Contact info
Address
Box 6
17802 Drottningholm
Sweden
http://www.dtm.se
Info
Tel: +46 8 556 931 00
Fax: +46 8 556 931 01
dst@dtm.se
http://www.dtm.se
Administration
Tel: +46 8 556 931 00
Fax: +46 8 556 931 01
dst@dtm.se
http://www.dtm.se
Tickets
Tel: +46 8 660 82 25
Fax: +46 8 556 931 01
http://www.dtm.se
Press
Tel: +46 8 556 931 07
Fax: +46 8 556 931 01
eva.lundgren@dtm.se
http://www.dtm.se
Drottningholms Slottsteater
A unique event dedicated to the tradition of Baroque and Classical opera - thanks to the genuine 18th century theatre, the Drottingholm Court Theatre (belonging to the World Heritage as declared by Unesco)
This festival has been an EFA member since 1986.
Festival Programme
Each EFA member manages its own Calendar. In case there is no programme availabable for this year, please visit the festival's own website.
History
Drottningholm Court Theatre is a genuine 18th-century theatre (1776) down to the smallest detail and as a whole. When the architect C F. Adelcrantz designed his new theatre at Drottningholm there was nothing to stop him developing his original concept, a theatre without balconies, a festive hall, delightful to the eye and in which the auditorium and stage merge into a singularly harmonious and living whole.
The days when King Gustaf III himself used to take his seat the auditorium were the high point of Drottningholm Cour Theatre's history. World-famous French actors have played here. The great German com- posers were seen and heard. And when Gustaf Ill managed to engage L.l. Desprez, the age's leading master of theatre decor, bringing him to Sweden and setting him to work at Drottningholm, two stylistic epochs met.
Second to none in Europe, Swedish theatre decor passed with in decades from the outmoded stiff baroque to fully-fledged romanticism. The repertoire went through much the same development, until it eventually comprised nationalistic historical dramas, Gluck's latest operas and French opTra comique.
Finally, Gustaf III turned the whole theatre inside out with the construction of a massive foyer. But the king fell to an assassin's bullet and Drottningholm Court Theatre fell into decline for more than a century. Until, one winter's day in early 1921, Agne Beijer, a young theatre historian unlocked the doors - and found himself back in the 18th century. Virtually complete, almost untouched, he had rediscovered an 18th- century theatre in pristine condition. The sensation his discovery produced was immense.
Under Beijer's expert guidance the theatre was gradually restored. The motto was 'change nothing, improve nothing'. Only the stage machinery had to be fitted with new ropes and electric lighting installed In 1922, after the dust of a century had been brushed off wings and backcloths, the theatre was ready to be reopened. Its repertoire, modest at first, gradually expanded.
In 1946 the regular festival begun. French opTra comique and Italian opera buffa alternated with divertissements and French comedies. Drottningholm began to gain fame internationally as a festival theatre. Down the years, Handel, Haydn, Gluck and Mozart have featured regularly in the repertoire. Gustavian operas have been revived. Music played on authentic period instruments is one of the festivals aesthetic features. Drottningholm's ballets soon became an integral part of the rediscovery of :8th-century dance.
A living fragment of the 18th century, Drottningholm is unique in its magical ability to revive that age's aesthetic as well as to create new theatrical experiences. By listening carefully to what it has to tell us, we not only gain unique insights into the theatrical life of a past epoch, we also achieve a deeper understanding of the potential of our own.
