Festspielhaus St. Pölten

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The Festspielhaus St. Pölten (German pronunciation: [ˈfɛstˌʃpiːlˌhaʊ̯s zaŋkt ˈpœltn̩] ) is a Festspielhaus in St. Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria. It is located next to the Landesmuseum (museum of the country of Lower Austria), the Ausstellungshalle (exhibition hall), the Landesbibliothek (public library of the country of Lower Austria), the Landesarchiv (archive of the country of Lower Austria) and the Klangturm in the cultural district of St. Pölten. The Festspielhaus was opened on March 1, 1997. Already one year later the house was regularly used for music theatre and dance. Since September 2009 the German dancer, choreographer and director Joachim Schloemer is the artistic director of Festspielhaus St. Pölten. In September 2013 Brigitte Fürle, former artistic director of the spielzeit’europa, Theatre- and dance season of the Berliner Festspiele, will be his successor. The Festspielhaus is also residency of the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederöstereich, the orchestra of Lower Austria, which presents about 15 concerts, operas – contemporary and classic ones – and other performances in the Festspielhaus each year. Andres Orozco-Estrada is the principal conductor, additionally guest...

The Festspielhaus St. Pölten was designed by Austrian architect Klaus Kada. It contains four halls, suitable for all different cultural events due to their diverse sizes. At the Festspielhaus St. Pölten one can attend orchestral concerts, dance and music theatre, occasionally also traditional world music and poetical circus.

The Große Saal of the Festspielhaus offers 1,063 seats, a standingroom with 70 places, 4 wheelchair places and a stage, that allows music- and dance performances. The dance-season has for instance a number of Sadler's Wells Theatre 's productions like one of Russell Maliphant, and additional companies like Aszure Barton, Michael Clark, Wayne McGregor Random Dance, William Forsythe 's Impressing the Czar by the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Akram Khan or the Cullberg Ballet as guests. Artists and ensembles of erudite music are Leif Ove Andsnes, Juliane Banse, Rudolf Buchbinder, Gautier Capucon, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernarda Fink, Claus Peter Flor, Kirill Gerstein, Vadim Gluzman Marc-Andre Hamelin, Stephen Hough, Emmanuel Krivine, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Meyer, Chen Reiss, Elisabeth Schwarz or Thomas Zehetmair ; popular music is presented by Jane Birkin, Juan Carlos Caceres, Edson Cordeiro, Chick Corea, Guy Klucevsek, Otto Lechner, Christian Muthspiel or Lizz Wright. For orchestral concerts there has been built a special acoustic shell. By means of subtle mechanical changes the Große Saal offers perfect conditions for dance [ citation needed ] and its outstanding acoustics provide the best preconditions for concerts and music theatre. [ citation needed ] The possible adjustments relate to the ceiling, the walls and the proscenium arch. The concert shell is an essential component of the acoustics.

The iron curtain of the Große Saal was designed by the artist Eva Schlegel. It separates the audience from the stage. The size is 20 m width and 10.5 m height. It shows the biggest picture of the country and weighs 14.5 tons.

Besides the big hall there is the Box. A "stage direction gallery" at the east end of the hall holds the technical equipment.

For smaller performances there are two rehearsal stages available: Rehearsal stage 1 also serves as a concert or lecture hall. It is decorated throughout with black wood panelling. The glazed south façade can be completely darkened by means of wooden slats. The seating is flexible and can be adapted to various types of events (up to 100 seats).

Rehearsal stage 2 is directly above Rehearsal stage 1 and has the same dimensions. It is primarily conceived as a ballet hall, but can also be used as a concert or lecture hall. The ceiling is partly constructed of glass, allowing views of the sky. The technical facilities are identical to those of the Schönberg-Saal. [ citation needed ]