The Italian Domenico de Angelis painted the beautiful panels that decorate the ceilings of the auditorium and of the audience chamber. The chandelier is French.
Construction of the Amazon Theater Opera House was first proposed in 1881 by a member of the House of Representatives, Antonio Jose Fernandes Júnior, the idea being to construct a jewel in the heart of the Amazonian forest and to make Manaus one of the great centers of civilization.
The curtain, with its painting, the "Meeting of the Waters" was originally created in Paris by Crispim do Amaral, depicts the junction of the Rio Negro and the Solimões to form the Amazon.
The curtain you see hanging is the original curtain and when it goes up, it goes straight into the dome of the Opera House.
During our tour, we were lucky to get to see and hear a practice session for two wonderful opera singers. While we sat in the wine-red velvet chairs of this elegant opera house, it's was hard to imagine how difficult it was to build back in the late 1800's when everything came from Europe and had to be hauled up river and into the jungle to build this opera house. Furniture from Paris, tiles from Alsace, marble and glass from Italy, steel from England. We were told by our guide that the ladies of this period, in Manaus, sent all their beautiful gowns and clothing back to Europe to be cleaned. During the height of the rubber boom in the 1890's, French, Italian and Portuguese opera companies steamed 1,000 miles up the Amazon to stage lavish productions at the theater here. This glittering era was captured in Werner Herzog's 1982 film ''Fitzcarraldo."
"Fitzcarraldo" is the story of an obsessed impresario whose foremost desire in life is to bring both Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso and an opera house to the deepest jungles of South America, the director boldly embarked on the same journey, disdaining studios, process shots, and special effects throughout. The highlight of the story is Fizcarraldo's Herculean effort to haul a 300-plus ton steamship over the mountains. No trickery was used in filming this grueling sequence, and stories still persist of disgruntled South American film technicians awaiting the opportunity to strangle German filmaker Herzog, if he ever sets foot on their land again.
You can see a Trailer of the film, parts of the Amazon and a short scene of the grueling sequence on Blockbuster.com, just search Fitzcarraldo, click on the photo of the movie, or read more in the description and it will take you to the page where you can click on "play trailer."
