Tuesday 24 May 2016

Margravial Opera House Bayreuth

As Natalie says in this first postcard, the interior is much prettier than the exterior, not because the outside is ugly, but because the inside is astonishing! 

Margravial Opera House
This postcard was sent by Natalie

The Margravial Opera House (GermanMarkgräfliches Opernhaus) is a Baroque opera house in the town of BayreuthGermany, built between 1744 and 1748. It is one of Europe's few surviving theatres of the period and has been extensively restored. On 30 June 2012 the opera house was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Court-loge
This postcard was sent by Lisa

The wooden interior was designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (1696 – 1757) and his son Carlo from Bologna in an Italian Late Baroque style. The box theatre is completely preserved in its original condition, except for the curtain which was taken by Napoleon's troops on their march to the 1812 Russian campaign. The prince box was seldom used by the art-minded margravial couple, who preferred a front-row seat.

Trompeters loges and the auditorium
This postcard was sent by Lisa

Princess Wilhelmine, older sister of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, had established the margravial theatre company in 1737. In the new opera house she participated as a composer of opera works and Singspiele', as well as an actor and director. Today she features in a sound-and-light presentation for tourists. After her death in 1758, performances ceased and the building went into disuse, one reason for its good conservation status.
More than one hundred years later, the stage's great depth of 27 metres (89 ft) attracted the composer Richard Wagner, who in 1872 chose Bayreuth as festival centre and had the Festspielhaus built north of the town. - in: wikipedia

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