The Norwegian National Opera celebrates 50 years
On Sept. 16 the The Norwegian National Opera (NNO) celebrated its 50th anniversary, with a performance of Antonín Dvorák’s Rusalka. King Harald V and Queen Sonja were present during the celebration at the new Opera House.
NNO was founded in 1957, but first opened its doors in 1959, with Kirsten Flagstad as Director and Øivin Fjeldstad as Musical Director.
In 1999 the National Assembly (Stortinget) approved the building of a new opera house in Oslo. In 2000, Norwegian architect firm Snøhetta was chosen as winner of the anonymous architectural competition. Groundworks began in 2003, with Statsbygg as property manager.
On April 2008 the new opera house opened with a Gala Performance. The inaugural season ran from April 2008 to June 2009, the second season runs from August 2009 to June 2010.
Opera Director Paul Curran presents his new production Rusalka, based on the story about the little mermaid (also told by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen), which had its Norway premiere on Sept. 4:
Read more on: Operaen.no
Read more about “Opera in Norway” on: Mic.no
