Royal Swedish Opera

Opera company in Stockholm, Sweden

Royal Swedish Opera

The Royal Swedish Opera in 2021

General information
Town or city| Stockholm
Country| Sweden
Coordinates| 59°19′47″N 18°04′14″E﻿ / ﻿59.32972°N 18.07056°E﻿ / 59.32972; 18.07056
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Axel Johan Anderberg
The original building of the Royal Swedish Opera, Bollhuset at Slottsbacken in Stockholm, during the 1780s. From right to left: Stockholm Palace, Storkyrkan, Bollhuset Theatre and the Tessin Palace. Drawing by Martin Rudolf Heland. The Royal Swedish Opera, 1934

Royal Swedish Opera (Swedish: Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden.

## Location and environment

[edit]

The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side of Gustav Adolfs torg across from the former Arvfurstens Palats, now the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It lies on the north side of the Norrström River and is connected to the Royal Palace through the Norrbro Bridge.

Other historically and architecturally important buildings in the close neighbourhood are the Sager House, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden, and the Riksdag building.

## History

[edit]

The opera company was founded with the Royal Swedish Academy of Music by King Gustav III, and its first performance, Thetis and Phelée with Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin, was given on 18 January 1773; this was the first native-speaking opera performed in Sweden.

However, the first opera house was not opened until 1782 and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses are officially called the "Royal Opera", although the terms "The Gustavian Opera" and "The Oscarian Opera" or the "Old" and "New" Opera are used when distinction is needed.

### The Gustavian Opera

[edit]

The original Stockholm Opera House, the work of architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz, was commissioned by King Gustav III, a strong adherent of the ideal of enlightened absolutism and, as such, was a great patron of the arts. The Swedish Opera Company had first been located in Bollhuset, but there was a need to separate the opera from the theatre and give them separate buildings. Construction began in 1775, and the theatre was inaugurated on 30 September 1782 with a performance of the German composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann's Cora och Alonzo. It was also the place for public masquerade balls, events inspired by the famous opera balls in Paris, which were open for everyone wearing a mask at a cheap cost and somewhat ill-reputed.

The Gustavian opera building in 1880

The building was very imposing, with its centre Corinthian tetrastyle portico supporting four statues and topped by the royal crown. The four-tiered auditorium was oval in shape and had excellent acoustics and sight lines. The sumptuous foyer contained neoclassic medallions and pilasters.

It was in the foyer of the opera house where the king met his fate: during a masquerade on 16 March 1792, he was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström and died 13 days later. (In turn, this event inspired the operas Gustave III by Daniel Auber and Un ballo in maschera by Verdi.) Following the assassination, the opera house was closed until 1 November 1792, when it was opened again, which by some was considered shocking. The son of Gustav III, King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, did not like the opera, possibly because of the murder of his father, and disliked the fact that the scene of his father's murder was used as a place of amusement and leisure, and when a frivolous play was performed for his queen Frederica of Baden in 1806, he decided to close it down. It remained closed until 1809, and when the king was deposed, it took until May 1812 before it was organised enough to be fully opened again.

### The Oscarian Opera, Operan

[edit]

Operans Guldfoajén: The Golden Hall (with a bust of Swedish singer Birgit Nilsson) at the Royal Swedish Opera

The old opera was demolished in 1892 to give way to the construction of a new Opera drawn by Axel Johan Anderberg, which was finished seven years later and inaugurated by King Oscar II with a production of a Swedish opera (that tradition had been quite firmly established during the 19th century), Franz Berwald's Estrella de Soria.

The new house had the letters Kungl. Teatern, literally "Royal Theatre" (which caused the later-founded Royal Dramatic Theatre to add the distinction "dramatic" to its name). The building is now simply called Operan ("The Opera"), written in golden letters above the middle arch on the front facade. It is a majestic neo-classical building with a magnificent gold foyer (Guldfoajén) and elegant marble grand staircase leading to a three-tiered auditorium somewhat smaller than the old theatre. It presently seats 1,200. Most productions are now sung in the original language (with Swedish subtitles), with only a few in Swedish.

The Royal Swedish Family of King Carl XVI Gustaf keeps the Royal Box reserved, located in the first tier in the auditorium above the orchestra pit.

## Ensembles, artists and artistic leadership

[edit]

Interior of the Opera

Famous singers who have been part of the opera's ensemble have included Jussi Björling, Gösta Winbergh, Nicolai Gedda, Peter Mattei, Jenny Lind, Birgit Nilsson, Elisabeth Söderström, Fritz Arlberg, Anne Sofie von Otter, Katarina Dalayman and Nina Stemme.

The orchestra of the Royal Swedish Opera, the Royal Swedish Orchestra, Kungliga Hovkapellet, dates back to 1526. Royal housekeeping accounts from 1526 mention twelve musicians, including wind players and a timpanist, but no string players. Consequently, the Royal Swedish Orchestra is one of the oldest orchestras in Europe.

Armas Järnefelt was on the music staff from 1905, rising to become chief conductor between 1923–1933 and 1938–1946.[1][2] The Royal Swedish Ballet, Kungliga Baletten, was founded by Gustav III of Sweden in 1773.

Past general managers of the Royal Swedish Opera have included Birgitta Svendén, who served in the post until her retirement in 2022. The current general manager of the company is Fredrik Lindgren, since 1 July 2022.[3]

In November 2020, the company announced the appointment of Michael Cavanagh as its next artistic director, effective in the summer of 2021, with an initial contract of 5 years.[4] Cavanagh held the post until his death in March 2024.[5] In August 2024, the company announced the appointment of Tobias Theorell as its next artistic director, effective in 2025.[6]

Past titled conductors with the company have included Lawrence Renes, who held the post from 2012[7] through 2017.[8] In January 2020, the company announced the appointment of Alan Gilbert as its next music director, effective in the spring of 2021. Gilbert had first guest-conducted with the company in 2012.[8]

## References

[edit]

Notes

1. ^ "Edvard Armas Järnefelt" (in Swedish). Kungliga Hovkapellet. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
2. ^ Photo of Järnefelt Archived 30 August 2023 at the Wayback Machine conducting the Royal Swedish Orchestra during the Opera House's 400th anniversary celebrations (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 August 2015.
3. ^ "Han blir ny vd för Operan". Aftonbladet. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
4. ^ "Michael Cavanagh ny operachef på Kungliga Operan" (Press release). Royal Swedish Opera. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
5. ^ "Winnipeg-born opera director dies". Winnipeg Sun. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
6. ^ "Tobias Theorell ny operachef på Kungliga Operan" (Press release). Royal Swedish Opera. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
7. ^ "Lawrence Renes – Ny chefdirigent på Kungliga Operan" (Press release) (in Swedish). Kungliga Operan. 30 November 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
8. ^ a b "Conductor Alan Gilbert Named Next Music Director of Royal Swedish Opera". Opera News. 16 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.

Sources

* Beauvert, Thierry, Opera Houses of the World, The Vendome Press, New York, 1995. ISBN 0-86565-978-8
* Zeitz, Karyl Lynn, Opera: the Guide to Western Europe's Great Houses, Santa Fe, New Mexico: John Muir Publications, 1991. ISBN 0-945465-81-5
* Georg Nordensvan, "Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare". (Swedish)

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Swedish Opera.

* Official website (in English and Swedish)

* v
* t
* e

Ballet companies

Africa|

* Cairo Opera Ballet Company
* Cape Town City Ballet

Asia|

* Ballet Manila
* Ballet Philippines
* Guangzhou Ballet
* Gwangju City Ballet
* Hong Kong Ballet
* Iranian National Ballet Company
* Israel Ballet
* K-ballet
* Korea National Ballet
* National Ballet of China
* New National Theatre Tokyo
* Philippine Ballet Theatre
* Seoul Ballet Theatre
* Shanghai Ballet Company
* Singapore Dance Theatre
* State Ballet of Georgia
* Tokyo Ballet
* Universal Ballet

Europe|

* Ballet Cymru
* Ballet Ireland
* Ballet Romand
* Ballet Zürich
* Les Ballets Persans
* Ballets Russes
* Barcelona Ballet
* Bayerisches Staatsballett
* Béjart Ballet
* Berlin State Ballet
* Birmingham Royal Ballet
* Bolshoi Ballet
* Charleroi Danses
* Cork City Ballet
* Royal Danish Ballet
* Donetsk Ballet
* Dutch National Ballet
* Eifman Ballet
* English National Ballet
* Finnish National Ballet
* Royal Ballet of Flanders
* Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet
* Grand Kyiv Ballet
* Greek National Opera
* Hamburg Ballet
* Hungarian National Ballet
* Kyiv Ballet
* Kyiv City Ballet
* Kyiv Modern-Ballet
* La Scala Theatre Ballet
* Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet
* Mariinsky Ballet
* Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet
* National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova
* The Monte-Carlo Ballet
* National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria
* Northern Ballet
* Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
* Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet
* Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre
* Original Ballet Russe
* Paris Opera Ballet
* Perm Theatre Ballet
* Polish National Ballet
* National Ballet of Portugal
* The Royal Ballet
* Rambert Dance Company
* Russian State Ballet of Siberia
* Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre
* Scottish Ballet
* Spanish National Dance Company
* Stanislavski Ballet
* Stuttgart Ballet
* Royal Swedish Ballet
* Théâtre du Silence
* Turkish State Opera and Ballet
* United Ukrainian Ballet Company
* Vienna State Ballet

North
America|

* Alabama Ballet
* Alberta Ballet Company
* Alexandra Ballet
* Alonzo King LINES Ballet
* American Ballet Theatre
* American Midwest Ballet
* American Repertory Ballet
* Anaheim Ballet
* Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
* Atlanta Ballet
* Atlanta Festival Ballet
* Ballet Arizona
* Ballet Austin
* Ballet BC
* Ballet Des Moines
* Ballet Fantastique
* Ballet Hispanico
* Ballet Magnificat!
* Ballet Memphis
* BalletMet
* Ballet Minnesota
* Ballet Quad Cities
* Ballet San Jose
* Ballet Theatre of Maryland
* Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
* Ballet West
* Ballez
* Bay Pointe Ballet
* Boston Ballet
* Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
* California Riverside Ballet
* Carolina Ballet
* Charlotte Ballet
* Chicago Ballet
* Chicago Festival Ballet
* Cincinnati Ballet
* Cleveland Ballet (1935 · 1972 · 2014)
* Colorado Ballet
* Complexions Contemporary Ballet
* Cuban National Ballet
* Dance Theatre of Harlem
* Dayton Ballet
* Greensboro Ballet
* Houston Ballet
* Joffrey Ballet
* Kansas City Ballet
* Los Angeles Ballet
* Louisville Ballet
* Moscow Ballet (United States)
* National Ballet of Canada
* National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico
* New Jersey Ballet
* New York City Ballet
* Oklahoma City Ballet
* Oregon Ballet Theatre
* Orlando Ballet
* Pacific Northwest Ballet
* Pennsylvania Ballet
* Pittsburgh Ballet
* Royal Winnipeg Ballet
* San Francisco Ballet
* The Washington Ballet
* Tulsa Ballet
* Wonderbound

Oceania|

* The Australian Ballet
* Ballet Theatre of Queensland
* Queensland Ballet
* Melbourne City Ballet
* Royal New Zealand Ballet
* West Australian Ballet

South
America|

* Ballet Municipal de Lima
* Chilean National Ballet
* Colon Theater Ballet
* National Ballet of Uruguay

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template