converted into the City Hall. It was both the first theatre and first opera house of Greece in modern times and the place where the first Greek opera, Spyridon Xyndas' "The Parliamentary Candidate" based on an exclusively Greek libretto was performed. A long series of local composers, such as Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas, Antonio Liberali, Domenico Padovani, the Zakynthian Pavlos Carrer, the Lambelet family, Spyridon Samaras, and others, all developed careers intertwined with the theatre. San Giacomo's place was taken by the Municipal Theatre in 1902, which maintained the operatic tradition vividly until its destruction during World War II as a result of a 1943 German air raid.
The first opera to be performed in the San Giacomo was in 1733 ("Gerone, tiranno di Siracusa"), and for almost two hundred years, between 1771 and 1943, nearly every major opera from the Italian tradition, as well as many others from Greek and French composers, were performed on the stage of the San Giacomo; this impressive tradition, invoking an exceptional musical heritage, continues to be reflected in Corfiote operatic mythology, a fixture in famous opera singers' itineraries.
Municipal Theatre of Corfu
The Municipal Theatre of Corfu (Greek: Δημοτικό Θέατρο Κέρκυρας) has been the main theatre and opera house in Corfu, Greece since 1902. The theatre was the successor of Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù which became the Corfu city hall. It was destroyed during a Luftwaffe aerial bombardment in 1943.
Ionian University and musical tradition
Since the early 1990s a music department has been established at the Ionian University. Aside from its academic activities, concerts in Corfu and abroad, and musicological research in the field of Neo-Hellenic Music, the Department organizes an international music academy every summer , which gathers together both international students and professors specialising in brass,
