Hungarian State Opera will be renewed in 2017, and now gets a huge background institution as a first step: a former railway building in Kőbánya.
"There must be a modern serving center behind all old Opera Houses" – said Szilveszter Ókovács, the Director General of Hungarian State Opera when the renovation of the Opera House was announced. And I think this summarizes the essence of development perfectly, because in addition to the renewal itself, this change has paramount importance in the life of the institution for another reason.
The Opera House currently doesn’t have its own rehearsal hall; they hire several warehouses, workshop places and rehearsal rooms, of about six thousand square meters. But after the renovation of the Eiffel Hall, the artisan workshops of Opera House can finally move to one place. All of the warehouses and workshops will be here, in the developing Eiffel Workshop House, just as the tailor, wig- and scenery-making facilities. Rehearsal rooms will also be situated in the building, just as a theatre hall suitable for 400 people. In the planned visitor center everyone can gain an insight into the workflow and the necessary professions will also be taught here.
With this change, the Eiffel hall (which was the Northern vehicle repair service of the Hungarian State Railways for decades) will be one of the most prominent classical music background centers of the country. The Eiffel Workshop House is planned to be ready in the summer of 2017, and the reconstruction of Opera palace on Andrassy Avenue will became possible thereafter. But how to imagine this Palace of Culture? Watch the video to find out:
