Magnificent opera building officialy handed over

– The building won’t be any obstacle, Minister of government administration and renewal, Ms Heidi Grande Røys, said as she last Friday handed over the key to Norway’s new opera house to Minister of culture and church affairs, Mr Trond Giske. She was referring to the Government’s stated intention that the new opera should offer opera and ballet of a high international standard to a broad audience.

Ms Grande Røys emphasized that this is an opera for the entire nation, regardless of whether people live in Oslo, in a small community on the West coast or near the North Cape. As minister responsible for Statsbygg - the Directorate of Public Construction and Property – Ms Grande Røys has been in charge of the superior responsibility for the construction of the opera house. She was delighted to be able to express her gratitude for an excellent job done, to Statsbygg and all other contributors.

Rarely has there been such a unanimous opinion about a building that was planned under such controversies. It was highly disputed whether to build it at all, where to build it and what type of stone should be used.
Friday there was unanimous support for all choices made. All speakers agreed that Norway now has one of the world’s greatest opera houses. 

Minister of culture Trond Giske stated that this was the nation’s gift to its capital. He emphasized the importance of the visibility of the opera, and was happy to be able to answer his children’s and grandchildren’s question of how the oil generation had used all the millions in revenue: - We built the country’s largest building for cultural activities, second only to the Nidaros dome!

Find out more about the new opera house in Oslo in Statsbyggs newly published brochure (PDF).

Image: Opera director Bjørn Simensen and managing director Bernt Bauge have just received the key to the new opera house from Minister of culture Trond Giske.

Image: View of the facade of the new opera house in Oslo. Copyright: Jaro Hollan / Statsbygg