Grazer Oper

Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austria opera house and opera company based in Graz.

Opera had been performed in Graz since the 17th century, originally in a converted coach house on the Habsburg royal estates. The National Theatre (Schauspielhaus Graz), constructed in 1776, saw many early performances of Mozart's operas, although today (after many reconstructions) it is devoted to the performances of plays.

The city's first dedicated opera house and the immediate predecessor of the Graz Opera was the Thalia Theatre, adapted in 1864 from an old circus hall. Plans for a new theatre suitable to the growing size and importance of the city and intended to be a "new home for German art" were first proposed in 1887.

Designed by Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer in the neo-baroque style, the Graz Opera was inaugurated in 1899 with a performance of Schiller's play William Tell, followed a few days later by Wagner's opera Lohengrin. The building suffered damage during World War II bombings but was repaired and re-opened after the war. Between 1983 and 1985, it underwent a $15 million renovation which saw the installation of modern equipment and facilities without significantly changing the original exterior and interior of the building.

The current Intendantin of the company is Nora Schmid, since 1 January 2015, in succession to Elisabeth Sobotka. Past general music directors (GMD) of the company have included Niksa Bareza (1981-1990), Philippe Jordan (2001-2004), and Johannes Fritzsch (2006-2013). Dirk Kaftan is the current company GMD, since 2013. He is scheduled to step down from the post at the end of the 2016-2017 season. In the autumn of 2016, Oksana Lyniv made her first guest-conducting appearance with the company, in a production of La traviata. In February 2017, the company announced the appointment of Lyniv as its next GMD, effective with the 2017-2018 season. Lyniv is the first female conductor to be named GMD of Graz Opera.

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