Sound characteristics in small historical mediterranean theatres

The acoustics of Italian-styled Opera houses fully depends on their special architecture, since they are realised in horseshoe shape and have up to 5 orders of balconies. The influence of the architectural shape in the sound distribution in these rooms has been deeply analysed in many works. However, other few ancient theatres were built in Mediterranean area during XVII and XVIII Centuries, with different typology and smaller dimensions. In this paper two peculiar theatres have been examined and compared from the acoustical point of view. In both cases, the main hall has a shoe-box shape, and a reduced seat number. The first theatre here considered is the “1763 Teatro Mazzacorati” in Bologna (Italy), and never modified after that year. The theatre has maintained his original characteristics until now. The second theatre here analysed is the “Arsenal theatre” in Hvar (Croatia). The Venetians completed the theatre in 1612, and therefore it could be considered the oldest theatre in Europe. After the fall of Venice in 1797 it was heavily damaged by the French and Austrians, which transformed the theatre into a military base. Acoustic measurements were performed by means of an omnidirectional loudspeaker, a dummy head and a Soundfield probe. In both cases reverberation time resulted quite limited, due to their small dimensions. However, spatial acoustic parameters (LE, LF) measured in the room, underlined a good sound distribution all over the main hall.