Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

s in addition to operas and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s. Because the theatre does not have its own orchestra, the

Basel Symphony Orchestra The Sinfonieorchester Basel (Symphony Orchestra Basel; Swiss abbreviation SOB) is a symphony orchestra based in Basel, Switzerland. Its principal concert venue is the ''Musiksaal'' of the Stadtcasino. In addition, the orchestra accompanies ballet ...

is usually contracted to perform for opera and ballet productions as needed. For baroque-opera productions,

La Cetra Cetra, a Latin word borrowed from Greek language, Greek, is an Italian descendant of ''κιθάρα'' (cithara). It is a synonym for the cittern but has been used for the citole and cithara (the lyre-form) and cythara (the lyre-form developing i ...

, the

baroque orchestra A Baroque orchestra is an ensemble for mixed instruments that existed during the Baroque era of Western Classical music, commonly identified as 1600–1750. Baroque orchestras are typically much smaller, in terms of the number of performers, than t ...

of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, is engaged.

History

Theater Basel was founded in 1834 under the name Basler Stadttheater. The first theatre was designed by Swiss architect

Melchior Berri Melchior Berri (born 20 October 1801 in Basel, died 12 May 1854 in Basel) was a well-known Swiss architect. He was the son of Melchior Berri (parish priest in Münchenstein) and Appollonia Streckeisen. In 1832 he married Margaretha Simone Burckha ...

. In 1873 work on a new theatre began which was designed by Johann Jakob Stehlin Jr.. This second theatre opened in 1875 and was used until it was destroyed by fire on 7 October 1904. Plans for a third theatre were soon made, but it was five years before the theatre finally opened in 1909. The fourth theatre opened in 1975. In October 2018, the company announced the appointment of

Kristiina Poska Kristiina Poska (born 12 July 1978, Türi, Estonia) is an Estonian conductor. Biography At age eight, Poska began piano lessons. She graduated from Türi Music School in piano studies in 1994, and then studied choral conducting at the Georg Ot ...

as its next General Music Director (GMD; ''Generalmusikdirektorin''), effective with the 2019–2020 season.

Intendants

* Leo Melitz (1899–1919) * Ernst Lert (1919–1920) * Otto Henning (1921–1925) * Oskar Wälterlin (1925–1932) * Egon Neudegg (1932–1949) * Gottfried Becker, Kurt Horowitz, Hans Thudium (1949–1950; joint directors) * Friedrich Schramm (1950–1953) * Albert Wiesner (1953–1954) * Hermann Wedekind (1954–1960) * Werner Düggelin (1968–1975) * Hans Hollmann (1975–1978) * Horst Statkus (1978–1988) * Frank Baumbauer (1988–1993) * Wolfgang Zörner (1993–1994) * Hans Peter Doll (1994–1996) * Michael Schindhelm (1996–2006) * Georges Delnon (2006–2015) * Andreas Beck (2015–present)

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Basel Theater Basel Concert halls in Switzerland Opera houses in Switzerland

Theatre Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not ha ...

Theatres completed in 1834 Theatres completed in 1875 Theatres completed in 1909 Theatres completed in 1975 Culture in Basel

History

Intendants

References

Further reading

External links