. The theater closed in the late 1990s due to financial issues. Now managed by Stage Entertainment and the Comune, under director Matteo Forte, it seats over 1,500. Free guided tours by Neiade on December 18–19 preview the reopening, featuring music by students of the Civica Scuola di Milano Claudio Abbado playing Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and jazz. A new motto, chosen by a jury including Ornella Vanoni, Massimo Moratti, Renato Pozzetto, Katia Follesa, Paolo Jannacci, and Dalia Gaberscik from a public contest, will be unveiled. The inaugural season opens with comedy duo Ale e Franz on December 22, followed by Enrico Bertolino, Virginia Raffaele, Ermal Meta, Counting Crows, Joe Jackson, and others through November 2022.