The New Opera House
For most of the 20th century fierce debate has raged in the Norwegian public sphere about the possible construction of a new opera house. When a construction project finally was agreed upon, the site that was chosen was Bjørvika, an harbour area of downtown Oslo. The Oslo Opera House was opened in the spring of 2008.
In 2008 Radio Marconi, an Italian company, installed a seatback multimedia system, allowing audiences to follow opera libretto in other languages in addition to the original language.
In January 2009, the Norwegian Opera and Ballet was reorganised. Tom Remlov is General Managing Director, and there are directors for opera, ballet and music. The director of the opera company was Glasgow-born Paul Curran. He resigned in June 2011 under pressure for not commissioning enough work from Norwegian composers. Despite this, he managed to bring in some of the most exciting directors in opera today, including Stefan Heirheim, who is Norwegian and rising star Thaddeus Strassberger, who's Nozze di Figaro and The Rape of Lucretia have enjoyed several revivals. The Queen of Norway is reported to have fallen in love with the production of Figaro and watched it several times over inviting friends to watch with her. Music Director (opera, orchestra and concert) is the American conductor John Fiore.
Read more about this topic: Norwegian National Opera And Ballet
Famous quotes containing the words opera house, opera and/or house:
“The opera house sparkled with tiers
And tiers of eyes, like mine enlarged by belladonna,”
—James Merrill (b. 1926)
“Opera once was an important social instrument—especially in Italy. With Rossini and Verdi people were listening to opera together and having the same catharsis with the same story, the same moral dilemmas. They were holding hands in the darkness. That has gone. Now perhaps they are holding hands watching television.”
—Luciano Berio (b. 1925)
“In relation to God, we are like a thief who has burgled the house of a kindly householder and been allowed to keep some of the gold. From the point of view of the lawful owner this gold is a gift; From the point of view of the burglar it is a theft. He must go and give it back. It is the same with our existence. We have stolen a little of God’s being to make it ours. God has made us a gift of it. But we have stolen it. We must return it.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)