Margravial Opera House - Markgräflich...

While opera lovers know Bayreuth today for the Festspielhaus built by Richard Wagner (opened in 1876), the German town also boasts the Margravial Opera House (Markgräfliches Opernhaus), built between 1746 and 1750 on the initiative of Wilhelmine of Bayreuth for the wedding of her daughter Elisabeth Frederika Sophie won Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

A masterpiece of Baroque theatre architecture, the Margravial Opera House was designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, the leading theatre architect of the time. The building is still one of the few surviving examples of court opera architecture - including its 18th-century Baroque façade, the ceremonial foyer and its stage, which still has all its original materials and decorations. The building is also remarkable for its location, in the urban space rather than within a palace, foreshadowing the public opera houses of the 19th century.

The Margravial Opera House seats 500 in a bell-shaped auditorium with several levels of boxes, including a two-storey court box decorated with painted canvases.

The Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival

Founded as a court opera house, the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth has enjoyed a revival since 2000 with the creation of Bayreuther Barock, a Baroque opera festival that invites audiences to rediscover forgotten works. After a few years of renovation at the Margravial Opera House, the event was revived in 2020, renamed the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival and entrusted to the artistic direction of countertenor Max Emanuel Cenčić.

The festival takes place every September and features a baroque opera - Nicola Porpora's Carlo il Calvo in 2020, followed by the same composer's Polifemo the following year, Leonardo Vinci and Pietro Metastasio's Alessandro nell'Indie in 2022 and Handel's Flavio in 2023. In September 2024, the festival presents Porpora's Ifigenia in Aulide, in a production by Max Emanuel Cenčić, and Vivaldi's Orlando furioso.