The State Opera Opens a New Chapter The landmark building is reopening after two-and-a-half years with a new look and new attitude By Raymond Johnston
A new era is starting at the State Opera, one of Europe’s most opulent high-culture venues. A multiyear renovation has just been completed, and the management is reaching out to attract a wider audience to this Neo-rococo landmark. Per Boye Hansen, artistic director of the National Theatre Opera and the State Opera, talks about the building in reverent terms. “When you open the door of the State Opera, it’s like entering a different world or a beautiful church. It is a place where you will find a totally different atmosphere, beauty, tradition,” he said as the renovation entered its final stages. The opera house was reopened on 5 January, exactly 132 years after it first saw an audience in 1888 when Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master-Singers of Nuremberg) was performed. It had been closed since July 2016. People will see some of the fruits of the renovation, which carefully preserved the building’s history while adding modern touches. Much of the modernisation was behind the scenes, as the theatre technology was outdated and long neglected. The building was last renovated in the 1970s.
There is also a new stage curtain that was created over the course of two years in the National Theatre workshops according to the design of the 1888 curtain, also by Veith. The original mysteriously disappeared in 1945. The new curtain will replace the one made for the 2002 production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. New seats with reading devices to show subtitles have been installed in the auditorium. This will make it easier to follow the story, and eliminate the intrusive lit sign above the stage, which made people crane their necks to read along. In addition to this technological update, there is a rebuilt rotating stage. On the second underground floor, a modern rehearsal room has been created, and other hidden spaces renovated. Hansen also wants to reinvigorate the opera program and show people it is a vibrant art form, not just dusty museum pieces sitting on a shelf.
The ceiling paintings by Eduard Veith in the auditorium had been obscured by decades of smoke and grime, and seemed to be painted in shades of grey. These have been cleaned to make them bright and colourful again.
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