Slovak National Theatre
Slovakia's national opera, ballet and drama company, in an 1886 Fellner and Helmer house and a 2007 hall.
The Slovak National Theatre runs three ensembles, opera, ballet and drama, and is the country's leading repertory company. Its historic house closes the east end of Hviezdoslavovo namestie in the old town of Bratislava, built to a design by the Viennese partnership of Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer and opened in 1886 as the municipal theatre. The neo-Renaissance front carries a loggia and a gable group of muses, and the Ganymede Fountain of 1888 stands on the square before it.
The company itself dates from 1920, when it took over the building after the founding of Czechoslovakia. A second, much larger home opened on Pribinova street beside the Danube in 2007, designed by Peregrin Trnkus with Martin Kusy and Pavol Panak; it contains the Opera and Ballet Hall, the Drama Hall, a studio and the Blue Salon. Performances are divided between the two buildings, and the season runs from September to June with opera, ballet, classic drama and new Slovak writing.
Highlights
- Neo-Renaissance 1886 house by Fellner and Helmer
- Ganymede Fountain of 1888 on the square outside
- Opera, ballet and drama ensembles in one company
- New building of 2007 with four performance spaces
