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| Industry | Theatre, Opera |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Peter Kroone |
| Headquarters | , Netherlands |
| Products | Theatre productions |
| Website | Official website |
Companions Opera, also known as The Companions BV, was a private-held Dutch opera company founded by Peter Kroone and headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, operating from 1993 until 2008.[1] The company gained prominence for its approach to opera productions: they “organised so-called 360-degree operas, performed in sports stadiums where the stage covered the entire floor of the arena and the audience sat around it.”[2]
It started with a 10-year run of Opera in Ahoy, held from 1993 to 2002 at the Ahoy Sportpaleis in Rotterdam, where all opera productions premiered.
From 1998 to 2008, the company extended its reach by presenting these productions in various international cities such as Paris, Shanghai, Munich, Zurich, Hamburg, and Basel. Over a span of 15 years, Companions Opera produced more than 30 opera productions.[3]
History
editThe genesis of Companions Opera can be traced to the early 1990s when there were experimental efforts to stage Verdi’s Aida in indoor sports venues in both England by Harvey Goldsmith and the Netherlands.[4][5][6] Drawing inspiration from these initiatives, Companions Opera and the Ahoy Sportpaleis in Rotterdam initiated a collaboration in 1992, culminating in the inception of Opera in Ahoy: a series of opera presentations within the Ahoy arena.
_Turandot,_Companions_Opera,_Rotterdam,1995,_Ivo_Lucas_Luyckx.png)
Officially inaugurated in January 1994, Companions Opera made a debut with a double bill performance of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci in a "360 degree" format. The new concept of the "360 degree" staging faced some skepticism from the press and public after a bad reception of Aida in the exhibition center Rai in Amsterdam in the summer 1993.[7] Eventually the pre-press and reviews by the media about the double bill performance ensured that a second edition could be planned. For January 1995 Bizet’s Carmen was announced.
In the next two years Companions Opera brought Puccini’s final masterpiece Turandot, and Verdi's Aida to Rotterdam. During these productions, Ahoy (part of the European Arenas Association) and Companions Opera started to invite arena managers to experience the concept and to discuss opportunities to bring productions abroad.[8]
The final three Ahoy-productions - La Traviata (2000), Nabucco (2001) and Il Trovatore (2002) - marked by interpretations that deviated from traditional realism. La Traviata, for instance, featured a setup where the arena floor was empty, except for the enlarged sheets of Verdi's original music score on the floor, to realise “intangible emotion in a circle of emptiness” in the final act.[9]
A few years earlier, in 1998, Companions Opera produced their first two productions outside Rotterdam: Aida in the Gelredome Arena in Arnhem and Carmen in the Sportpaleis Arena in Antwerp. In 2001 Companions Opera produced an open-air Rigoletto-production for the Rotterdam Cultural Capital City of 2001, set in the harbour of Rotterdam.[10]
International productions
edit_Carmen,_Companions_Opera,_Hamburg,_2006,_Paul_Bergen.jpg)
In the ensuing years, the productions of Companions Opera initiated interest from arena managers internationally.[11] After the 1998-production of Carmen in Antwerp, Aida was performed in the new soccer stadium of Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen, in collaboration with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen and its conductor Johannes Wildner. Almost at the same time Aida was performed in Stade de France in Paris, being the first Aida performance since 1968 in Paris.[12] The original Aida-arena production was re-designed to fit the large stadiums. A few months later, in December 2001, La Traviata was performed in the Olympiahalle in Munich.
After Aida Companions Opera developed and produced two more stadium productions: Carmen (2003) and a new production of Nabucco (2005).[13][14] Nabucco was subsequently also resized to be presented in arenas. From 2001 onwards the famous three operas (Aida, Carmen and Nabucco) brought Companions Opera to several cities in Germany, Basel and Zurich in Switzerland, Shanghai in China and back to Paris, France.
Companions Opera staged their last production, Nabucco, in September 2008 in Stade de France in Paris. The financial crises that started in 2008, and the introduction of opera in cinemas via high definition streaming, made it no longer affordable for Companions Opera to develop and stage large scale opera productions.[8]
Productions
edit| Country | Titel | Creatives | Venue | Premiere | Conductor, orchestra and main soloists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Netherlands | Cavalleria Rusticana (Pietro Mascagni) |
|
Ahoy Arena Rotterdam, Rotterdam | 1994, January 19th |
|
| Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo |
| ||||
| Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
1995, January 25th |
| ||
| Turandot Giacomo Puccini |
|
1996, January 24th |
| ||
| Aida Giuseppe Verdi |
|
1998, January 23rd |
| ||
| Gelredome, Arnhem | 1998, May 23rd |
| |||
| Cavalleria Rusticana (Pietro Mascagni) |
|
Ahoy Arena Rotterdam, Rotterdam | 1999, January 21st |
| |
| Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo |
| ||||
| Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
Gelredome, Arnhem | 1999, March 26th |
| |
| La Traviata Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Ahoy Arena Rotterdam, Rotterdam | 2000, January 20th |
| |
| Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi |
|
2001, January 25th |
| ||
| Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Harbour (Open-Air), Rotterdam | 2001, September 6th |
| |
| Il Trovatore Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Ahoy Arena Rotterdam, Rotterdam | 2002, January 16th |
| |
| Belgium | Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
Lotto Arena, Antwerp | 1998, March 6th |
|
| Cavalleria Rusticana (Pietro Mascagni) |
|
1999, February 26th |
| ||
| Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo |
| ||||
| Germany | Aida Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen | 2001, September 1st |
|
| La Traviata Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Olympiahalle, Munich | 2001, December 26th |
| |
| Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen | 2003, September 6th |
| |
| Aida Giuseppe Verdi |
|
O₂ World, Hamburg | 2004, February 16th |
| |
| TUI Arena, Hannover | 2005, Februari 12th |
| |||
| Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
O₂ World, Hamburg | 2006, February 17th |
| |
| Aida Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Olympiahalle, Munich | 2006, April 15th |
| |
|
SAP Arena, Mannheim | 2006, May 15th | |||
| Espirit Arena, Düsseldorf | 2006, September 2nd |
| |||
| Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi |
|
O₂ World, Hamburg | 2007, March 2nd |
| |
| SAP Arena, Mannheim | 2007, April 27th |
| |||
| France | Aida Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Stade de France, Paris | 2001, September 14th |
|
| Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi |
|
2008, September 27th |
| ||
| Switzerland | Aida Giuseppe Verdi |
|
St. Jakob-Park, Basel | 2003, June 19th |
|
| Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
Hallenstadion, Zürich | 2003, December 17th |
| |
| Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi |
|
St. Jakob-Park, Basel | 2006, June 8th |
| |
| La Traviata Giuseppe Verdi |
|
Hallenstadion, Zürich | 2007, November 23rd |
| |
| China | Carmen Georges Bizet |
|
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai | 2004, October 16th |
|
Gallery
edit-
Scene from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni, of the 'Inneggiamo' procession. Companions Opera, 1994, Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Photo: Ivo Lucas Luyckx. -
Scene from the 'Preludio' from the opera Aida by Verdi. Companions Opera, 1998, Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Photo: Frans Schellekens. -
Scene from the 'Teneste la promessa...' from the opera La Traviata by Verdi. Soprano Stefania Bonfadelli. Companions Opera, 2000, Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Photo: Frans Schellekens. -
Scene from the 'È 'Assyria una regina' from the opera Nabucco by Verdi. Companions Opera, 2008, Stade de France, Paris, France. Photo: Paul Bergen.
_Cavalleria_Rusticana,_Companions_Opera,_Rotterdam,_1994,_Ivo_Lucas_Luyckx.jpg)
_Aida,_Companions_Opera,_Rotterdam,_1998,_Frans_Schellekens.jpg)
_La_Traviata,_Stefania_Bonfadelli,_Companions_Opera,_Rotterdam,_2000,_Frans_Schellekens.jpg)
_Nabucco,_Companions_Opera,_Paris,_2008,_Paul_Bergen.jpg)
References
edit- ^ Smits, Matthijs. "Opera in Ahoy richt zich met Carmen sterker op bedrijven". Financieel Dagblad (in Dutch). 1994-05-18. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ Lucassen, Christine. "Je moet doorpakken, hoe pijnlijk ook". Financieel Dagblad (in Dutch). 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
- ^ Companions Opera. "Productions overview". Companions Retrieved 2023-03-05.
- ^ "About". Website Harvey Goldschmidt. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "About AMP". Website Harvey Goldschmidt. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
- ^ Jansen, Kasper. "Aida in sporthal Den Bosch levert stof voor veertig eeuwen discussie". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 1990-08-27. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "Bezoekers Aida willen geld terug". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 1993-06-25. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ a b "Looking back in gratitude". Companions Opera. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
- ^ Jansen, Kasper. "Wezenlijke ontroering in een kring van leegte". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 2000-01-21. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ Rubinstein, Jan. "Opera leeft in Rotterdam". Ons Erfdeel (in Dutch). pag. 776 (2001). Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "Carmen met acht paarden, honden en ezel in Ahoy". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 1995-01-21. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ Alexander, Caroline. "AIDA de Giuseppe Verdi. Verdi en superproduction: quand le grandiose écrase la grandeur…". Webtheatre (in French). 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ Menzel, Gerhard. "Ein großes Arenaspektakel, aber nur für die Augen". Online Musik Magazine (in German). Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "Opernspektakel im Fussballstadion". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 2006-06-10. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "Productions overview". Companions Opera. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
See also
edit- YouTube channel for live video recordings.
- Audio recordings of Aida, Carmen, Turandot, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Il Trovatore, Nabucco and La Traviata, available on all streaming services.
External links
edit- Companions Opera.
- Theaterencyclopedie (in Dutch)