Festspielhaus St. Pölten: Difference between revisions
| Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
[[Image:Haydn_Saal.jpg|thumb|Box]]Besides the big hall there is the Box. A "stage direction gallery" at the east end of the hall holds the technical equipment. |
[[Image:Haydn_Saal.jpg|thumb|Box]]Besides the big hall there is the Box. A "stage direction gallery" at the east end of the hall holds the technical equipment. |
||
[[Image:Café_Publik.jpg |thumb|Café publik]] |
|||
For smaller performances there are two rehearsal stages available: |
For smaller performances there are two rehearsal stages available: |
||
Revision as of 13:47, 31 August 2010
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten is a Festival Theatre 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. 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, aditionally guest conducotrs like Andreas Delfs, Heinz Holliger, Carlos Kalmar, Hugh Wolff, Eiji Oue or Lothar Zagrosek are leading the orchestra.
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten presents about 70 productions each season. Over 70,000 guests attend the performances every year. About 4,000 people are owners of season tickets for the Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
During the festivals Keyboard Music, Polifonica, Nox Illuminata and Österreich TANZT artist like Marianne Mendt, Joy Fleming, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Andreas Staier and Take 6 will be performing in Festspielhaus.
The Festspielhaus aims to offer children and young people experience-orientated access to cultural programmes. It offers workshops, school performances, opera workshops and youth projects.
Architecture
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 has 1034 seats 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, Wayne McGregor Random Dance, William Forsythe's Impressing the Czar by the Royal Ballet of Flanders or the Cullberg Ballet as guests. Artists and ensembles of erudite music are Ian Bostridge, Sarah Chang, the Czech Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Martin Fröst, the Hagen Quartet, Andreas Haefliger, Chloë Hanslip, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Christiane Oelze, Luba Orgonasova, Chen Reiss, Simona Houda-Saturova, Lars Vogt, Cristina Zavalloni or Ivan Zenaty; popular music is presented by Rabih Abou-Khalil, Aka Moon, Fabrizio Cassol, Michel Godard, James Hunter, Angélique Kidjo, Mísia or Baba Sissoko. 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 and its outstanding acoustics provide the best preconditions for concerts and music theatre. 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 hight. 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, partly constructed of glass, offers a spectacular view of the sky. The technical facilities are identical to those of the Schönberg-Saal.