The opera company was founded with the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music by King
Gustav III, and its first performance,
Thetis and Phelée with
Carl Stenborg and
Elisabeth Olin, was given on 18 January 1773; this was the first native-speaking opera performed in Sweden. However, the first
opera house was not opened until 1782 and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses are officially called the "Royal Opera", although 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 House, the work of architect
Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz, was commissioned by King
Gustav III, a strong adherent of the ideal of
enlightened absolutism and, as such, was a great patron of the arts. The Swedish Opera Company had first been located in
Bollhuset, but there was a need to separate the opera from the theatre and give them separate buildings. Construction began in 1775, and the theatre was inaugurated on 30 September 1782 with a performance of the German composer
Johann Gottlieb Naumann's
Cora och Alonzo. It was also the place for public masquerade balls, events inspired by the famous opera balls in Paris, which were open for everyone wearing a mask at a cheap cost and somewhat ill-reputed. The building was very imposing, with its centre Corinthian tetrastyle portico supporting four statues and topped by the royal crown. The four-tiered auditorium was oval in shape and had excellent acoustics and sight lines. The sumptuous foyer contained neoclassic medallions and pilasters. It was in the foyer of the opera house where the king met his fate: during a masquerade on 16 March 1792, he was shot by
Jacob Johan Anckarström and died 13 days later. (In turn, this event inspired the operas
Gustave III by
Daniel Auber and
Un ballo in maschera by
Verdi.) Following the assassination, the opera house was closed until 1 November 1792, when it was opened again, which by some was considered shocking. The son of
Gustav III, King
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, did not like the opera, possibly because of the murder of his father, and disliked the fact that the scene of his father's murder was used as a place of amusement and leisure, and when a frivolous play was performed for his queen
Frederica of Baden in 1806, he decided to close it down. It remained closed until 1809, and when the king was deposed, it took until May 1812 before it was organised enough to be fully opened again.
The Oscarian Opera, Operan ) at the Royal Swedish Opera The old opera was demolished in 1892 to give way to the construction of a new Opera drawn by
Axel Johan Anderberg, which was finished seven years later and inaugurated by King
Oscar II with a production of a Swedish opera (that tradition had been quite firmly established during the 19th century),
Franz Berwald's
Estrella de Soria. The new house had the letters
Kungl. Teatern, literally "Royal Theatre" (which caused the later-founded
Royal Dramatic Theatre to add the distinction "dramatic" to its name). The building is now simply called
Operan ("The Opera"), written in golden letters above the middle arch on the front facade. It is a majestic neo-classical building with a magnificent gold foyer
(Guldfoajén) and elegant marble grand staircase leading to a three-tiered
auditorium somewhat smaller than the old theatre. It presently seats 1,200. Most productions are now sung in the original language (with Swedish subtitles), with only a few in Swedish. The Royal Swedish Family of King
Carl XVI Gustaf keeps the Royal Box reserved, located in the first tier in the auditorium above the orchestra pit. == Ensembles, artists and artistic leadership ==