La Monnaie

The Koninklijke Muntschouwburg (de Munt) (Dutch), or le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (la Monnaie) (French) (both meaning Royal Theatre of the Mint) is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium.

Today the National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of the theatre in which it is housed. Therefore, "de Munt/la Monnaie" refers both to the structure as well as the opera company.

As Belgium's leading opera house it is one of the few cultural institutions which receives financial support from the federal government of Belgium. Other opera houses in Belgium, such as the Vlaamse Opera and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, are funded by regional governments.

History

In the last three decades de Munt/la Monnaie, has regained its place amongst the foremost opera houses in Europe thanks to the efforts of the successive directors Gérard Mortier and Bernard Foccroulle and music director Antonio Pappano.

The current edifice is the third theatre on the site. The façade dates from 1818 with major alterations made in 1856 and 1986. The foyer and auditorium date from 1856, but almost every other element of the present building was extensively renovated in the 1980s.

The theatre of Gio-Paolo Bombarda, 1700 to 1818

The first permanent public theatre for opera performances of the court and city of Brussels was built between 1695 and 1700 by the Venetian architects Paolo and Pietro Bezzi, as part of a rebuilding plan following the bombardment of Brussels. It was built on the site of a building that had served to mint coins. The name of this site de Munt or la Monnaie ("the Mint") remained attached to the theatre for the centuries to come. The construction of the theatre had been ordered by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, at that time Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. The Elector had charged his "trésorier", the Italian Gio-Paolo Bombarda, with the task of financing and supervising the enterprise. The date of the first performance in 1700 remains unknown.

The first performance mentioned in the local newspaper was Jean-Baptiste Lully's, Atys, which was given on 19 November 1700. The French operatic repertoire would dominate the Brussels stage throughout the following century, although performances of Venetian operas and other non-French repertoire were performed on a regular basis. Until the middle of the 19th century, plays were performed along with opera, ballet and concerts.

By the 18th century de Munt/la Monnaie was considered the second French-speaking stage after the most prominent theatres in Paris. Under the rule of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who acted as a very generous patron of the arts, the theatre greatly flourished. At that time it housed an opera company, a ballet and an orchestra. The splendour of the performances diminished during the last years of the Austrian rule, due to the severe politics of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II.

After 1795, when the French revolutionary forces occupied the Belgian provinces, the theatre became a French Departmental institution.

Amongst other cuts in its expenses, the theatre had to abolish its Corps de Ballet. During this period many famous French actors and singers gave regular performances in the theatre during their tour of the provinces of the Empire. Still a consul, Napoleon on his visit to Brussels judged the old theatre too dilapidated for one of the most prestigious cities of his Empire. He ordered plans to replace the old building by a new and more monumental edifice, but nothing was done during the Napoleonic rule. Finally, the plans were carried out under the auspices of the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Bombarda building was demolished in 1818.

The theatre of Louis Damesme, 1818 to 1855

The old theatre was replaced by a new Neo-classical building designed by the French architect Louis Damesme. Unlike the Bombarda building, which was situated along the street and completely surrounded by other buildings, the new theatre was placed in the middle of a newly constructed square. This gave it a more monumental appearance, but it was primarily the result of safety concerns since it was more accessible to firemen, reducing the chance that fire would spread to surrounding buildings. The new auditorium was inaugurated on 25 May 1819 with the opera La Caravane du Caire by the Belgian composer André Ernest Modeste Grétry.

As the most important French theatre of the new established United Kingdom of the Netherlands, la Monnaie would witness a new heyday. The theatre came under the supervision of the city of Brussels, which had the right to appoint a director charged with the management its management. In this period famous actors like François Joseph Talma and singers like Maria Malibran performed at la Monnaie. The Corps de Ballet was reintroduced and came under the supervision of the dancer and choreographer Jean-Antoine Petipa, father of the famous Marius Petipa.

De Munt would play a prominent role in the formation of the Kingdom of Belgium. Daniel Auber's opera La Muette de Portici was scheduled in August 1830 after it had been banned from the stage by King William II, fearing its inciting content. At a performance of this opera on the evening of 25 August 1830, a riot broke out which became the signal for the Belgian Revolution and which led to Belgian independence. The Damesme building continued to serve for more than two decades as Belgium's principal theatre and opera house until it burnt to the ground on January 21, 1855 leaving only the outside walls and portico.

The theatre of Joseph Poelaert, since 1856

After the fire of January 1855, the theatre was reconstructed after the designs of Joseph Poelaert within a period of fourteen months. The auditorium (with 1,200 seats) and the foyer were decorated in a then-popular Eclectic Style; a mixture of Neo-Baroque, Neo-Rococo and Neo-Renaissance Styles. The lavish decoration made excessive use of gilded "carton-pierre" decorations and sculptures, red velvet and brocade. The auditorium was lit by the huge crystal chandelier that today still hangs in the centre of the domed ceiling. It is made of gilded bronze and venetian crystals. The original dome painting - representing "Belgium Protecting the Arts" - was painted in the Parisian workshop of François-Joseph Nolau (Paris 1804-1883) and Auguste-Alfred Rubé (Paris, 1815-1899), two famous decorators of the Parisian Opera House. In 1887 this dome painting was completely repainted by Auguste-Alfred Rubé (Paris, 1815-1899) himself and his new associate Philippe-Marie Chaperon (Paris, 1826–1907), because it was mostly tainted by the CO2 emissions from the chandelier. This dome painting stayed untouched until 1985, when it was taken down during extensive rebuilding activities and replaced by a bad copy, painted by the Belgian painter Xavier Crolls. From 1988 until 1998 the dome painting of Rubé and Chaperon was in restoration. In 1999, it was reinstated and decorates today one of the most beautiful opera houses of Europe. The sober whitewashed exterior we see today was done many decades later. Poelaert never intended to whitewash these outer walls. In 1856, the exterior did not have any whitewashing at all, which is proved by many photographs of that time.

The new Théatre Royal de la Monnaie opened on 25 March 1856 with Fromental Halévy’s Jaguarita l'Indienne. In the middle of the 19th century the repertoire was dominated by the popular French composers such as Halévy, Daniel Auber, and Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the Italian composers, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi who had considerable success in Paris.

The theatre in the 20th century

Renovations on the Poelaert building were required shortly after the opening due to faulty foundation work; the early 20th century saw an additional story added; and in the 1950s, a new stage building was added. By 1985 it was determined that complete renovation was needed. Features such as raising the roofline by 4 metres and scooping out the stage building area - in addition to creating a steel frame to strengthen the load-bearing walls and increasing backstage space - characterized this two-year project. However, the red and gold auditorium remained basically the same. The canvas of the ceiling painting was temporarily removed for restoration and only put back in 1999. It was temporarily replaced by a copy in much brighter colors that was painted directly on the stucco ceiling.

The entrance hall and the grand staircase underwent a radical makeover, although original features such as the monument by Paul Dubois honouring manager and musical director Dupont (1910), and a number of monumental paintings (1907-1933) by Emile Fabry were preserved. The Liège architect Charles Vandenhove created a new architectural concept for the entrance in 1985-86. He asked two American artists to make a contribution: Sol LeWitt designed a fan-shaped floor in black and white marble, while Sam Francis painted a triptych mounted to the ceiling. Vandenhove also designed a new interior decoration for the Salon Royal, a reception room connected to the Royal box. For this project he collaborated with the French artist Daniel Buren.

Now seating 1,700, the renovated theatre was inaugurated on 12 November 1986 with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

In 1998 the major part of the vacant Vanderborght Department Store building (c. 20,000 m2) and a neo-classical mansion, both situated directly behind the theatre, were acquired by de Munt/la Monnaie. The edifices were renovated and adapted to house the technical and administrative facilities of De Munt, previously spread all over the city. The building also contains large rehearsal halls for opera, the Malibran, and orchestra, the Fiocco. They can also be adapted for presenting public performances.

Direction

, music director of la Monnaie in the 18th century]]

See also: List of directors of the Théâtre de la Monnaie

During the 1980s la Monnaie was led by Gerard Mortier. Bernard Foccroulle succeeded him in 1991 and served for fifteen seasons, maintaining and even expanding the reputation Mortier had gained in the 1980s. His successor, Peter de Caluwe, has recently announced his program for his first season, that of 2007-2008.

Music Directors of la Monnaie have always played a major role in the musical life of Belgium since the orchestra also performed in regularly organised concerts and the quality of the orchestra reached a peak at the end of the 19th century under the baton of Sylvain Dupuis. La Monnaie gave regular performances of the major works of Richard Wagner which requires a well-trained orchestra. French Avant-Garde composers such as Jules Massenet and Vincent d'Indy directed the world-premières of some of their lyrical works themselves in Brussels. The high musical quality of performances was maintained under Corneil de Thoran between the two World Wars, but diminished gradually from the 1950s onwards.

At the beginning of the 1980s, Gérard Mortier engaged the French conductor Sylvain Cambreling as La Monnaie's music director, and Cambreling restored the playing of the orchestra to its former level. Antonio Pappano became music director in 1991, and during his tenure, the symphonic repertoire of the orchestra was further extended and it appeared more often in concerts outside the opera. In addition, Pappano made several recordings with the orchestra. He left in 2002 to become Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London. Since 2002, the Japanese conductor Kazushi Ono has served as music director. At the end of the 2007-2008 season, Ono was scheduled to relinquish his position as la Monnaie music director to Mark Wigglesworth, with Ono and Wigglesworth working together in the 2007-2008 season. However, in April 2008, La Monnaie announced that Wigglesworth would not take up the post of music director, after reports of opposition to him from the orchestra, although he is scheduled to fulfill his engagements for the 2008-2009 season.

For performances of Baroque operas, la Monnaie mostly engages guest orchestras specialising in authentic performances on period instruments. Over the past decades René Jacobs and his Concerto Vocale have been regular guests at the theatre.

Dance at la Monnaie

See also: List of dance directors at La Monnaie

Dance and ballet always had their place on the stage of la Monnaie, and, during a major part of its history, the theatre housed its own Corps de Ballet. Several members of the Petipa family left their mark in Brussels in the 19th-century, but the enthusiasm of the public for traditional ballet performances diminished in the 1950s.

In 1959 director Maurice Huisman embarked on a cooperation with the young Avant-Garde choreographer Maurice Béjart. This resulted in the creation of the new Ballet du XXième Siècle which became the theatre's new ballet company until 1987 when Béjart and his Ballet left la Monnaie after a conflict with Gérard Mortier. In 1988 Mortier engaged the New York choreographer Mark Morris and his company. Morris directed several productions in Brussels until 1991. Under Bernard Foccroulle, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her company Rosas became the dance company in residence.

Notable world premières

  • Jules Massenet: Hérodiade (19 December 1881)
  • Ernest Reyer: Sigurd (7 January 1884)
  • Emanuel Chabrier: Gwendoline (10 April 1886)
  • Benjamin Godard: Jocelyn (25 February 1888)
  • Ernest Reyer: Salammbô (10 February 1890)
  • Vincent d'Indy: Fervaal (12 March 1897)
  • Vincent d'Indy: L'Etranger (7 January 1903)
  • Ernest Chausson: Le Roi Arthus (30 November 1903)
  • Darius Milhaud: Les Malheurs d'Orphée (7 May 1926)
  • Arthur Honegger: Antigone (28 December 1927)
  • Sergei Prokofiev: Igrok (The Gambler), 29 April 1929)
  • Philippe Boesmans: La Passion de Gilles (18 Okt 1983)
  • Mark Morris: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (22 November 1988)
  • John Adams: The Death of Klinghoffer (19 March 1991)
  • Philippe Boesmans: Reigen (4 March 1993)
  • Philippe Boesmans: Wintermärchen (10 December 1999)
  • Philippe Boesmans: Julie (8 March 2005)

Notes

References

  • Bram Van Oostveldt, Jaak Van Schoor (editor), The Théatre de la Monnaie and theatre life in the 18th century Austrian Netherlands: from a courtly-aristocratic to a civil-enlightened discourse, Ghent, Academia Press, 2000.
  • Eric Cabris, De Munt: drie eeuwen geschiedenis van het gebouw, Lannoo, Tielt, 1996.
  • Manuel Couvreur (editor), Le théâtre de la Monnaie au XVIIIe siècle, Cahiers du Gram, Brussels, 1996.
  • Roland Van der Hoeven, Le théâtre de la Monnaie au XIXe siècle: contraintes d'exploitation d'un théâtre lyrique 1830-1914, Cahiers du Gram, Brussels, 2000.
  • Manuel Couvreur (editor), La Monnaie wagnérienne, Cahiers du Gram, Brussels, 1998.
  • Roland Van der Hoeven, Manuel Couvreur, a.o., La Monnaie symboliste, Cahiers du Gram, Brussels, 2003.
  • Opera tot theater maken: het team van Gerard Mortier in de Munt, Duculot, Gembloux, 1986.
  • Laurent Busine a.o., L'opéra, un chant d'étoiles: exposition, Ateliers de la Monnaie, Bruxelles, du 16 janvier au 2 juillet 2000 ,Brussels - Tournai, 2000.

External links

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4sq SUs Belgium
23 August 2016
Originally built in the late 17th century by Venetians, the theatre was considered one of the most beautiful outside Italy. The current building is designed by Dasmesme (FR) and inaugurated in 1819.
4sq SUs Belgium
23 August 2016
During the performance of Auber's opera The Mute Girl of Portici on August 25th, 1830, a riot broke out starting the Belgian Revolution and eventually leading to Belgian independence.
Lene H.
21 October 2012
Brussels has one of the finest opera houses in the world, reknown for it's daring and modern productions. No wonder this place started the Belgian revolution in 1830.
John Magan
27 October 2014
Nice building, saw a wonderful show there. Staff were a bit surly to rude, though. Also avoid the top boxes on the side - the view from them isn't great!
Sylvia Goldman
27 June 2019
Excellent venue and performance combining classics and contemporary adaptations
Hamano Tasuke
27 January 2018
非常に美しいオペラハウスです。クロークは何箇所かに分かれていますがやや混みます。字幕は舞台の上に出たので、読みたい場合は高い席の方が良いのかも。途中で休憩が30分あって、2階部分でドリンクを買って飲めました。コーラが1杯3ユーロです。トイレは地下1階にあります。眠気覚ましにエレベーター横にハッカ飴があるのがちょい面白いですね笑
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Rue Léopold 4, 1000 City of Brussels, Belgium Get directions
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Thu 9:00 AM–10:00 PM
Fri 9:00 AM–3:00 PM
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Sun 1:00 PM–6:00 PM
Mon 7:00 PM–8:00 PM

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