Giovanni Matteo Tommasini proposed the theater to the Austrian Chancery in 1795, and it was built privately. Gian Antonio Selva designed the horseshoe-shaped auditorium, but the Austrian authorities found his exterior too plain, so Matteo Pertsch was engaged to finish the design. It was inaugurated as the Teatro Nuovo on April 21, 1801.
The interior was described as resembling La Fenice and the exterior as resembling La Scala. The theater was renamed several times: Teatro Grande in 1821, Teatro Comunale in 1861 and Teatro Verdi in 1901. It was closed in December 1881 as unsafe and reopened in 1889, with electric light replacing gas.
It premiered Verdi's Il corsaro in 1848 and Stiffelio in 1850. After extensive restoration from 1992 to 1997 it holds about 1,300 seats, and it hosts a summer operetta festival.
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