10 June 2007

PRAGUE STATE OPERA


Prague State Opera (Czech: Státní opera Praha), is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic, and is one of the most important companies in the Europe. Until 1945 it was named the New German Theatre where great musicians of the world music history as Gustav Mahler, Alexander Zemlinsky, Georg Széll, Richard Strauss, Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Lilli Lehmann, Maria Jeritza, Leo Slezak and others performed.

The opera house history 1888–2006
The history of the Theatre building that has born the name Prague State Opera since 1 April 1992, and whose past has always stood in the shadow of the National Theatre (unjustly, though on the whole understandably in the Czech capital) began to be written in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time the Czech lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and there was a large German minority living in Prague. The birth of a magnificent Czech Theatre – National Theatre – in the year 1883 indirectly created a longing among the Prague German community, too, for a great theatre. On 4 February 1883 the Deutscher Theatreverein was founded with the initial goal of raising funds. The plans were elaborated by the well-established Viennese firm Fellner & Helmer, this time in co-operation with Karl Hasenauer, the architect who designed Vienna’s Burgtheater. The implementation of the project was entrusted to Prague architect Alfons Wertmüller who accomplished his task with flying colours within the span of the next twenty months and handed over the building to the commissioners in a fully operational condition. Thanks to its spacious auditorium and the rich neo-rococo décor Neues deutsches Theatre (New German Theatre) belongs to the most beautiful opera houses in Europe. http://www.opera.cz

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