Theatres of Brazil

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   The Municipal Theatre, Rio de Janeiro
    Ecletic Style
   (1904 - 1909) Rio de Janeiro, RJ

io de Janeiro's most luxurious theatre lies along the axis of the avenida Rio Branco, the city's central thoroughfare, and faces towards the sea; it thus occupies a striking position in the landscape of Brazil's former capital, now superseded by Brasília.
The design arose from a competition, the first and second prize winners then decided to join their projects into one. Engineer Francisco de Oliveira Passos was responsible for part, and the French architects Albert Guibert and René Barba, to whom the façade is attributed, for the rest. The building is organized in three parts: the entrance, the hall, and the area of the stage. The whole is clearly inspired by Charles Garnier's Paris Opera House (1860-1875).
The façade involves elements with classical tendencies, together with typically baroque-like volumes and forms. The lateral curved pediments on the upper storey, like their counterparts in Paris, give dynamic vigour to the façade composition.
The outer walls are decorated with mythological figures and great names in the arts in Brazil and the world, on the façade we find Carlos Gomes, Gounod, Goethe and Martins Pena, and on the upper storey the stained-glass shows allegorical figures of Dance, Music and Poetry.

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Theatres in the Historical Center of Rio