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 Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

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 is usually contracted to perform for opera and ballet productions as needed. For baroque-opera productions, La Cetra, 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 An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Melchior Berri. 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 ...

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