Carlo Canella, Church of Santa Maria della Pace, Gallerie di Piazza Scala, MIlan. This Milanese church, once deconsecrated, was at the beginning of the 20th century a concert hall known as Salone Perosi.
The Salone Perosi was a Milan concert hall founded in a deconsecrated church dedicated since the 15th century to Santa Maria della Pace and which received its new name in honor of the composer Lorenzo Perosi, who interpreted and premiered his sacred music here. It was located on Via S. Barnaba, 46.
The church, of Gothic style, was deconsecrated in 1805 and dedicated thereafter to the most varied uses: military warehouse, hospital and horse riding. In 1900 it was acquired by the noble Bagatti-Valsecchi, who restored the building and offered it to the composer Perosi, who was looking for the interpretation of his oratories a più ecclesiastico place of a theater and più teatrale di una chiesa («more ecclesiastical that a theater and more theatrical than a church »). Between 1900 and 1907 many concerts were held in the Salone, including the world premiere of the oratorio Mosè (Moisés), directed by Arturo Toscanini.
The Salone was closed due to fiscal problems, and in 1906 it became the property of the Society of Maria Riparatrice, which restored to the church its sacred and ancient character its dedication to Santa Maria della Pace. In 1967, it was acquired by the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem for its particular cult (except the morning of the first Thursday of each month, when it is opened to the public). Notes
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