Operas and theaters to visit Sweden

Inaugurated in 1926, this imposing building with its blue plaster and tall gray columns overlooking Hötorget is one of the symbols of Stockholm. It is here that the Nobel Prizes are awarded every December 10, rewarding the men and women who, according to the various committees, have made the greatest advances in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine and literature. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, according to the will of Alfred Nobel. The Concert House can be visited every summer day during the Nobel tour, in English. The huge fountain on the steps of the building is a work of the Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, made in 1936 and representing Orpheus.

Home of the Philharmonic Orchestra. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performs here throughout the year, but you can also attend concerts by international artists and orchestras. The 105-piece Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, led by American conductor Ryan Bancroft, is one of the world's most renowned orchestras. Born in 1902 with the creation of the Concert Society orchestra, the name was changed some fifty years later, in 1957, to the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, to finally become the Royal Philharmonic. For the little anecdote, the composer Allan Pettersson was a member of the orchestra in 1940 and 1953. Today, the Konserthuset organizes more than a hundred concerts per year.

It is probably the presence of this theatre on the site of Drottingholm that decided Unesco specialists to inscribe this site on the World Heritage List. It is one of the few unrenovated 18th-century baroque theatres in the world that can be visited. Its history is picturesque, since the building was built in 1766 by Queen Lovisa Ulrika and then magnified by Gustav III, who brought in French, Italian and German artists. Then, the theatre was suddenly closed in 1792. It was almost by chance that it was rediscovered by a historian in search of a painting (which is actually on display in one of the rooms). The latter realized the treasure he had just unearthed (the theatre had been dormant for nearly two hundred years), and asked for permission to restore it, which was granted. Today, operas and plays are regularly presented to the public. The hall itself is magnificent, plunged into semi-darkness to make the many trompe-l'oeil effects effective, according to the architect's wishes. The stage sets are still changed by hand using the original mechanical system. The tour will then take you to the rooms adjoining the hall, to the rooms that were used to house the artists in Gustav III's time and to the reception room, where the king liked to have breakfast with the actors, to the sound of an orchestra playing from the circular aerial balcony... A beautiful and impressive visit not to be missed by amateurs!