Royal Swedish Opera

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The Kungliga Operan or Royal Swedish Opera is the national stage for opera in Sweden. The building lies in the center of Stockholm, on the eastern side of Gustav Adolfs torg. The opera company was founded by King Gustav III and its first performance was given on January 18, 1773. The first opera house was inaugurated in 1780s and served for a century before being replaced at the end of the 19th century. Both houses were officially called the "Royal Opera", however the terms "The Gustavian Opera" and "The Oscarian Opera", or the "Old" and "New" Opera are used when distinction is needed.

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The Gustavian Opera

The original Stockholm Opera, the work of architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz was commissioned by King Gustav III in 1775, and completed in 1782. The king was a strong adherent of the ideal of an enlightened absolutism and as such was a great patron of the arts. Coincidentally, it was at the opera house which he had built that the king was to meet his fate. During a masquerade at the Opera on the March 16 1792, he was shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström, and died several days later. (In turn, this event inspired the opera Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi)

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The Oscarian Opera

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The old opera served for another century, when it was demolished in 1892 to give way to construction of a new Opera by Axel Johan Anderberg, finished seven years later and inaugurated by king Oscar II. The new house bears the letters Kungl. Teatern, literally "Royal theatre", causing the later founded Royal Dramatic Theatre to add the distinction "dramatic" to its name.

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