Den Norske Opera

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Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
Den Norske Opera & Ballett
The logo is a diagonal black line with the name of the company above it.
TypeNational opera, national ballet
Established1957 (1957)
Located atOslo Municipality Edit this on Wikidata
Coordinates59°54′27″N 10°45′11″E / 59.90750°N 10.75306°E / 59.90750; 10.75306
CountryNorway Edit this on Wikidata
Award receivedInternational Opera Awards Edit this on Wikidata
Websiteoperaen.no

The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet (Norwegian: Den Norske Opera & Ballett) is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisation in the country, it is currently resident at the Oslo Opera House, since the spring of 2008.[1]

History

Founded in 1957, the company had Kirsten Flagstad as its first general manager, from 1958 to 1960, and placed an emphasis on presenting operas and ballets written by Norwegian composers, and Norwegian as the standard language of the opera singers.[2] Subsequent general managers have included Bjørn Simensen. The Ballet School at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet was founded in 1965. In January 2009, the Norwegian Opera and Ballet was reorganized, during the tenure of Tom Remlov as general managing director. The company's current general manager is Nils Are Karstad Lysø.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Den Norske Opera campaigned for a number of years for construction of a new opera house, with preference in the Bjørvika district, a harbour area of downtown Oslo.[3] The Oslo Opera House was opened in the spring of 2008. In 2008 Radio Marconi, an Italian company, installed a seatback multimedia system, from an idea of Geir Mortil of the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, allowing audiences to follow opera libretto in other languages in addition to the original language.

The current chief executive officer of the company is Geir Bergkastet. Past artistic directors of the opera company have included Paul Curran (2009–2011),[4] Anne Gjevang (as interim director),[5] Per Boye Hansen[6] and Annilese Miskimmon (2017–20).[7] Randi Stene is the current opera director of the company. The company's current director of ballet is Ingrid Lorentzen, who succeeded Espen Giljane in the post.[8] Past music directors have included John Fiore. In February 2022, the company announced the appointment of Edward Gardner as its artistic advisor, with immediate effect, and as its next music director, effective 1 August 2024.[9]

The company

Principal dancers

Name Nationality Training Other companies

(inc. guest performances)

Alex Cuadros Joglar[10]  Spain Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Mariemma

Royal Ballet School

 Norwegian National Ballet 2

Ballet Nice Méditerranée

Dingkai Bai[11]  China Royal Ballet School Dutch National Ballet
Douwe Dekkers[12]  Netherlands Vienna Conservatory

Royal Ballet School

 Vienna State Ballet

Dutch National Ballet

Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken[13]  Norway Royal Conservatory of The Hague

Royal Ballet School

 Bolshoi Ballet
Lucas Lima[14]  Brazil Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet
Melissa Hough[15]  United States Kirov Academy of Ballet Boston Ballet

Houston Ballet

Ricardo Castellanos[16]  Spain Cuba Catalunya Ballet Youth Company

Rodolfo Castellanos Royal Ballet School

 Norwegian National Ballet 2

English National Ballet

Samantha Lynch[17]  Australia Australian Conservatoire of Ballet San Francisco Ballet

Houston Ballet

Silas Henriksen[18]  Norway Oslo National Academy of the Arts Nederlands Dans Theater
Whitney Jensen[19]  United States Valentina Kozlova Boston Ballet
Yolanda Correa[20]  Cuba Vocational School of Arts, Holguín

Cuban National Ballet School

 Cuban National Ballet

Corps de ballet

  • Alberto Ballester
  • Alicia Rose Couvrette
  • Anaïs Touret
  • Andrew Coffey
  • Anna Sheleg
  • Arianna Maldini
  • Astrid Lyngstad
  • Celine Kraal
  • Daniela Cabrera
  • Dmytro Litvinov
  • Elise Nøkling-Eide
  • Erik Murzagaliyev
  • Freya Thomas Murzagaliyev
  • Gabriel Gudim
  • Gina Storm-Jensen
  • Giuseppe Ventura
  • Hana Nonaka Aillon
  • Idun Sofie Landgraff Bækken
  • Isaac Martin
  • Isabel Vila
  • Isabella Boyd
  • James Linus Lynch
  • Jane Park
  • Joakim Visnes
  • Johanne Wien Pedersen
  • Jonathan Olofsson
  • Josh Nagaoka
  • Julie Petanova
  • Kenji Wilkie
  • Klara Brænne
  • Leonardo Basilio
  • Leyna Magbutay
  • Louka Do Vale Tinoco
  • Marchela Marinova
  • Marco Pagetti
  • Martin Dauchez
  • Mathias Tannæs
  • Miharu Maki
  • Nae Nishimura
  • Natasha Jones Dale
  • Nora Elise Augustinius
  • Pedro Alcantara
  • Pol Monsech
  • Riccardo Ambrogi
  • Shaakir Muhammad
  • Simon McNally
  • Simon Regourd
  • Sonia Vinograd
  • Taeryeong Kim
  • Thea Gudim Breder
  • Tsukino Tanaka
  • Vasilii Tkachenko
  • Veronika Selivanova
  • Youngseo Ko

See also

References

  1. Ranghild Veire (22 March 2011). "Et vaklende operahus". NRK (Norwegian Radio). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. Nygaard, Jan, "The Theatre System of Norway", in Theatre Worlds in Motion: Structures, Politics and Developments in the Countries of Western Europe (eds. Hans van Maanen & Stephen Wilner). Editions Rodolpi B.V. (Amsterdam, ISBN 90-420-0762-1), pp. 476–477 (1998).
  3. Lotte Bichel (14 June 1999). "Et vaklende operahus". Berlingske. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  4. "Stage Director Paul Curran Named General Manager of Norwegian Opera". Opera News. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  5. Vibeke Johnsen (6 June 2011). "Operasjefen går av". Nettavisen. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  6. Ranghild Veire (26 September 2011). "Per Boye Hansen blir ny operasjef". NRK (Norwegian Radio). Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  7. Lanre Bakare (8 October 2019). "English National Opera names Annilese Miskimmon as new artistic director". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  8. Anders Grønneberg and Jan Thomas Holmlund (26 September 2011). "Per Boye Hansen blir ny operasjef". Dagbladet. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  9. "Edward Gardner named as new Music Director of Norwegian Opera & Ballet" (PDF) (Press release). Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. 1 February 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  10. "Alex Cuadros Joglar". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  11. "Dingkai Bai". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  12. "Douwe Dekkers". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  13. "Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  14. "Lucas Lima". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  15. "Melissa Hough". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  16. "Ricardo Castellanos". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  17. "Samantha Lynch". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  18. "Silas Henriksen". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  19. "Whitney Jensen". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  20. "Yolanda Correa". Retrieved 19 June 2026.