Drottningholm Palace Theatre
|
|
The Drottningholm Palace Theatre, or Drottningholms Slottsteater, is an opera house located at Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. The opera house was completed in 1766, and is today run by a private foundation, the Drottningholm Theatre Museum, and funded by government grants.
Drottningholm_Slottsteater_2002.jpg
After King Gustaf III was assassinated at a court masked ball by his captain of the guard, Count Ankerstrom, in 1792, the theater was closed up by his grieving mother. As the kingship was then offered to Count Bernadotte of France, a field marshall of Napoleon Bonapartes', it was forgotten by successive kings of that line until the 1920s. The reinvigorated theatre has since acquired a growing international reputation as a festival theater by focusing on works by Haydn, Handel, Gluck and Mozart and emphasis on authentic performance.
During the summer, a series of operas is put on in the Theatre at Drottningholm. The 18th century theatre is special also because it was unused for many years, and rediscovered only in the latter part of the 20th century. Almost all of the equipment is original, and the stage is unusual for having a significantly greater depth than width. The operas are performed by musicians wearing period costume, and the orchestra performs using period or copies of authentic instruments. The stage effects include a wave machine, thunder machine, and a flying chair which is often used for deus ex machina effects. Most productions demonstrate some of the effects possible using the original equipment. Because of the possible fire hazard in the wooden building, the theatre uses electric lights, designed to flicker like candles.
In 1991, the theatre, along with the Drottningholm Palace, the China Pavilion and the surrounding park, was added to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites. The theater was used in Ingmar Bergman's 1975 film of The Magic Flute
See also
External link
- Drottningholms Slottsteater (http://www.drottningholmsslottsteater.dtm.se/) - Official sitesv:Drottningholms slottsteater