Malmö Opera () is an opera house in
Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house.
Built 1933-1944 by architect
Sigurd Lewerentz and, until 1992, known as the
Malmö City Theatre
Malmö City Theatre () in Malmö, Sweden, is the main theatre of Malmö.
History
The first theatre in Malmö, Malmö Teater, was built in 1808 but became out of use in 1938. The Malmö City Theatre was built by the architect Sigurd Lewerentz b ...
accommodating several different organizations, the Opera House is one of the largest auditoriums in Scandinavia with 1,511 seats, created in the form of an enclosed amphitheatre in order to allow for the greatest viewing possibility. It is used for opera, operetta, and musical performances.
The opera building and its background as Malmö City Theater
Malmö's first major theater,
Malmö Teater, was founded in 1808, but ceased to be used in 1938.
In 1931, The Malmö City Theater Association was formed to construct a modern theater building and a city theater including spoken theater, opera, operetta and the like, ballet, pantomime and symphonic concerts. A powerful chairman and dominant municipal politician named Emil Olsson carried out the theater construction during World War II. The new theater building was designed by architects
Sigurd Lewerentz, David Helldén and Erik Lallerstedt. Sigurd Lewerentz was commissioned in the 1920s to design a new theater in Malmö and proposed a building in a distinctly classical style.
However, Lewerentz's original proposal had to give way to new architectural trends in Sweden and the building was designed in the spirit of
functionalism. The building was constructed from 1933 to 1944 and was inaugurated on September 23, 1944. The building was considered the most modern theater in Northern Europe. The theater building combines a functionalist division into several building volumes for different purposes with a monumental design language with classical features, in particular the grand entrance facade's marble-clad columns and large window areas. The main foyer is considered particularly beautiful, decorated with works of art by
Carl Milles
Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedes, Swedish sculpture, sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the ...
and
Isaac Grünewald, among others.
[
]
Several stages
The building includes the ''Main stage'', ''Intiman'' ("The Intimate") (now part of the dramatic ensemble called ''Malmö City Theatre'') and recently also ''Verkstan'' ("The Workshop"), the home stage for the opera's children and youth activities, ''Operaverkstan''. It also plans to introduce classic operas for its audience, and sometimes children participate in the productions. Adjacent is the theater restaurant's wing. From 1944 to the early 1990s, extensive and varied theatrical activities took place there (and on other detached stages, such as ''Nya Teatern''; now the private theater ''Nöjesteatern'') within the framework of the then ''Malmö City Theatre''.
Malmö got its theater cheaply. 6 million SEK in 1944. ''Malmö City Theater'', built in 1944, is a monument to the dream of the popular theater. Even after 80 years, it is still perceived as magnificent, modern and inviting. Since December 13, 1994, the theater is a listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.[
The main stage has one of the largest auditoriums in the Nordic countries. The auditorium can accommodate a maximum of 1 511 spectators, of which ten are wheelchair spaces and ten are companion spaces. The auditorium can be reduced to four different sizes by means of retractable walls. The stage itself is one of the largest in Europe. The proscenium can be raised and lowered and can be used either as an orchestra pit - capable of accommodating around 60 musicians - as part of the auditorium or as a direct continuation of the main stage. The main stage is 25 meters deep and 25 meters high. The stage area is 600 ]square meters
The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter (American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square w ...
. The height of the stage opening is seven meters and the width can be varied between 15 meters and 21 meters. Influenced by German director Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...
, a large (20 meters in diameter) revolving stage
A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show.
Kabuki theatre development
Background
Kabuki theatre began in Japan around 1603 when O ...
was constructed.[
]
Artistic decoration
The piazza outside the building is adorned with Nils Sjögren's ''Tragos''. In the lower foyer is Bror Marklund's imposing bronze ''Thalia''. The upper foyer contains a number of sculptures, including Carl Eldh's ''Young Girl'' (marble) and a fountain figure (plaster), Anders Jönsson's ''Aphrodite'' (bronze), Clarence Blum's ''The Dance Goes'' (bronze), Gunnar Nylund's ''Cavalcade'' (chamotte), Isaac Grünewald's ''Commedia dell'arte'', Wäinö Aaltonen's ''Georg Schnéevoigt'' (bronze), Anders Olsson's ''Oscar Winge'' (bronze) and Carl Milles' ''Fanny and Selma'' (marble). The upper foyer is also decorated by two large oil paintings by Martin Emond with motifs taken from plays by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
.
Activities
Many well-known performing artists and directors have worked there over the years, such as Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
and his famous actors (Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...
, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom, Ingrid Thulin
Ingrid Lilian Thulin (; 27 January 1926 – 7 January 2004) was a Swedish actress and director who collaborated with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She was often cast as harrowing and desperate characters, and earned acclaim from both Swedish and in ...
, Jarl Kulle, Jan Malmsjö, Lars Passgård and others), Birgit Nilsson, Sixten Ehrling
Evert Sixten Ehrling (3 April 1918 – 13 February 2005) was a Swedish conductor and pianist who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, am ...
, Bo Widerberg
Bo Gunnar Widerberg (; 8 June 1930 – 1 May 1997) was a Sweden, Swedish film director, screenwriter, writer, film editing, editor and actor.
Biography Early life
Widerberg was born in Malmö, Malmöhus County, Sweden.
Career
Bo Widerberg began ...
, Ernst-Hugo Järegård
Ernst-Hugo Alfred Järegård (12 December 1928 – 6 September 1998) was a Swedish actor.
Biography
Järegård was born in Ystad. He received his acting training at Malmö City Theatre. From 1962 he was an actor in Sweden's prominent Royal ...
, Nils Poppe, Tommy Körberg
Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg (; born 4 July 1948) is a Swedish singer, actor and musician. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role as Anatoly/"The Russian" in the musical ''Chess''. He played the role on the 1984 concept album, and ...
, Bengt Krantz, Rickard Söderberg, Marianne Mörck, Lars Humble, Göran Stangertz, Nina Gunke, Birgitta Smiding, Karin Mang-Habashi, Philip Zandén, Lars Rudolfsson, Staffan Valdemar Holm, Peter Oskarson, Peter Stein, a host of operetta and musical artists such as Ing-Britt Stiber, Lars Ekman, Maj Lindström, Tommy Juth, Nina Pressing (including guests such as Charlotte Perelli, Sanna Nielsen
Sanna Viktoria Nielsen (born 27 November 1984) is a Sweden, Swedish singer, television presenter and musical theatre performer. On her seventh attempt, she won Melodifestivalen 2014, Melodifestivalen in 2014 with the song "Undo (Sanna Nielsen so ...
, Peter Jöback
Peter Arne Jöback (born 4 June 1971) is a Swedish singer, actor and musical artist.
Jöback has acted in musical theatre, with lead roles in West End productions of ''Miss Saigon'' and ''The Witches of Eastwick''. He is also known for his port ...
, Sven-Bertil Taube
Sven-Bertil Gunnar Evert Taube (24 November 1934 – 11 November 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. Internationally, he was perhaps better known for his acting career. Taube played Henrik Vanger in the film ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' ...
, Nanne Grönvall
Marianne Elisabeth Grönvall (, née ''Nordqvist''; born 18 May 1962), known by her stage name Nanne (), is a Swedish singer-songwriter.
Biography
Grönvall's musical career started in the 1980s group Sound of Music. The trio participated twice ...
, Petra Nielsen, Linda Olsson, Andreas Weise), dancers and opera singers from all over the world.[
Until the opening of Malmö Concert Hall in 1985, the main stage also served as a concert hall once a week for the ]Malmö Symphony Orchestra
The Malmö Symphony Orchestra () is a Swedish orchestra, based in Malmö. Since 2015, it has been resident at the Malmö Live Concert Hall. The orchestra has a complement of 94 musicians.
History
The orchestra was founded in 1925 with Walther ...
with classical concerts, in addition to the orchestra also serving as the city theater's theater orchestra for opera, operetta, musical and ballet. On the main stage, Swedish Television
Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...
has also organized events such as the 1988, 1995, 1998 and 2001 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
.
Malmö Ballet 1944-1995
Already from the theater's opening in 1944, there was its own ballet company, ''Malmöbaletten'', as part of the business with Carl-Gustaf Kruuse af Verchou as its first director and ballet master, including his wife Inga Berggren as a soloist mixed with trained dancers and former entertainment dancers from ''Hippodromen''. An internal ballet school was therefore started to raise the quality and in 1961 it was supplemented with ''Malmö City Theatre's Ballet School'' for children and young aspiring dancers, who often also came to participate in the theater's performances.
Gradually, the ballet took its place as a quality ballet ensemble, performing annually well-known classical ballets as well as original works (including ''Skymningslekar'', 1954, created by Kruuse and Ingmar Bergman, with music by Ingvar Wieslander; ''Simson och Delila'', 1964, by Rune Lindström and Erland von Koch; ''Elvira Madigan'', 1977, by Conny Borg and Michael Smith; and ''Johannesnatten'', 1981, by Gunnar de Frumerie, with new choreography by Elsa-Marianne von Rosen) and works in the direction of modern dance. In addition, dancers often participated in other theater productions, opera, operetta, musicals and exceptionally some spoken theater productions. In the major restructuring of the theater, the ballet was closed down and replaced by the independent ''Skånes dansteater'' with only modern dance in 1995.
Directors (and often choreographers and dancers) of the Malmö Ballet were Carl-Gustaf Kruuse af Verchou (1944-1962), Holger Reenberg (1962-1967), Teddy Rhodin (1967-1970), Stella Claire (acting 1970-1971), Conny Borg (1971-1980), Elsa-Marianne von Rosen (1980-1987) and Jonas Kåge (1987-1995).
The restructuring
In the early 1990s, a major restructuring of operations began, when the organization Malmö City Theatre was dissolved and replaced by a group with separate companies for speech theater (Malmö Dramatic Theater, since 2008 again under the new name Malmö City Theatre), opera and musical drama (Malmö Opera and Music Theater, now Malmö Opera), modern dance (''Skånes Dansteater''; replaced the former ballet activities) and Malmö Symphony Orchestra MSO in Malmö Concert Hall (replaced for the scenic activities by the newly formed Malmö Opera Orchestra), and later these became independent companies with the City of Malmö and Region Skåne (Scania Region) as owners. In 1990, the economic association was transformed into ''Aktiebolaget'' Malmö City Theatre, which in 1993 became Malmö Musik och Teater AB, which from 2002 was renamed Malmö Opera och Musikteater AB and later just Malmö Opera.
Current Malmö Opera activities
Malmö Opera performs opera and musicals, both newly written Swedish works and classic operas. Theme concerts, gala evenings and guest performances are also organized. All opera is performed in its original language with a few exceptions. The goals of Malmö Opera are professional directors, set designers, singers, librettists and conductors in teamwork, which gives the musical drama of our time the opportunity to grow. A center for tomorrow's musical theater. The first director was Lars Rudolfsson, who started the activities with a production of Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...
's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.
The Opera has also distinguished itself with a number of new Swedish or foreign operas and modernized interpretations of older or lesser-known works, (for example, Peter Oskarson's production of Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...
's Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
(1994) with Loa Falkman and Dilber Yunus received great attention) in addition to some crowd-pleasing musicals such as m ''Dåliga Mänskor'' ("Bad People"), Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...
, Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...
, Singin' in the Rain
''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...
, in addition to earlier successes such as Ingmar Bergman's The Merry Widow (1954), The Long Ships
''The Long Ships'' or ''Red Orm'' (original Swedish: ''Röde Orm'' meaning ''Red Orm'', lit. ''Red Serpent'' or ''Red Snake'') is an adventure novel by the Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson.
The narrative is set in the late 10th century and ...
(1978), La Cage aux Folles (1985) and a large number of operettas (several with Nils Poppe), as Malmö was long known as the "city of operettas". In 2006-2011, composer Jonas Forssell was attached to the Opera as "house composer" with three commissioned operas, ''Träskoprinsessan'' (2006), ''Death and the Maiden'' (2007) and ''Hemligheter'' (2011) in which the role of Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ...
was specially written for baritone Bengt Krantz. In addition to the 2010s, the family opera The Snow Queen
"The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...
after Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fai ...
's fairy tale was also commissioned. Andersen's fairy tale by composer Benjamin Staern and librettist Anelia Kadieva Jonsson, which was a great success with audiences in 2016 and 2018. In 2024, the Roxette
Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...
jukebox musical
A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical.
Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...
'' Joyride the Musical'', premiered at Malmö Opera.
Malmö Opera Orchestra
The Malmö Opera Orchestra was founded in 1991. Today the orchestra consists of about 60 musicians. The orchestra plays everything from chamber music, opera for children, concerts, musicals to major operas. The orchestra has made several recordings. In June 2016, a new extension was inaugurated with a large orchestra hall, rehearsal rooms, etc. for the orchestra's activities and also music recordings.
Malmö Opera Choir
Malmö Opera has its own opera choir consisting of 36 people. The choir was led by choirmaster Sofia Söderberg Eberhard and from 2010 by Elisabeth Boström until 2019, then by Elena Mitrevska. The tasks are very varied and include opera, musicals and concerts of various kinds. Members of both the women's and men's choirs often perform soloist roles in the theater's productions.
The Opera Workshop
Since 2002, Malmö Opera has been working to introduce children and young people to opera in a new way, when it started a special, award-winning production of musical drama for children and young people. The Opera Workshop was started as a project after a donation from ''Sparbanksstiftelsen Skåne'' and became permanent four years later with The Workshop as its own home stage.
Newly written opera drama, experimental opera and loving reinterpretations of classics are performed there with children both on stage and in the audience. Together, they have created an artistic workshop with words, sounds, images, song and rhythm, where children and young people, their teachers and other adults discover together all the possibilities of music. The Opera Workshop collaborates extensively with independent theater groups, schools, cultural schools and other institutions and produces several performances each year. Interactivity plays a central role, and many of its productions feature children and young people alongside professional artists. Its stated aim is to strengthen children's and young people's joy of life and faith in the future, and to offer them new experiences to take with them in life.
Director and librettist Maria Sundqvist has been the artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...
of Operaverkstan since its inception. Under her leadership, Operaverkstan has become a leading producer of performing arts for children and young people. This has been rewarded with positive feedback from young people, glowing reviews and several major awards, such as Region Skåne's Special Cultural Award 2010.
Artistic directors
Artistic directors of Malmö Opera in the early years included Philip Zandén and Lars Rudolfsson. In December 2009, Bengt Hall took over as Artistic Director after Lars Tibell and Göran K Johansson left. In the summer of 2017, Danish composer, music educator and conductor Michael Bojesen took over the directorship, later stepping down on 19 April 2022. As of November 2023, Christina Hörnell holds this position.
Renovation in 1973 and 2004
When it opened in 1944, Malmö City Theatre was at the cutting edge of modern technology. After only a short while, it was suddenly outdated. As early as 1973, three new control rooms were built in the main theater, sacrificing 63 seats on the parquet. New lighting systems were installed for both the ''Intiman'' and the Main Stage. Larger workshops were also required, plus a decoration warehouse in the theater building.
Improving the acoustics
Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
of the Main Stage was a very complicated process as the auditorium could be converted into four different sizes. Things became less crowded when, in 1973, the financial administration could be housed in offices nearby. At that time, the old Åberg School was also taken over, which after renovation is called the Yellow Pavilion and houses rehearsal rooms, set design rooms, costume studios, archives, etc.
All the while, the renovation program was replenished. Finally, the theater was closed for eight months in 1986-1987 when it played in various temporary premises, including a hot air tent. When the theatre reopened in February 1987, the chairman of the board, Curt Åke Olsson, was able to note that both ''Storan'' and ''Intiman'' had received new armchairs, that the revolving stage had been modernized, new ventilation had been installed and the orchestra pit had been expanded. All this at a cost of around SEK 20 million.
Malmö Opera was renovated again in 2004, when the performances were moved to ''Båghallarna'' in Västra hamnen (now the home stage of ''Skånes Dansteater''). The theater was reopened again in February 2006.[
]
Friendship and awards
An independent association of friends of the opera, ''Malmö Operas Vänner'', is linked to the opera's activities.
The Friends of Malmö Opera was formed as a non-profit organization in 2000 with the aim of safeguarding the interests of the audience, supporting Malmö Opera's activities and promoting its development. The aim of the Friends is to help preserve and strengthen Malmö Opera's position in Malmö and the surrounding region. The association aims to promote interest in qualified musical drama through cultural activities.
From the financial surplus of the association's activities, scholarships and supporting grants are awarded annually.
References
Bibliography
*
Other Swedish Opera Houses
*Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Location and environment
The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...
* Gothenburg opera house
* NorrlandsOperan
*Drottningholm Palace Theatre
The Drottningholm Palace Theatre () is an opera house located at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the few 18th century theatres in Europe that is still used as a theatre with its original stage machinery.
Currently, the r ...
External links
*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malmooperaandmusictheatre
Opera houses in Sweden
Listed buildings in Malmö
Swedish opera companies
1944 establishments in Sweden
Theatres completed in 1944
Music venues completed in 1944
Functionalist architecture
Modernist architecture in Sweden
Tourist attractions in Malmö
1940s establishments in Malmöhus County