Estonia National Opera
Coordinates: 59 ° 26 ′ 5 ″ N , 24 ° 45 ′ 3 ″ E
The Estonia National Opera ( Estonian Rahvusooper Estonia ) is one of the most important cultural institutions in Estonia . Its headquarters, the Estonia Opera and Concert Hall, is located in the center of the capital Tallinn .
history
The Estonia Music and Theater Association was founded in Tallinn in 1865. He performed plays from 1871. However, the association's stage performances were only irregular until 1895. It was not until the end of the 19th century that popular folk pieces were regularly performed, mostly with music and dance.
In 1906 the actors and directors Paul Pinna and Theodor Altermann founded the professional theater ensemble Estonia out of the association . In 1912 a permanent music ensemble was added to the theater. In 1926 a ballet company was created. From 1918, the year of Estonian independence, the actor and director Ants Lauter shaped the theater and opera life in Estonia . In 1949, after the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union , the theater company was disbanded. The Estonia became a pure music stage during the time of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Estonia National Opera has had its current name since 1998.
building
_(22277392668).jpg)
The Finnish architects Armas Lindgren and Wivi Lönn planned the representative building in Art Nouveau style , which is still the headquarters of the National Opera today. The inauguration took place on August 24, 1913. At that time, still under Russian rule in Estonia, it was the largest new building in all of Tallinn. One wing was intended as a theater, the other as a concert hall. Both parts of the building were connected by a restaurant, which is now used as a small event hall, the so-called "winter garden" ( Estonian talveaed ).
With the outbreak of the First World War , however, the concert hall was converted into a military hospital. Performances continued in the theater even during the war years. After Estonian independence was proclaimed, the Constituent Assembly ( Asutav Kogu ) of the young Republic of Estonia met in the house on April 23, 1919 .
In 1934 the building was significantly redesigned and expanded. The Second World War badly affected it. In the devastating air raid by the Red Army on Tallinn on March 9, 1944, the house was almost completely destroyed.
In the second half of the 1940s, it was rebuilt with the help of German prisoners of war according to plans by the Estonian architects Alar Kotli and Edgar Johan Kuusik . The original shape of the facade was largely retained. The south facade is decorated with stylized Doric half-columns between the windows. Inside, the architects oriented themselves towards socialist classicism . The concert hall was reopened in 1946, and the theater hall in October 1947. The middle section was not completed until 1991 and is now used as a so-called winter garden for smaller events. A chamber music hall was inaugurated in 2006.
Today the building houses three independent institutions: the Estonia National Opera is in the left wing and the Eesti Konsert concert hall in the right wing . The Estonian State Symphony Orchestra ( Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester ) also has its seat in the house .
The building was depicted on the 50 kroner banknotes that were in circulation in Estonia until the introduction of the euro in 2011.
Estonia National Opera today
From 1994 to 2009 the Estonia National Opera was headed by violinist Paul Himma . The conductor Aivar Mäe has been its general director since September 2009 .
The annual season of the National Opera now runs from September to June. Around 250 performances with currently 26 productions are held annually. The repertoire includes opera , operetta and ballet, occasionally also musicals .
The National Opera consists of 25 soloists, 57 ballet dancers, 56 singers and a 93-piece symphony orchestra. There is space for 690 visitors in the large hall.
Milestones
In 1907 the first operetta was performed: Mamzelle Nitouche by Hervé .
The first opera followed in 1908 : The Night Camp in Granada by Conradin Kreutzer .
1911 the first Estonian operetta: Jaaniöö by Adalbert Wirkhaus .
In 1922 the first ballet was performed: Coppélia by Léo Delibes .
The first Estonian opera followed in 1928: Vikerlased by Evald Aav .
In 1944 the first Estonian ballet was performed: Kratt by Eduard Tubin .
Chief conductor
- Otto Hermann (1906–1908)
- Adalbert Wirkhaus (1908–1912)
- Raimund Kull (1912-1942)
- Juhan Aavik (1925-1933)
- Verner Nerep (1942–1944)
- Priit Nigula (1944–1951)
- Kirill Raudsepp (1951–1963)
- Neeme Järvi (1963-1975)
- Eri Klas (1975-1994)
- Paul Mägi (1995-2002)
- Jüri Alperten (2002-2004)
- Arvo Volmer (2004–2012)
- Vello Pähn (since 2012)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Thea Karin: Estonia. Cultural and scenic diversity in a historical borderland between east and west. Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-7701-2614-9 , p. 79. (= DuMont art and landscape guide)
- ↑ ECB: Estonia.