Copenhagen Opera House

The Copenhagen Opera House (in Danish usually called Operaen) is the national opera house of Denmark, and among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built with construction costs well over 500 million U.S. dollars. It is located on the island of Holmen in central Copenhagen.

History

The Opera House was donated to the Danish state by the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation in August 2000 (A.P. Møller was a co-founder of the company now known as Mærsk). Some politicians were offended by the private donation, in part because the full cost of the project would be tax deductible, thus virtually forcing the government to buy the building; but it was accepted by the Folketing and the government in the autumn of 2000. It was designed by the architect Henning Larsen and engineers Ramboll and Buro Happold and Theatre Consultant Theatreplan. The acoustics were designed by Arup Acoustics and architectural lighting design by Speirs and Major Associates. A.P. Møller had the final say in the design of the building, however, adding steel to the glass front, among other things. Construction began in June 2001 and was completed on October 1, 2004. It was opened on January 15, 2005 in the presence of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and Queen Margrethe II.

The tenor Plácido Domingo made a gala guest appearance as Sigmund in Wagner's Die Walküre on...
Read More