Destined to replace the Teatro Vecchio, then demolished, the Teatro (Theater) "Vittorio Alfieri" is a large building, designed and built in the mid-nineteenth century by Domenico Svanascini. Inaugurated in 1860, in an atmosphere of cultural fervor, and as part of an articulated urban planning project it was built on the initiative of a society of citizens of Asti belonging to the emerging bourgeoisie, not only eager to demonstrate the social status achieved, but also to have a larger hall in the city, able to host the opera performances.
The engineer Svanascini, winner of the competition for the new theater, relies on the work of artists such as Francesco Gonin, one of the most famous painters of the time, who are entrusted with the ceiling decorations in the room depicting the Muses and the Arts, as well as of the painted curtain (still preserved and recently restored) with the apotheosis of Vittorio Alfieri who, preceded by Fame and surrounded by cheering geniuses, raised by the characters of his works, rises towards immortality.
Angelo Moja is commissioned to create scenes and stage backdrops. In the years that follow its construction, the theater takes on a role of a primary importance in the life of the city. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, there was the need to expand the structure, to allow a greater number of spectators to attend the performances: the transformation was carried out in 1911, in addition to the interventions on the existing decorative apparatus, there was the expansion of the foyer with the annexation of the porch bay towards the street; the reshaping of the last row of boxes, transformed into a gallery, the first order is replaced by a staircase, many of the stages appended or rendered more capacious, also in function of better sound, and following the theories of the Wagnerian reform then in vogue.
In the post-war period, it first was passed on to the direct management of the Municipality, then to a group of private individuals who used it as a cinema, which the theater began its slow decline.
Reopened in 2002 after more than twenty years of work, with which the realization of the Sala (Hall) Pastrone is completed, the restructuring of the small and offices, and a careful and philological recovery of the original Svanascini project, safeguarding the elements of historical and artistic value, the Teatro Alfieri today is a modern and functional structure for performances.
