Damascus Opera House

Damascus Opera House

Damascus Opera House (Officially Dar al-Assad for Culture and Arts) (Arabic: دار الأسد للفنون والثقافة‎) is the national opera house of Syria. It is located in central Damascus, on the Umayyad Square. It was inaugurated on May 7, 2004.

Contents

History

Damascus already had an opera house from the 1900s. During the French colonial period Shahbandar's People's Party held their inaugural meeting at the old Damascus Opera House in 1925.[1] Hafez al-Assad planned the opera house early in his rule, but work did not recommence until the 2000s and Assad's son Bashar and his wife, opened Al Assad opera house in 2004.

The new Damascus Opera House

The opera house is a part of a building complex along with Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts, the Higher Institute for Music and the Ballet School, overlooking a multipurpose inner yard. The complex spreads over an area of around 350,000 . It faces the al-Assad National Library and the Syrian Television building.

The building

The building consists of five levels. Each one includes a large foyer used for breaks and reception purposes. It includes three auditoriums, namely the Opera Theater, the Drama Theater and the Multipurpose Hall. They are supplemented by rehearsal and warm-up spaces as well as vidette rooms.

The Opera theatre

The Opera Theater holds a capacity of 1,331 seats distributed over a ground auditorium, 2 balconies and 20 boxes. Dimensions of the proscenium arch are 9×10 meters, and total depth of the stage is 34 meters. The orchestra pit can hold 110 musicians.

The Drama theatre

A middle-sized hall that holds 663 seats. This hall is distinguished by its round stage that sticks out into the theatre, and that is equipped with two movable side platforms. The stage is equipped with ground holes that lead to the backstage area through tunnels.

The Multipurpose Hall

It consists of a ground hall and two balconies and can hold up to 237 seats. This hall is used for different kinds of activities such as short plays, experimental drama presentations, small music recitals, cinema shows and lectures.

The Damascus Opera Company

Aside from visiting foreign artists, the company produced The Marriage of Figaro in 2010. The current (2011) director of the House and Company is Maria Arnaout, producer of Gianni Schicchi, An international Oriental Music Festival and a Syrian version of the musical Oliver! casting orphans after the model of El Sistema's work with street children in Venezuela.[2] So far the opera house has not included in its programmes opera in Arabic or art song in Arabic.

External links

Coordinates: 33°30′44″N 36°16′43″E / 33.51222°N 36.27861°E / 33.51222; 36.27861

www.damascusopera.com

www.facebook.com Damascus Opera House

References

  1. ^ Transformed landscapes: essays on Palestine and the Middle East Page 37 Walid Khalidi, Kamīl Manṣūr, Leila Tarazi Fawaz - 2009 "... Party inauguration on 5 June 1925, more than a thousand people crowded into Damascus Opera House to hear their leaders express freely and legally, for the first time since the Syrian Congress of 1920, the will of the Syrian people"
  2. ^ [http://www.syria-today.com/st/index.php/component/content/article/795-focus/14926-qaa-maria-arnaout-general-director-damascus-opera-house Syria Today

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Damascus — For other uses, see Damascus (disambiguation). Damascus دِمَشق Dimashq Damascus City landmarks Damascus Skyline Damascus University • Damascus Opera House …   Wikipedia

  • Opera in Arabic — The Khedivial Opera House in 1869. The history of opera in the Arabic speaking world is generally viewed to have started from the premiere of Verdi s Aida in Cairo at the Khedivial Opera House in 1871, though Verdi s opera was sung in Italian …   Wikipedia

  • John of Damascus — Chrysorrhoas redirects here. For the river, see Barada. Saint John of Damascus Saint John Damascene (arabic icon) Doctor of the Church Born …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Opera — For the Yugoslav Wars operation, see Operation Opera Orientalis. Babylon Part of Arab–Israeli Conflict Map of the attack …   Wikipedia

  • List of concert halls — The interior of the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, Italy, circa 1875 …   Wikipedia

  • Malek Jandali — مالك جندلي Birth name Malek Jandali Born December 25, 1972 (1972 12 25) (age 38) Waldbröl, Germany Origin …   Wikipedia

  • Circo Aereo — is a circus group based in Finland and France, under the direction of Maksim Komaro, the artistic director, and Jani Nuutinen, the artistic consultant.[1][2] This group was established in 1996 as part of the “new circus” movement and travels… …   Wikipedia

  • Circo Aéreo — Circo Aereo es un grupo con sedes en Finlandia y Francia, bajo la dirección artísitca de Maksim Komaro y Jani Nuutinen, quien funge como asesor artístico.[1] [2] El grupo fue fundado en 1996 como parte del movimiento “new circus” y viaja… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Les Objets Volants — es un grupo de personas de Francia que mezcla el teatro con malabares y movimientos con humor.[1] Este grupo ha estado produciendo shows en Francia y en todo el mundo desde 1999. Incluye elementos de circo, teatro, artes visuales e incluso… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Islamic arts — Visual, literary, and performing arts of the populations that adopted Islam from the 7th century. Islamic visual arts are decorative, colourful, and, in religious art, nonrepresentational; the characteristic Islamic decoration is the arabesque.… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”