Reduta Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Reduta Theatre is a theatre situated in Brno
, Czech Republic
. It was built on the city's oldest square, Zelný trh (English
: Vegetable Market or Cabbage Market) and began its life in Renaissance
times as the Taverna (Tavern) Theatre. In 1767, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
performed with his sister
in a concert there. Now part of the National Theatre in Brno
, it is the oldest theatre in Central Europe
.
in 1605. The tavern was extended with assembly rooms for holding ceremonies and receptions, and in 1634, another house was integrated into the main building. The new hall served as a place for occasional performances by travelling theatrical companies. In the 1730s, the building was remodelled again with the addition of a new theater and ballroom. Known in the 18th century as the Taverna Theatre (or Theater in der Taffern to the German-speaking inhabitants of the city), it served as a venue for theatrical performances presented mainly in German
and Italian
.
In October 1767, a smallpox
epidemic forced Leopold Mozart
and his children Wolfgang
and Nannerl
to escape from Vienna and accept shelter offered by the brother of their patron, Salzburg
Archbishop
Sigismund von Schrattenbach
. On 25 October, Count
František Antonín Schrattenbach met with the Mozart family
in Brno
. He immediately began planning a performance for Wolfgang and Nannerl. However, Leopold Mozart decided to continue travelling, and the family went on to Olomouc
. Unfortunately, the epidemic affected young Wolfgang, and they had to stay in Olomouc until his recovery. On 24 December, they came back to Brno and spent Christmas there. On 30 December 1767, the child prodigies performed in the Taverna Theatre. According to a diary entry by Aurelius Augustin, provost
of the monastery in Šternberk:
Leopold Mozart was fully satisfied with the orchestra performance. On 9 January 1768, the family headed back to Vienna.
After a series of extensive fires in 1785 and 1786, the city council decided to rebuild the theatre in the neoclassical architectural style
, with a new two-story main hall. The reconstructed theatre, now named the Reduta Theatre, presented mainly German plays, with performances in Czech held only infrequently. The last devastating fire in 1870 caused the theatre to close again, after which the building was used as the city market hall. In 1918, following the establishment of the new Czechoslovak state, the activities of the theatre were again restored. In the 1950s, the building was redesigned according to the plans of architects Bohuslav
and Kamil Fuchs. Up to the 1990s, the theatre served as a stage for Czech operetta
s.
The last reconstruction was completed in 2005. The project was awarded the Grand Prix in a competition held by the Czech Chamber of Architects. As of 2010, the theatre is a part of the National Theatre in Brno
. Reduta has no permanent ensemble. The theatre regularly invites various artists and ensembles from Moravia
, Bohemia
and Slovakia
for guest performances.
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. It was built on the city's oldest square, Zelný trh (English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Vegetable Market or Cabbage Market) and began its life in Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
times as the Taverna (Tavern) Theatre. In 1767, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
performed with his sister
Maria Anna Mozart
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl", was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.-Childhood:...
in a concert there. Now part of the National Theatre in Brno
National Theatre (Brno)
The National Theatre in Brno is the major theatre house in Brno. It was established in 1884 by model of the National Theatre in Prague.Nowadays it consists of three stages:...
, it is the oldest theatre in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
.
History
At the beginning of the 17th century, Brno city council purchased and remodelled a complex of medieval houses located on Zelný trh. One of the houses in the block, the Liechtenstein house, was redesigned as a tavernTavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
in 1605. The tavern was extended with assembly rooms for holding ceremonies and receptions, and in 1634, another house was integrated into the main building. The new hall served as a place for occasional performances by travelling theatrical companies. In the 1730s, the building was remodelled again with the addition of a new theater and ballroom. Known in the 18th century as the Taverna Theatre (or Theater in der Taffern to the German-speaking inhabitants of the city), it served as a venue for theatrical performances presented mainly in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
In October 1767, a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic forced Leopold Mozart
Leopold Mozart
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...
and his children Wolfgang
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Nannerl
Maria Anna Mozart
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl", was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.-Childhood:...
to escape from Vienna and accept shelter offered by the brother of their patron, Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Sigismund von Schrattenbach
Sigismund von Schrattenbach
Sigismund Graf von Schrattenbach was the Archbishop of Salzburg from 1753 to 1771. He was the son of Otto Heinrich, Graf von Schrattenbach, and Maria Theresa, Countess of Wildenstein, widowed Baroness Gall von Gallenstein.After studying theology, he was ordained a priest in 1723...
. On 25 October, Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
František Antonín Schrattenbach met with the Mozart family
Mozart family
The Mozart family are the ancestors, relatives, and descendants of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The earliest documents mentioning the name "Mozart", then spelled "Motzhart" or "Mozthardt", are from the Bavarian part of Swabia .-Mozart family:# David E...
in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
. He immediately began planning a performance for Wolfgang and Nannerl. However, Leopold Mozart decided to continue travelling, and the family went on to Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
. Unfortunately, the epidemic affected young Wolfgang, and they had to stay in Olomouc until his recovery. On 24 December, they came back to Brno and spent Christmas there. On 30 December 1767, the child prodigies performed in the Taverna Theatre. According to a diary entry by Aurelius Augustin, provost
Provost (religion)
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...
of the monastery in Šternberk:
"... a Salzburg boy of eleven years and his sister of fifteen years, accompanied on various instruments by inhabitants of Brno, excited everyone's imagination; but he [young Wolfgang] could not endure the trumpetOn the other hand, Vice-KapellmeisterTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, because they were incapable of playing in tune with one another."
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
Leopold Mozart was fully satisfied with the orchestra performance. On 9 January 1768, the family headed back to Vienna.
After a series of extensive fires in 1785 and 1786, the city council decided to rebuild the theatre in the neoclassical architectural style
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
, with a new two-story main hall. The reconstructed theatre, now named the Reduta Theatre, presented mainly German plays, with performances in Czech held only infrequently. The last devastating fire in 1870 caused the theatre to close again, after which the building was used as the city market hall. In 1918, following the establishment of the new Czechoslovak state, the activities of the theatre were again restored. In the 1950s, the building was redesigned according to the plans of architects Bohuslav
Bohuslav Fuchs
Bohuslav Fuchs was a Czech modernist architect.A mason by education, he studied at Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 1916-1919 by Jan Kotěra and then he worked in Kotěra's atelier for two years. From 1922 he resided in Brno, where he worked at city construction office and later in his own atelier...
and Kamil Fuchs. Up to the 1990s, the theatre served as a stage for Czech operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s.
The last reconstruction was completed in 2005. The project was awarded the Grand Prix in a competition held by the Czech Chamber of Architects. As of 2010, the theatre is a part of the National Theatre in Brno
National Theatre (Brno)
The National Theatre in Brno is the major theatre house in Brno. It was established in 1884 by model of the National Theatre in Prague.Nowadays it consists of three stages:...
. Reduta has no permanent ensemble. The theatre regularly invites various artists and ensembles from Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
for guest performances.
Sources
- Warrack, John Hamilton and West, Ewan (eds), "Brno", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1996, P. 61. ISBN 0192800280
- Zaslaw, Neal, Mozart's Symphonies: Context, performance practice, reception, Oxford University Press, 1991. ISBN 0198162863