News details 1492

A visit to Oslo National Opera House

[ From category THE Articles ]
[ Subcategory OperaRail 2013 ]
[ Subcategory II Oslo Operaen ]
[ Translator Cristina Stan ]

[ Article date: 2013-08-17 ]
[ From city Oslo ]
[ Country Norvegia ]

Oslo is the biggest city in Norway and the capital of this beautiful country. Populated by almost 650.000 citizens (this means less than Chisinau! ) and placed on a bay bank, but with not a direct outgo to the Noth Sea, Oslo is also an important port. In the sandinavian circuit I did this summer, I have noticed something that connects the topic of the article to the port concept: the buildings of important operas from Scandinavia are on the water banks! Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Oslo, each of these is on the riverbank or on the sea shore, where the city is located.

Norwegians wanted not just that, but also to build a unique opera. Quite difficult, taking into consideration that inventions succeeded quickly on this planet, but something almost there, they had: from my point of view, the National Opera in Oslo is the most beautiful building from Scandinavia or at least of the modern ones, not to disturb the followers of the Royal Palace in Stockholm (which is nice, but I do not find it extraordinary). So in 1999 they organised a public competition and 248 open, public projects were considered. In 2008 the building was ready, which meant it has had only five years old at the time of writing these lines.

The first show was the opera "Carmen" by George Bizet in the presence of... 8000 fans! Obviously, there is not nough room inside for "only" 2000, but, besides those lucky ones that got a place inside, the others could watch the show outside, on screens.

Well, I liked the modern look of the design - I do not describe it, photos can be easily found on the Internet - but not with "drawings" made just for the sake of being different, as the modernity is "understood" in general. In addition, it was planed so that tourists can easily climb on the building to admire landscapes from the top of it. Also, a part of the indoor, the foyer is permanently open to the public and it serves as a restaurant and /or cafeteria, no matter if there are any shows or not, so no one can say that he wanted to visit the Opera in Oslo and did not see anything, all the contrary.

In front of the opera, outside, on the water, in small bay near the Opera, there is a small monument. It has been specifically designed, it is fixed, anchored and it serves only for design.

The interior design was made of wood to create the impression of a ship, which does not seem like a good resoult. (I have seen the idea at the Opera from Gothenburg too, and there is no wonder, considering the high-affinity of Nordics for the sea.) On the floor there were "stretched" over 35, 000 thousands of stones brought from Tuscany. Opera has about 600 employees, half of whom work in technical area. For the rehearsals, there is also a small room where almost 200 people can fit in.

For the main stage, which is 16*16 square meters, there are also several scenes, with the possibility that the orchestra being placed somewhere upstairs, if necessary. Also, the main stage can be arranged in approximately 600 different positions, depending on the conditions required by the production.

The ballet rehearsal hall has 324 sqm. There are about 80 opera and ballet dancers in the opera and about 100 children. Opera also has a patio, special created for relaxation break moments, a fitness center and a medical center. So all the conditions required for a pleasant job which can stimulate the creation and the involvement.

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