La Monnaie

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Logo of De Munt or La Monnaie

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (French) or Koninklijke Muntschouwburg (Dutch), is an opera house in Brussels. It is the leading opera company in Belgium. It is one of the few cultural institutions which receives financial support from the federal government of Belgium.

De Munt played a prominent role in the formation of Belgium. In August 1830, stirred by a performance of Auber's La Muette de Portici at De Munt, the Belgian Revolution broke out.

It is the fourth theatre in this general location in Brussels, and the present one owes its name to its proximity to the old Mint on which site the second theatre of 1700 was built. It was commissioned by the Italian financier Gio Paolo Bombarda (banker to Maximilian-Emmanuel of Bavaria, the last governor of the Spanish Netherlands). It was inaugurated in 1700 with a performance of Lully’s Atys.

A new theatre, designed by the architect Louis Damesne on the site of the old Mint immediately behind the 1700 theatre was built between 1817 and 1819 . However, it burnt to the ground on January 21, 1855 leaving only the outside walls and portico.

Under the direction of Joseph Poelaert, the current theatre was reconstructed within fourteen months in the then-popular style of Louis XVI with 1200 seats. In keeping with Damesne’s concept, the exterior revealed little of the interior’s function as an opera house. The new “Théatre Royal de la Monnaie” opened with Halévy’s Jaguarita l'Indienne.

Renovations were required shortly after the opening due to faulty foundation work; the early 20th Century saw an additional story added; and in the 1950s, a new stage building was added. By 1985 it was determined that complete renovation was needed. Features such as raising the roofline by 4 metres and scooping out the stage building area (in addition to creating a steel frame strengthen the load-bearing walls and increasing backstage space) characterized this two year project. However, the red and gold auditorium remained basically the same, except that its capacity was increased to 1,770 seats. On 12th November 1986 the renovated theatre was inaugurated with a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

[edit] Direction

Music Directors of the opera have included Antonio Pappano, who left in 2002 to be Music Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London. His successor as director of music was the Japanese conductor, Kazushi Ono, who is the current incumbent. The current general director of the theatre is Bernard Foccroulle, to be succeeded in 2007 by Peter de Caluwe.