Stuttgart Staatsoper
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| Großes Haus von der Staatsoper |
101 years ago in 1912, the Royal Court Theater, Königliches Hoftheater, designed by Max Littmann, was opened with a performance of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos before King Wilhem II and Queen Charlotte of Württemberg.
When the Court Theater, today known as the State Opera, opened, it consisted of two theater houses: the opera (shown above), Großes Haus (Large House) and the theater, or Kleines Haus (Small House). The theater was completely destroyed during the bombing of Stuttgart in 1944.
The opera was one of only a few pre-war opera houses throughout all of Germany that actually survived destruction in the Second World War. Most everything which one sees when visiting today is just as it was at its opening in 1912. When this writer was there recently, the interior of the theater itself looked as though the royal pair had just left the room.
Today, the Stuttgart Staatsoper is home to the world-famous Stuttgart Ballet, of which the renowned John Cranko was not only its founder but also choreographer in the 1960s.
The larger of the two theaters, the Opera, seats 1,404 guests. The crowned royal box is still as it was during the monarchy, which ended in 1918.
A photo of the new post-war theater, or Kleines Haus, is not shown here simply because the photographer refuses to waste time on it. He just can't "make peace" with this particular, umm, (What does he call it, hideous?) structure which replaced the original beauty. Berliner Platz (see previous post of same name) one can adapt to, but this one? Uh-uh.
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The Stuttgart Staatsoper is situated in the center of the city beside the palace gardens and next to the Landtag building (State Legislature) of the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg.
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| Stuttgart Staatsoper in springtime. A corner of the Landtag building is on the right. |
