Malmö Opera () is an opera house in Malmö, 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 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 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.
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 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, a large (20 meters in diameter) revolving stage 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.
Activities
Many well-known performing artists and directors have worked there over the years, such as Ingmar Bergman and his famous actors (Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom, Ingrid Thulin, Jarl Kulle, Jan Malmsjö, Lars Passgård and others), Birgit Nilsson, Sixten Ehrling, Bo Widerberg, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Nils Poppe, Tommy Körberg, 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, Peter Jöback, Sven-Bertil Taube, Nanne Grönvall, 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 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 has also organized events such as the 1988, 1991 1995, 1998 and 2001 Melodifestivalen.
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 performances feature operas and musicals, both newly written Swedish works and classic works. The venue also hosts themed concerts, gala evenings, and guest performances on occasion. The Malmö Opera employs professional directors, set designers, singers, librettists and conductors who work together as a team to better support the performances in the venue. The first director of the Opera was Lars Rudolfsson, who directed the initial production at the Opera, Benjamin Britten'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's Rigoletto (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, Les Misérables, Singin' in the Rain, in addition to earlier successes such as Ingmar Bergman's The Merry Widow (1954), The Long Ships (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 was specially written for baritone Bengt Krantz. In addition to the 2010s, the family opera The Snow Queen after Hans Christian Andersen'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 jukebox musical Joyride the Musical, premiered at Malmö Opera.Chris Wiegand, Dressed for success: Malmö launches Roxette jukebox musical Joyride steered by Brits, The Guardian, 2024-09-10
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
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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.