Venue: Cologne Opera
Town: Altstadt-Nord, DE
Capacity: 1,300

The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court theatres by travelling Italian opera companies. The first permanent company in the city was established in 1822, and performed primarily in the Theater an der Schmierstraße (built in 1783 as a private theatre and also used for plays and concerts). The opera company later performed in Theater in der Glockengasse (built in 1872) and in the Theater am Habsburger Ring (built in 1902). The Theater am Habsburger Ring was constructed by the city of Cologne and became its first theatre to be specifically designed as an opera house. The current opera house was designed by the German architect, Wilhelm Riphahn. It was inaugurated on 8 May 1957 in the presence of Konrad Adenauer, then the Chancellor of Germany and a former mayor of Cologne. The first opera to be performed there was Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon. In June of that year the house saw its first world premiere, Wolfgang Fortner's Die Bluthochzeit. The following month the opera company of La Scala appeared there on tour with Maria Callas in La sonnambula. The Cologne Opera House occasionally hosts solo recitals and special events; one remarkable such event was concert by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett in 1975 which was recorded and became one of the most popular solo jazz piano recordings of all time, known as The Köln Concert. The house has a seating capacity of 1,300 and an orchestra pit which can accommodate 100 musicians. It is part of an arts complex on Offenbachplatz which includes the Schauspiel Köln (Cologne Playhouse), also designed by Wilhelm Riphahn and built in 1962. At the end of the 2009/2010 season, both theatres closed for extensive refurbishment and redevelopment. Initially the opera house was due to reopen in November 2015, however problems in renovating the Cologne Opera meant that opera pr