Berlin’s Staatsoper re-opens tomorrow, 275 years to the day it first opened, and after seven years of massive renovations, with a choral concert program highlighting three composers who also conducted there: Mendelssohn, Boulez and Strauss.
The 1742 building, originally the Royal Court Opera, was commissioned by Prussian King Friedrich II. It was the largest opera house in Europe when it opened on Unten den Linden, and served as a reminder of Prussia’s rising ambitions as a power in Germany and a rival to Austria.
The renovations were intended to incorporate state-of-the-art theatre technology into the building, along with improved acoustics. After the opening, the building’s season will see new productions of several operas as well as others from the company’s repertoire.
