02154nas a2200193   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653002400043653002400067653002500091653002400116100001700140245008000157856014800237300001200385490000600397520153700403022002001940                                       d10aAcoustical heritage10aHistorical theatres10aListening experience10aTheatre restoration1 aNicola Prodi00aFrom Tangible to Intangible Heritage inside Italian Historical Opera Houses  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85086091156&doi=10.3390%2fheritage2010054&partnerID=40&md5=1399ddbfd2415e01e8a1ceab16d9a581  a826-8350 v23 aHistorical opera houses in Italy have been the place for the development of a relevant part of the National musical tradition and their design is paired with a peculiar acoustical fingerprint. Due to its relevance this can be regarded as an intangible heritage embedded in the tangible heritage constituted by the theatre building itself. In particular the presence of fairly deep lateral enclosures opened to the main hall volume, called the “boxes,” is of paramount importance for the implications it had on the listening experience perceived by the public. For instance, the positions in the box recess had a much less favourable sound field compared to the frontal ones located at the box opening towards the hall. In this work the need for the box design is briefly recalled from an historical perspective and then the sound field in the boxes is described as the combination of several sound reflections from specific interior surfaces. It is seen how the related listening experience can vary in a remarkable manner while moving from boxes at different tiers. This characteristic greatly differentiates historical opera houses from modern ones, where one of the most valuable attribute is a limited change in acoustics over large audiences. The acoustical environment of historical halls and inside boxes in particular was important in building up the ear of the Italian opera goers, thus a close consideration of the peculiarities of the intangible heritage is necessary in case of restorations and cannot be overlooked.  a25719408 (ISSN)