The Teatro Dal Verme gets its name from the Dal Verme family, who in the 1800s lived in the palazzos on what are today’s Via San Giovanni sul Muro and Via Puccini. Designed by architect Pestagalli, the 3,000-seat theater in high 19th-century style was inaugurated in 1872. Among many grand moments in the theater’s history, we may recall the debut of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci in 1892, the triumphant Italian premiere of Franz Lehar The Merry Widow in 1907, and performances by Marinetti and Futurist theater. In the 1920s the Teatro Dal Verme was transformed into a cinema, and in the 1950s it hosted musical reviews before being once again used as a cinema and for political conventions. In 1981 the City and the Province of Milano gained ownership of the theater, and in 1991 restructuring efforts began on the auditorium. The new Teatro Dal Verme was inaugurated on April 5, 2001. Beginning in September 2001 management of the theater was taken over by the Pomeriggi Musicali Foundation. The foundation has its own symphonic orchestra, which plays seasonally at the theater. The theater also hosts various musical, theatrical and dance series, as well as a range of events open to the public, exhibitions and conferences. The Teatro Dal Verme complex hosts the Sala Grande (seating capacity: 1,420) and the Sala Piccola (seating capacity: 200), the Sala Terrazzo for exhibitions, conferences, gatherings and displays, and the Sala Coro (Choir Hall).