Grand Théâtre de Genève
Encyclopedia
Grand Théâtre de Genève is an opera house
in Geneva
, Switzerland.
As with many other opera houses, the Grand Théâtre de Genève is both a venue and an institution. The venue is a majestic building, towering over Place Neuve, officially opened in 1876, partly destroyed by fire in 1951 and reopened in 1962, after extensive refurbishments, which houses the largest stage in Switzerland. As an institution, it is the largest production and host theatre in French-speaking Switzerland, featuring opera
and dance
performances, recitals, concerts and, occasionally, theatre
.
During the 17th and early 18th centuries, Geneva was heavily influenced by Calvinist orthodoxy and it was not until the middle 1760s that the city agreed to the building of the Théâtre de Rosimond
, Geneva's first opera house. Under the influence of Voltaire
opera began to flourish at La Grange aux Etrangers and its successor theatre, the Théâtre de Neuve
, both of which were located outside the walls of the city.
. Funds for the new theatre project were provided by Duke Charles of Brunswick's legacy to the city in 1873, out of which CHF
1.2 million were earmarked to build Geneva's future temple of operatic art. The municipal government voted to begin construction of the new theatre in 1874, on a 3,000 square metre plot granted by the State of Geneva and formerly occupied by the moats of the ancient city wall, according to plans drawn up by the architect Jacques-Élysée Goss.
The first stone was laid in 1875, and the official inauguration took place in 1879 with a performance of Rossini
's William Tell
opening the season. The new building, placed between the Musée Rath
and the Conservatory of Music, was rated among the ten best opera houses in Europe, close behind the recently completed Palais Garnier
in Paris, from which it drew considerable architectural inspiration, in its Second Empire style.
The building's facades are built of freestone, with plinth
s of Jura
limestone and the rest of the building in sandstone and molasse. On the main façade, eight large pillars of Jura limestone alternate with six smaller ones, of red granite found in the bed of a mountain river in the Bernese Oberland
. The main façade was—and still is—graced with a number of sculptures and mouldings, which give it its monumental aspect. A spacious perron leads to the front building, where marble statues representing Drama, Dance, Music, and Comedy balance the central façade. On the upper level, double columns separate the three balcony windows from the main foyer. The top of the façade features a pediment
bearing the coat of arms of Geneva, crowned with an allegorical figure representing the Genius of the Arts, supported by two groups of sculptural figures. Under the entablature
, eight busts decorate the main façade and its returns on the sides of the building. They represent important composers of the time: Rossini, Boieldieu, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, [Carl Maria von Weber|[Weber]], Mozart, and Donizetti and the famous writer—and occasionally composer—Jean-Jacques Rousseau
.
When entering the vestibule
, one formerly came across the box office, and, on the right hand side, the theatre café. Beyond this, a hall with a recently renovated polychrome marble floor led to the house. The two flights of stairs leading to the foyer and the upper tiers were decorated with six large-scale paintings by Léon Gaud representing six types of music : military, pastoral, religious, light, Orphic and Dionysian. These panels, of a highly academic nature, alternated with medallion portraits of famous composers. All the decorative elements of the upper vestibule (door frames leading to the balconies, ceiling panels) were lost in the great fire of 1951.
Also on the upper level, in front of the vestibule leading to the house, three doors open onto the grand foyer, with three bay windows opening the view out on place Neuve. The grand foyer with, on the right hand side, the little foyer and, on the left hand side, the little salon, are the piano nobile of the main façade. The enfilade
effect of the three spaces in the grand foyer is magnified by the subtle visual interplay of reflections from several oversized mirrors. The grandeur of the foyer recalls the Louvre
's famous Galerie d’Apollon in Paris. The ceiling panels in the little foyer are by Léon Gaud. Several artists—painters and sculptors—were commissioned to decorate the inside and the outside of the building in an eclectic
style.
The house was decorated in a style with gold highlights on light tones. Around the central cupola
, from which hung a magnificent chandelier, a panelled ceiling with fifteen medallions featured portraits of nine actors and six singers. These medallions, along with the rest of the painted allegories (Music, Dramatic Performance and Dance) decorating the house, were the work of a Parisian academic painter named Pierre-Nicolas Brisset.
The first Grand Théâtre was not only lavishly decorated; its technical infrastructure was also state-of-the-art, for the period. The stage curtain was powered by hydraulic pressure from the nearby Usine des Forces Motrices power plant on the river Rhône
. Electric power was installed between 1905 and 1913, allowing the installation of a safety curtain, operated by an electric winch, and the replacement of gas lighting with electrical lights during performances.
, a terrible fire broke out, destroying the stage, fly loft, grid and gangways and their mechanical and electric machinery. The safety curtain collapsed and the fire spread to the house, burning everything from the orchestra seats to the third tier, along with the painted panels and medallions in the ceiling and above the proscenium
arch. The only parts of the theatre to escape the flames were the foyer and its external landing, the main entrance and vestibule, and the exterior façades, including those of the stage house.
The theatre remained closed for a decade, during which performances were transferred to the Grand Casino also called Kursaal. After the disaster, the City of Geneva commissioned several reconstruction projects. The reconstruction was finally conducted between 1958 and 1962 by two architects, Charles Schapfer from Geneva, and Marcello Zavelani-Rossi from Milan, with a Polish artist, Jacek Stryjenski
, responsible for the decoration of the house. Following Stryjenski's untimely death, local architects Albert Cingria and Georges Tamarasco completed the decoration. The impressive slope of the ceiling continuing vertically into Stryjenski's ornamental safety curtain is built of silver- and gold-plated aluminium sheeting, with over a thousand lighting orifices fitted with Murano glass creating the impression of the Milky Way
. The ceiling also includes three projections into which various lighting sources are installed, either to illuminate the ornamental metal surfaces or for the proscenium lights. The theatre reopened in December 1962 with a performance of the French version of Verdi
's Don Carlo.
In its original 1879 version, the auditorium of the Grand Théâtre was shaped like a horseshoe (in the "Italian" style) with several tiers of balconies and boxes surrounding the auditorium on three sides. After the 1962 renovations, the auditorium's oval seating arrangement was altered to adopt a German-style "square" shape, where a full view of the stage is possible from any one of the auditorium's 1,488 seats (593 in the stalls, 199 in the first circle, 161 in the second circle and 535 in the amphitheatre/upper circle).
and the stage machinery of the Salzburg Festival
; the Grand Théâtre de Genève's stage renovation now features among this company's major achievements.
decks.
With four levels of gangways and thousands of cables cluttering it, the fly loft in particular was a real stumbling block. What was state-of-the-art in 1962 had become obsolete—almost a threat to security in the theatre—and the grid (the machinery above the stage) was thus completely transformed.
In order to guarantee maximum security and efficiency, the stage machinery was completely transformed and its operating system fully computerised. Refurbishments also included structural reinforcements to improve new load bearing capacities, the fitting of a hundred hydraulic winches, bearing 52 battens, each 20 metres (65.6 ft) long, attached to the sets and risen or lowered facing the audience. Their load capacity was increased from 500 kilograms (1,102.3 lb) to 1000 kilograms (2,204.6 lb). The fly loft machinery operates on a high-pressure hydraulic motor system, allowing sets to be changed silently and with great speed (1.5 m/s). Their movements are synchronised and their speed can be programmed according to stage effects.
With the new computerised system, fifteen motors can be run simultaneously from a single control panel, operating the battens, the light deck and proscenium curtain, which reveals or hides the stage during intermission
s and can be used in different opening styles (Austrian, Venetian, pleated or tableau). The renovations also included reinforcement and enlargement of bridges and catwalks over the stage from 90 centimetres (35.4 in) to 190 centimetres (74.8 in) width.
and the stage floor completely redone. The orchestra pit was also renovated and can now be raised or lowered as deep as 6.5 metres (21.3 ft).
The stage also features a self-supporting hydraulically powered back stage, which slides forward on two tracks, covering the space left in the central stage when the decks are lowered. On both sides of the stage, covering a wider area than the central stage, two floors are equipped with lightweight mobile wagons to carry sets onto centre stage.
The proscenium arch can be adjusted to different measurements.
The orchestra pit can seat up to 100 musicians. The pit operates mechanically, with three movable decks allowing the orchestra to be seated on different levels and creating a proscenium apron when raised to stage level. Nowadays, the machinery below the stage still operates on a low-pressure hydraulic system, which has been regularly updated since it was installed in 1962.
The latest phase of alterations and modernisation of the machinery below the stage took place in 2006. Manoeuvring the gigantic mechanical elements with an unautomated electro-hydraulic system required important staff resources in order to guarantee minimum security. Automation of these components was thus a priority, as well as installing a new computer-operated hydroelectric system, which is synchronised with the fly loft machinery.
The Grand Théâtre technical staff took an active part in these refurbishments, along with external technical contractors called in on the project. House mechanics took apart and reassembled most of the essential works in the system, with their electrician colleagues refitting all the lighting equipment and rewiring it. The lighting control panel has now been replaced with computerised control desks that operate 500 electric circuits, twice as many as before the renovation work. The Grand Théâtre audio and video services completely renewed its equipment below the stage.
The cost of this project, altogether CHF
20 million, was financed by the City of Geneva and the Union of municipalities of the canton of Geneva
. These renovations provide the Grand Théâtre with a state-of-the-art tool for the highest quality in contemporary scenography and performance. Stage directors working at the Grand Théâtre can thus achieve exceptionally high quality set changes and special effects on one of Europe's most efficient opera stages, which should remain operational until 2050!
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland.
As with many other opera houses, the Grand Théâtre de Genève is both a venue and an institution. The venue is a majestic building, towering over Place Neuve, officially opened in 1876, partly destroyed by fire in 1951 and reopened in 1962, after extensive refurbishments, which houses the largest stage in Switzerland. As an institution, it is the largest production and host theatre in French-speaking Switzerland, featuring opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
performances, recitals, concerts and, occasionally, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
.
During the 17th and early 18th centuries, Geneva was heavily influenced by Calvinist orthodoxy and it was not until the middle 1760s that the city agreed to the building of the Théâtre de Rosimond
Théâtre de Rosimond
The Théâtre de Rosimond was Geneva's first opera house.It was named after its manager Argus Rosimond, a Lyonnese impresario. Built in 1766, it was a wooden building, standing on the other side of Place Neuve, at the corner of the Parc des Bastions and the present-day Rue de la Croix-Rouge, for the...
, Geneva's first opera house. Under the influence of Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
opera began to flourish at La Grange aux Etrangers and its successor theatre, the Théâtre de Neuve
Théâtre de Neuve
The Théâtre de Neuve was a theatre in Geneva, Switzerland.In 1783, the original theatre was replaced with a new stone building, the Théâtre de Neuve, designed by Pierre-David Matthey, with three tiers of balconies surrounding the orchestra seats and an audience capacity of 1000...
, both of which were located outside the walls of the city.
The Grand Théâtre 1879-1951
After a long period of uninterrupted activity, the Théâtre de Neuve was pulled down in 1880 to be replaced by a new theatre, better suited to the quality and space needed by Geneva's growing population. As early as 1862, the Municipal Council had decided that the theatre was too small and plain, in view of Geneva's increasing importance and prestige. In 1870, an invitation for proposals was launched, and the project was handed to architects Emile Reverdin and Gaspard AndréGaspard André
Gaspard André was a French architect, best known as the designer of the Theater of the Place des Célestins, the Fountain of the Place des Jacobins and the Grand Temple de Lyon in Lyon, the city hall of Neuilly-sur-Seine and the Palace of Rumine in Lausanne.-References:*Aynard, Édouard , , Lyon :...
. Funds for the new theatre project were provided by Duke Charles of Brunswick's legacy to the city in 1873, out of which CHF
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...
1.2 million were earmarked to build Geneva's future temple of operatic art. The municipal government voted to begin construction of the new theatre in 1874, on a 3,000 square metre plot granted by the State of Geneva and formerly occupied by the moats of the ancient city wall, according to plans drawn up by the architect Jacques-Élysée Goss.
The first stone was laid in 1875, and the official inauguration took place in 1879 with a performance of Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
's William Tell
William Tell (opera)
Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years...
opening the season. The new building, placed between the Musée Rath
Musée Rath
The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. It is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland....
and the Conservatory of Music, was rated among the ten best opera houses in Europe, close behind the recently completed Palais Garnier
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
in Paris, from which it drew considerable architectural inspiration, in its Second Empire style.
The building's facades are built of freestone, with plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
s of Jura
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
limestone and the rest of the building in sandstone and molasse. On the main façade, eight large pillars of Jura limestone alternate with six smaller ones, of red granite found in the bed of a mountain river in the Bernese Oberland
Bernese Oberland
The Bernese Oberland is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps .The flag of the Bernese Oberland consists of a black eagle in a gold field The Bernese Oberland (Bernese...
. The main façade was—and still is—graced with a number of sculptures and mouldings, which give it its monumental aspect. A spacious perron leads to the front building, where marble statues representing Drama, Dance, Music, and Comedy balance the central façade. On the upper level, double columns separate the three balcony windows from the main foyer. The top of the façade features a pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
bearing the coat of arms of Geneva, crowned with an allegorical figure representing the Genius of the Arts, supported by two groups of sculptural figures. Under the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
, eight busts decorate the main façade and its returns on the sides of the building. They represent important composers of the time: Rossini, Boieldieu, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, [Carl Maria von Weber|[Weber]], Mozart, and Donizetti and the famous writer—and occasionally composer—Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
.
When entering the vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
, one formerly came across the box office, and, on the right hand side, the theatre café. Beyond this, a hall with a recently renovated polychrome marble floor led to the house. The two flights of stairs leading to the foyer and the upper tiers were decorated with six large-scale paintings by Léon Gaud representing six types of music : military, pastoral, religious, light, Orphic and Dionysian. These panels, of a highly academic nature, alternated with medallion portraits of famous composers. All the decorative elements of the upper vestibule (door frames leading to the balconies, ceiling panels) were lost in the great fire of 1951.
Also on the upper level, in front of the vestibule leading to the house, three doors open onto the grand foyer, with three bay windows opening the view out on place Neuve. The grand foyer with, on the right hand side, the little foyer and, on the left hand side, the little salon, are the piano nobile of the main façade. The enfilade
Enfilade (architecture)
In architecture, an enfilade is a suite of rooms formally aligned with each other. This was a common feature in grand European architecture from the Baroque period onwards, although there are earlier examples, such as the Vatican stanze...
effect of the three spaces in the grand foyer is magnified by the subtle visual interplay of reflections from several oversized mirrors. The grandeur of the foyer recalls the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
's famous Galerie d’Apollon in Paris. The ceiling panels in the little foyer are by Léon Gaud. Several artists—painters and sculptors—were commissioned to decorate the inside and the outside of the building in an eclectic
Eclecticism in art
Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact that it was not a particular style...
style.
The house was decorated in a style with gold highlights on light tones. Around the central cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
, from which hung a magnificent chandelier, a panelled ceiling with fifteen medallions featured portraits of nine actors and six singers. These medallions, along with the rest of the painted allegories (Music, Dramatic Performance and Dance) decorating the house, were the work of a Parisian academic painter named Pierre-Nicolas Brisset.
The first Grand Théâtre was not only lavishly decorated; its technical infrastructure was also state-of-the-art, for the period. The stage curtain was powered by hydraulic pressure from the nearby Usine des Forces Motrices power plant on the river Rhône
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
. Electric power was installed between 1905 and 1913, allowing the installation of a safety curtain, operated by an electric winch, and the replacement of gas lighting with electrical lights during performances.
The Great Fire – Reconstruction 1951-1962
On 1 May 1951 at 12:08 pm, while stagehands were preparing a set for the third act of Wagner's Die WalküreDie Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, a terrible fire broke out, destroying the stage, fly loft, grid and gangways and their mechanical and electric machinery. The safety curtain collapsed and the fire spread to the house, burning everything from the orchestra seats to the third tier, along with the painted panels and medallions in the ceiling and above the proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
arch. The only parts of the theatre to escape the flames were the foyer and its external landing, the main entrance and vestibule, and the exterior façades, including those of the stage house.
The theatre remained closed for a decade, during which performances were transferred to the Grand Casino also called Kursaal. After the disaster, the City of Geneva commissioned several reconstruction projects. The reconstruction was finally conducted between 1958 and 1962 by two architects, Charles Schapfer from Geneva, and Marcello Zavelani-Rossi from Milan, with a Polish artist, Jacek Stryjenski
Jacek Stryjenski
Jacek Stryjenski was a Swiss painter and decorator . Jacek Stryjenski made frescos in churches in Switzerland and France, as well as murals and mosaics that can be seen in various places in Geneva...
, responsible for the decoration of the house. Following Stryjenski's untimely death, local architects Albert Cingria and Georges Tamarasco completed the decoration. The impressive slope of the ceiling continuing vertically into Stryjenski's ornamental safety curtain is built of silver- and gold-plated aluminium sheeting, with over a thousand lighting orifices fitted with Murano glass creating the impression of the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
. The ceiling also includes three projections into which various lighting sources are installed, either to illuminate the ornamental metal surfaces or for the proscenium lights. The theatre reopened in December 1962 with a performance of the French version of Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Don Carlo.
The Grand Théâtre 1962- to date
The Grand Théâtre reopened in December 1962, with the French version of Verdi's Don Carlos. Since this revival, several renown directors have managed the Geneva opera house: in chronological order, Marcel Lamy (1962–1965), Herbert Graf, Jean-Claude Riber (1965–1973), Hugues Gall (1980–1995), Renée Auphan(1995–2001) and the current director-general, Jean-Marie Blanchard (2001 - up today).In its original 1879 version, the auditorium of the Grand Théâtre was shaped like a horseshoe (in the "Italian" style) with several tiers of balconies and boxes surrounding the auditorium on three sides. After the 1962 renovations, the auditorium's oval seating arrangement was altered to adopt a German-style "square" shape, where a full view of the stage is possible from any one of the auditorium's 1,488 seats (593 in the stalls, 199 in the first circle, 161 in the second circle and 535 in the amphitheatre/upper circle).
Technical features and renovations
During the 1997-1998 season, two major refurbishment projects took place. First and most urgent (after 10 years of feasibility studies) the renovation of the stage machinery; second, various refurbishments in the public-access areas. Most of the work on the stage house, between the stage floor and the ceiling of the fly loft, where the overhead machinery (lights and set changes) operates, is not visible by the audience in the house. The renovation project involved 60 different companies and around 600 workers. Although no alterations were made to the building itself, its capacities have been thoroughly maximised. The German firm responsible for the renovation project, Mannesmann Rexroth, had previously worked on the Gothenburg Opera HouseGothenburg Opera
The Gothenburg Opera, , is an opera house in Gothenburg, Sweden. In marketing, the name is often spelled as "GöteborgsOperan", which however is not grammatically correct.- History :...
and the stage machinery of the Salzburg Festival
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
; the Grand Théâtre de Genève's stage renovation now features among this company's major achievements.
Above the stage
After three decades of service, the stage machinery began to show signs of wear and tear. It underwent extensive refurbishments during the 1997-1998 renovations. Most of the transformations took place in parts of the theatre out of the audience's sight, namely the stage-house, between the ceiling and the floor, and the orchestra pitOrchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music or in cases when incidental music is required...
decks.
With four levels of gangways and thousands of cables cluttering it, the fly loft in particular was a real stumbling block. What was state-of-the-art in 1962 had become obsolete—almost a threat to security in the theatre—and the grid (the machinery above the stage) was thus completely transformed.
In order to guarantee maximum security and efficiency, the stage machinery was completely transformed and its operating system fully computerised. Refurbishments also included structural reinforcements to improve new load bearing capacities, the fitting of a hundred hydraulic winches, bearing 52 battens, each 20 metres (65.6 ft) long, attached to the sets and risen or lowered facing the audience. Their load capacity was increased from 500 kilograms (1,102.3 lb) to 1000 kilograms (2,204.6 lb). The fly loft machinery operates on a high-pressure hydraulic motor system, allowing sets to be changed silently and with great speed (1.5 m/s). Their movements are synchronised and their speed can be programmed according to stage effects.
With the new computerised system, fifteen motors can be run simultaneously from a single control panel, operating the battens, the light deck and proscenium curtain, which reveals or hides the stage during intermission
Intermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
s and can be used in different opening styles (Austrian, Venetian, pleated or tableau). The renovations also included reinforcement and enlargement of bridges and catwalks over the stage from 90 centimetres (35.4 in) to 190 centimetres (74.8 in) width.
In the house
The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation contributed 2.8 million for the refurbishment of the ground floor hall and the auditorium. In the hall, an original polychrome marble floor was brought to light after being hidden under red wall-to-wall carpeting. The house seats were fitted with wooden backs and onto a new wooden parquet floor. The safety curtain and the ceiling were stripped of asbestosAsbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
and the stage floor completely redone. The orchestra pit was also renovated and can now be raised or lowered as deep as 6.5 metres (21.3 ft).
The stage and below
The space below stage where the technical staff works is almost 13 metres (42.7 ft) deep; mobile stage decks lower sets and characters into this space out of the audience's sight. The central stage is made up of six decks, weighing 17 tonnes (16.7 LT) each, supported and powered by twelve hydraulic hoists, which can raise the decks, sets and performers above or below stage level and lower them to 8.67 metres (28.4 ft) below stage level.The stage also features a self-supporting hydraulically powered back stage, which slides forward on two tracks, covering the space left in the central stage when the decks are lowered. On both sides of the stage, covering a wider area than the central stage, two floors are equipped with lightweight mobile wagons to carry sets onto centre stage.
The proscenium arch can be adjusted to different measurements.
The orchestra pit can seat up to 100 musicians. The pit operates mechanically, with three movable decks allowing the orchestra to be seated on different levels and creating a proscenium apron when raised to stage level. Nowadays, the machinery below the stage still operates on a low-pressure hydraulic system, which has been regularly updated since it was installed in 1962.
The latest phase of alterations and modernisation of the machinery below the stage took place in 2006. Manoeuvring the gigantic mechanical elements with an unautomated electro-hydraulic system required important staff resources in order to guarantee minimum security. Automation of these components was thus a priority, as well as installing a new computer-operated hydroelectric system, which is synchronised with the fly loft machinery.
The Grand Théâtre technical staff took an active part in these refurbishments, along with external technical contractors called in on the project. House mechanics took apart and reassembled most of the essential works in the system, with their electrician colleagues refitting all the lighting equipment and rewiring it. The lighting control panel has now been replaced with computerised control desks that operate 500 electric circuits, twice as many as before the renovation work. The Grand Théâtre audio and video services completely renewed its equipment below the stage.
The cost of this project, altogether CHF
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...
20 million, was financed by the City of Geneva and the Union of municipalities of the canton of Geneva
Canton of Geneva
The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland,...
. These renovations provide the Grand Théâtre with a state-of-the-art tool for the highest quality in contemporary scenography and performance. Stage directors working at the Grand Théâtre can thus achieve exceptionally high quality set changes and special effects on one of Europe's most efficient opera stages, which should remain operational until 2050!