The Antonín Dvořák Theatre () is an opera house in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, which opened in 1907. Since 1919 it has been one of two permanent venues of the National Moravian Silesian Theatre.

History

The

Neo-baroque Neo-Baroque may refer to: * Neo-Baroque music * Neo-Baroque painting, a painting style used by Christo Coetzee and others *Baroque Revival architecture * Neo-Baroque film *the Organ reform movement The Organ Reform Movement or ''Orgelbewegung'' ...

building of the theatre was designed by architect

Alexander Graf Alexander Graf (''né'' Nenashev; born 25 August 1962) is an Uzbekistani-German chess grandmaster. He was Uzbekistani Chess Champion in 1989 and German Chess Champion in 2004. Chess career He won the Uzbekistani Chess Championship in 1989. N ...

. It was built by the Ostrava company ''Noe & Storch''. The Antonín Dvořák Theatre was the first building in what is now the Czech Republic to use

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

beams. The interior was designed by sculptors of the company ''Johann Bock & Son'' . The sculptures decorating the facade were made by Eduard Smetana and Leopold Kosiga. ''Drama'' and ''Music'', two reliefs in the main

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

of the theatre, were donated by academic sculptor Helena Scholzová (

Helen Zelezny-Scholz Helen Zelezny, also known in Europe as Helene Zelezny-Scholz, Helen Scholz, Helene Scholz-Zelezny or Helene Scholzová-Železná (16 August 1882 – 18 February 1974), was a Czech born sculptor and architectural sculptor. She was an influentia ...

). The ''Antonín Dvořák Theatre'' was opened on 28 September 1907, as a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

theatre. Up to 1919, the performances were solely in German. Following the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the theatre passed to the hands of Czechoslovak state and became a stage of the ''National Moravian Silesian Theatre''. From 1949, the theatre was renamed as the ''

Zdeněk Nejedlý Zdeněk Nejedlý (10 February 1878 – 9 March 1962) was a Czech musicologist, historian, music critic, author, and politician whose ideas dominated the cultural life of what is now the Czech Republic for most of the twentieth century. Although ...

Theatre'' and in 1990 as the ''Antonín Dvořák Theatre''.

External links

*
TACE
– entry in TACE database Theatres in the Czech Republic Buildings and structures in Ostrava Music venues in the Czech Republic Theatres completed in 1918 Music venues completed in 1918

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

1918 establishments in Czechoslovakia {{opera-struct-stub