 Europe's greatest opera theatres
Added: 01/30/2006 |
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Opera has always been one of the highpoints of classical music. Sadly, today the most popular places to hear opera music are cinemas, since opera is extensively used in movies at present, most recent one being Lloyd Weber's 'Phantom Of The Opera'. However, for true connoisseurs of classical music famous opera houses are still the places to celebrate real magic of the musical genius born every night of the concert season.
The world's most famous theatre is, probably, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, which today symbolizes Italian classic opera. Designed by Giuseppe Piermarini, La Scala opened in 1778 with Antonio Salieri's opera 'L'Europa riconosciuta'. In 1812, with the premiere of Gioachino Rossini's 'La pietra del paragone', La Scala became the home for Italian romantic opera traditionally associated with Rossini, as well as Donizetti and Bellini. The season of concerts in La Scala opens on December 7 and lasts until June. More than 200 years of La Scala history include lots of tragic and comic stories documented in numerous books.
The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow is the main national theatre in Russia. Designed by architect Joseph Bove in 1825, Bolshoi is considered one of the oldest opera theatres. The grand opening of the theatre occurred on January 18, 1825, and that has been the major spot for opera and ballet concerts in Russia ever since. Originally, only works by Russian composers were presented in Bolshoi Theatre, but since 1840 foreign pieces also entered the repertoire.
Currently, the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theatre consists of the greatest masterpieces of opera and ballet of 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the works of modern authors. Russian music makes up to 70% of the entire program. The key mission of the Bolshoi Theatre is to preserve spiritual and cultural values and contribute to the development of the national culture of Russia.
At present, the Bolshoi Theatre is being reconstructed in order to restore the acoustics of the theatre halls lost because of severe damages to the building. One more establishment of the kind belonging to the world-famous opera theatres in Russia is Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg established in 1783 and named after the ruling empress Maria. All the works by Peter Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky and Mikhail Glinka were premiered in Mariinsky Theatre.
The biggest opera theatre in the UK and one of the biggest opera theatres in Europe is Royal Opera House, also known as Covent Garden. Founded in 1732, it was originally a drama theatre. Since 1734 Handel's operas had been shown on the stage of Covent Garden, and in 1847 it became an opera house. Covent Garden was completely destroyed by the fire twice - in 1808 and 1857, and rebuilt at great expense. In the 1990s it was reconstructed, with many improvements implemented. An interesting fact is that Covent Garden was used to film a famous opera scene in 'The Fifth Element' movie.
For the opera fans Barcelona is famous for The Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as a number of other opera theatres. The Liceu building was officially inaugurated in 1847, but soon severely damaged by the fire and rebuilt in 1862. Another fire almost destroyed the theatre building in 1994, and the reconstructed Liceu began functioning in 1999. During the last two centuries the works by Mozart, Wagner, Rossini, Strauss and other notable authors were presented in this theatre. Luciano Pavarotti, Moncerrat Caballe and Placido Domingo are among the renowned opera singers that perform in Liceu this way proving again and again the eternity of classic opera spirit.
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