Academy of Music (Philadelphia)
.jpg)
The Academy of Music , also American Academy of Music , is an American opera house in Philadelphia .
history
In the run-up to the construction, a competition was called in 1854, which was won by the respected architect Napoleon LeBrun , who was mainly active in Philadelphia . The then President of the United States Franklin Pierce attended the laying of the foundation stone in 1855 . The opera house was completed in 1857 and the first performance was on February 25th of the year Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi . The Academy of Music has been used continuously as an opera house since then, making it the oldest building used for this purpose in the USA. The opera seats around 3,000 people and is also known as the "Grand Old Lady of Broad Street" (after the location of the building on Broad Street ). It is the seat of the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Opera Company of Philadelphia . Until his move in 2001, the Philadelphia Orchestra was also located there.
Over the course of more than 150 years, numerous world-famous artists, conductors and composers have been guests, various operas, such as Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss or Der Fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner , had their American premiere in Philadelphia.
The Academy of Music was classified as "particularly important" and has been a National Historic Landmark since 1962 , and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Miscellaneous
The Academy of Music was the location of the Republican National Convention in 1872 , and the 1993 film Time of Innocence by Martin Scorsese was partially shot in the building.
Web links
- Academy of Music , official website
- Academy of Music , National Historic Landmarks Program
- Opera Philadelphia at Operabase (productions, artists and calendar)
Coordinates: 39 ° 56 '52.8 " N , 75 ° 9' 54.4" W.