Estonian National Opera (Estonia Theatre)
Estonia's national opera and ballet company in the 1913 Estonia Theatre on the edge of the Old Town.
The Estonia Theatre was built between 1910 and 1913 on the edge of Tallinn's Old Town, funded largely by public subscription during the Estonian national awakening. The Finnish architects Armas Lindgren and Wivi Lönn designed a double building in a restrained national romantic manner, with a theatre auditorium in one wing and a concert hall in the other. Air raids in March 1944 destroyed much of the structure; reconstruction under Alar Kotli and Edgar Johan Kuusik gave the interiors their present, more classical character.
The theatre wing is home to the Estonian National Opera, the country's national opera and ballet company, which traces its roots to the Estonia Society's theatre troupe and took its current form during the twentieth century. It maintains an opera company, a ballet company, a chorus and a symphony orchestra, and its repertoire mixes standard opera and ballet titles with operetta, musicals, new Estonian works and productions for children. The adjoining concert hall wing is used by Eesti Kontsert for orchestral and chamber programmes.
Highlights
- Twin theatre and concert hall built by public subscription before the First World War
- Resident opera, ballet, chorus and orchestra of the national company
- Post-war interiors rebuilt after the March 1944 air raids
- Repertoire spanning opera, ballet, operetta, musicals and family productions
