Achille Sfondrini, a Milanese theater specialist, designed the original house, which the contractor Domenico Costanzi financed and managed. It was built in eighteen months and opened on November 27, 1880 with Rossini's Semiramide. Sfondrini treated the interior as a resonance chamber, shown especially by its horseshoe shape. Capacity was 2,212.
It had three tiers of boxes, an amphitheater, two galleries and a dome with frescoes by Annibale Brugnoli. Rome's city council bought it in 1926, and Marcello Piacentini led a rebuild that reopened on February 27, 1928 with Boito's Nerone. The entrance moved to Piazza Beniamino Gigli, and the amphitheater became a fourth tier of boxes.
Piacentini redesigned the facade, entrance and foyer in 1958 and added air conditioning and an oak parquet floor. The chandelier is about 20 feet (6 m) wide, with 27,000 crystal drops. Capacity is 1,560 in the infobox and about 1,600 in the body.
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