The Royal Swedish Opera, as seen from the southwest
The Royal Swedish Opera, or Kungliga Operan, is the national stage for opera in Sweden. The building lies in the center of Stockholm, on the eastern side of Gustav Adolfs square. The opera company was founded by King Gustav III and its first performance was given on January 18, 1773. The first opera house was inagurated in 1780s and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses were officially called the "Royal Opera", however the terms "The Gustavian Opera" and "The Oscarian Opera", or the "Old" and "New" Opera are used when distinction is needed.
The Gustavian Opera
The original Stockholm Opera, the work of architect Carl Fredrik Adelkrantz was commissioned by King Gustav III in 1775, and completed in 1782. The king was a strong adherent of the ideal of an enlightened absolutism and as such was a great patron of the arts. Coincidentally, it was at the opera house which he had built that the king was to meet his fate. During a masquerade at the Opera on the March 16, 1792, he was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström, and died several days later. (In turn, this event inspired the opera Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi)
The Oscarian Opera
The current Opera building, as seen from the east
The old opera served for another century, when it was demolished in 1892 to give way to construction of a new Opera by Axel Johan Anderberg, finished seven years later and inaugurated by king Oscar II. The new house bears the letters Kungl. Teatern, literally "Royal theatre", causing the Royal Swedish Theatre to add the distinction "dramatic" to its name.
He decreed that all opera was to be sung in Swedish, and, after dismissing the Francophone opera company at the Bollhuset, he began bringing important European composers to create operas with Swedish poets.
Construction of a new stage began in 1775, and the RoyalOpera House was officially opened on September 30, 1782.
Swedish ballet went through a more quiet period in the 1800's, and its fame was eclipsed by other European companies and styles.
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