La Monnaie

About

The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (French: Théâtre royal de la Monnaie, pronounced [teɑtʁ ʁwajal də la mɔnɛ]; Dutch: Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, pronounced [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈmʏntsxʌuˌbʏr(ə)x]; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is housed—La Monnaie in French or De Munt in Dutch—referring to the building as well as the opera company. As Belgium's leading opera house, it is one of the few cultural institutions to receive 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. La Monnaie is located on the Place de la Monnaie/Muntplein, not far from the Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat and the Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein. 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. It is served by the metro and...

The theatre of Gio-Paolo Bombarda (1700–1818)

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 of 1695 by the French army. It was erected on the site of a building that had served to mint coins. The name of this site— La Monnaie (originally spelled La Monnoye ) in French or De Munt in Dutch (both meaning "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 treasurer and architect, the Italian Gio Paolo Bombarda, with the task of financing and supervising the enterprise.

The exact date of the first performance in 1700 remains unknown, but the first showing mentioned in the local newspapers 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, though performances of Venetian operas and other non-French repertoire were also 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, 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 Austrian rule, due to the severe politics of 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 whilst touring the country's provinces. Then-consul Napoleon, visiting Brussels, judged the old theatre too dilapidated for one of the most prestigious cities of his future Empire. He ordered plans to replace the old building with a new and more monumental edifice, but these plans would only be carried out and Bombarda's building demolished in 1818, under the auspices of the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The theatre of Louis Damesme (1819–1855)

The new theatre was a neoclassical building designed by the French architect Louis Damesme. Unlike Bombarda's 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. While this also gave it a monumental appearance, the main concern was safety: the building was now more accessible to firemen, and the chance of any fire spreading was reduced. The new auditorium was inaugurated on 25 May 1819 with the opera La Caravane du Caire by the composer André Ernest Modeste Grétry.

As the most important French theatre of the newly established United Kingdom of the Netherlands, La Monnaie had national and international significance. The theatre came under the supervision of the City of Brussels, which had the right to appoint a director charged with 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.

La Monnaie 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 I of the Netherlands, 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 that ultimately led to the country's independence.

Damesme's building continued to serve for more than two decades as Belgium's principal theatre and opera house until it burnt to the ground on 21 January 1855, leaving only the outside walls and portico.

The theatre of Joseph Poelaert (1856–present)

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 a huge crystal chandelier made of gilded bronze and Venetian crystals, which still hangs in the centre of the domed ceiling today. The new Théâtre royal de la Monnaie opened on 28 March 1856 with Fromental Halévy 's Jaguarita l'Indienne.

The original dome painting, representing Belgium Protecting the Arts, was produced in the Parisian workshop of François-Joseph Nolau and Auguste Alfred Rubé, two famous decorators of the Paris Opera House. In 1887, this dome painting was completely repainted by Rubé himself and his new associate Philippe-Marie Chaperon, because it was mostly tainted by CO 2 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 painter Xavier Crolls. From 1988 until 1998, the dome painting of Rubé and Chaperon was in restoration, until its final reinstatement in 1999. The sober whitewashed exterior seen 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, as proved by many photographs of that time.

In the middle of the 19th century, the repertoire was dominated by popular French composers such as Halévy, Daniel Auber, and Giacomo Meyerbeer, as well as Italian composers like Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi, who had considerable success in Paris.

Renovations on Poelaert's building were required shortly after opening due to faulty foundation work. The early 20th century saw the addition of a storey, and in the 1950s, of a new stage building. By 1985, it was determined that a complete renovation was needed. Features such as raising the roofline by 4 metres (13 ft) and scooping out the stage building area—in addition to creating a steel frame to strengthen the load-bearing walls and increasing backstage space—characterised this two-year project. However, the red and gold auditorium remained largely identical. 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 colours, which 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 the sculptor Paul Du Bois honouring the Manager and Music 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 an abstract 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 1,125, the renovated opera house 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 m 2 (220,000 sq ft) ) and a neoclassical mansion, both situated directly behind the opera house, were acquired by La Monnaie. The edifices were renovated and adapted to house La Monnaie's technical and administrative facilities, 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.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, La Monnaie has reclaimed its place amongst the foremost opera houses in Europe thanks to the efforts of the successive directors Gerard Mortier and Bernard Foccroulle and Music Directors Sylvain Cambreling and Antonio Pappano.

The opera house was renovated again from May 2015 to September 2017: the stage was levelled, a new fly system was put in place, and two scene lifts were installed. This allowed the opera house to stage more technically demanding productions. Although most of the renovations took place backstage, the opera house used this opportunity to replace all of its worn-out seats with new velour seats.