Swan Lake

As a little Christmas present to us both, we visited the main stage at Copenhagen's Opera House to see the ballet of Swan Lake.

We were able to get seats on the third balcony which put us high up, almost by the ceiling. The view was great from up here, though the lack of oxygen made it a little tough to be totally focused on the performance before we were able to get coffee during the intermission.
The opening was memorable because a technical error with the stage curtain forced the orchestra to re-start the intro!
While impressed with the entire play Tara preferred the individual dances in Act II while Joakim liked the swan lake scene in Act I the most.


To the left: a view of the interior of the hyper-modern opera house. With a sold out performance, like so many other nights, the atmosphere in the main stage hall gets almost intimate. With that being said, the ambiance of the main stage hall is clearly hyper-modern, although you would hope for just a little bit more leg room up on the steep sloping balconies where tickets go for $150 a piece.

In direct contrast to the newly built main stage is the (old) Royal Opera House at Kongens Nytorv, where we went earlier this year to see a performance of the ballet Romeo and Juliet. This stage is spectacular in all its gold leaf decorations, with warm velvet tapestry and seatings. If you are a little bit conservative in this area, about how an opera house is supposed to look, it is understandable if you prefer the old stage. (Click to enlarge and get a better view of the stages!)



As we left the opera house that evening, we could see the entrance from the the opposing side of the harbor (by the Royal Palace). Of course, a photo can hardly capture the impression one gets in real life of this remarkable building.