Grand Théâtre de Genève

The Grand Théâtre de Genève is an opera house in Geneva.

The Grand Theatre is operated by the City of Geneva by a foundation and subsidized. It has its own ballet company and one own choir. Since 1962, the music by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is played. Each season usually listed eight operas (most productions ), two to three ballets and a few other pieces of music.

History

The Grand Theatre ( Grand Theater dt ) replaced the nearby Théâtre de Neuve in 1783, which was demolished in 1880. The new opera house was built from 1875 to 1879 thanks to a legacy of Duke Karl II of Brunswick. It is located at the Place Neuve, between the Musée Rath and the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève ( Academy of Music ). The architect Jacques- Elysée Goss was inspired by the Opera Garnier in Paris opened in 1875 in the Second Empire style. Four large marble statues in front of the building represent the drama, dance, music and comedy. The Grand Theatre was opened on 2 October 1879 Guillaume Tell by Rossini.

On May 1, 1951, fire destroyed the stage during a rehearsal part and the auditorium. The brick lining, the magnificent foyer and the library remained. The Grand Theatre was opened in 1962 after extensive repairs or restoration. The auditorium was completely remodeled. The original hall of 1879 was hufeisenformig in Italian style. The new auditorium is only slightly curved, with a complete view of freedom of all 1488 seats.

1997-1998 the stage machinery was being renovated. Thus, during this season, the Grand Theatre was able to play on, a new stage was built in the machine hall of a former hydroelectric power station in the center of Geneva. This has 945 seats, is like a wooden box in a listed industrial building. The hall is called Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (FOM) or Salle Théodore Turrettini after the builder of the hydroelectric plant. First planned as a temporary stage, the Salle Théodore Turrettini is now used for ballet performances, chamber operas and baroque operas.

Directors ( directors) since 1962

• Marcel Lamy (1962-1965)
• Herbert Graf (1965-1973)
• Jean -Claude Riber (1973-1980)
• Hugues Gall (1980-1995)
• Renée Auphan (1995-2001)
• Jean -Marie Blanchard (2001-2009)
• Tobias Richter (2009 -)

Ballet

Since its reopening in 1962, the Grand Theatre has its own ballet company. They were successively Janine Charrat (1962-1964), Serge Golovine (1964-1969), ( George Balanchine ) ( 1969-1978 ) ses Maitres de Ballet: ( Alfonso Cata ) Patricia Neary - Peter van Dyck ( 1978-1980 ), Oscar Araiz (1980-1988), Gradimir Pankov (1989-1996), François Passard and Giorgio Mancini (both 1996-2003 ) passed. Since 2003, Philippe Cohen is Director of Ballet. The ensemble created every year two new ballets that are listed in the Salle Théodore Turrettini.