Antonín Dvořák Theatre in Ostrava

Ostrava

Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...

 is one of the opera house

Opera house

An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...

s in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. It is a part of the National Moravian Silesian Theatre, founded in 1918.

History

Neo-baroque

Neo-baroque

The Baroque Revival or Neo-baroque was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture which displays important aspects of Baroque style, but is not of the Baroque period proper—i.e., the 17th and 18th centuries.Some examples of Neo-baroque architecture:*...

 building of the theatre was designed by architect Alexander Graf, realisation was made by Ostrava company Noe & Storch. Antonín Dvořák Theatre was the first building in Czechoslovakia using reinforced concrete

Reinforced concrete

Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...

 beams

Beam (structure)

A beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment.- Overview...

.

The interior was designed by sculptors of the Johann Bock & son company. The sculptures decorating the facade made Eduard Smetana and Leopold Kosiga. Drama and Music, two reliefs in the main foyer

Foyer

A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...

 of the theatre, were donated by academic sculptor Helena Scholzová alias Helen Zelezny-Scholz

Helen Zelezny-Scholz

Helen Zelezny, also known in Europe as Helene Zelezny-Scholz or Helene Scholzová-Železná , was a Czech born sculptor and architectural sculptor....

.

Antonín Dvořák Theatre was opened on 28 September, 1907, as German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 theatre. Up to 1919, the performances were solely German. Following the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the theatre passed to the hands of Czechoslovak state and became a stage of the National Moravian Silesian Theatre. From 1949, the theatre was renamed to Zdeněk Nejedlý

Zdenek Nejedlý

Zdeněk Nejedlý was a Czech musicologist, music critic, author, and politician whose ideas dominated the cultural life of what is now the Czech Republic for most of the twentieth century...

Theatre and in 1990 to Antonín Dvořák Theatre.

External links

• Official website
• TACE – entry in TACE database