Musikaliska does not want the Opera to move in

When the Royal Opera House in Stockholm closes for renovation in 2026, the orchestra’s Hovkapellet’s rehearsal rooms can be housed in the nearby Musical Quarter. That is what the Statens Fastighetsverk (SFV) proposes in its recently presented feasibility study.

But the business that today houses the building at Nybrokajen objects to the plans.

– The house is bubbling and alive now, and it must be preserved, says Andil Dahl, operations manager for the Musical Quarter, to DN.

The last year there have been many tours around the Musical Quarter. After the property owner SFV announced last year that the rent would be increased substantially, a storm of criticism erupted and a strong commitment to the future of the building. Among other things, a support festival was organised.

In the end, the tenant Blåsarsymfonikerna still chose to leave the house. The contract was then taken over by the event business Musikaliska kvarteret, which reached a new agreement with SFV.

Since then, the house – which consists, among other things, of Stora scen, the world music stage Stallet and the jazz stage Blinda Tigern – has been full of concerts and activities, says Andil Dahl.

– We received a lot of support last year and now we have really invested.

He is critical of that information has been spread in the media that the house has been empty since the wind symphony left and urges journalists, politicians and civil servants to read up.

– What kind of strange ignorance is that? Where did the commitment go, all the signatures and nice words from politicians? We do so many things every day and have a lot of audience. The public program is broader than it has been for a long time.

But, continues Andil Dahl, if the Opera House takes over the building for administration and rehearsals, it will have to close to the public. Instead, he calls for a long-term solution where the current business is given the opportunity to stay and continue to run a public program.

Also the Royal Opera sees several problems with moving the orchestra to the Musical Quarter. Among other things, it is about the fact that even Musikaliska is an old building in need of refurbishment.

“There are major doubts about how well the Musical Quarter will be able to function for the Opera in the longer term, for example from an economic and work environment perspective”, writes the Opera in an appendix to SFV’s preliminary study, where it is also noted that daily transport of heavy and expensive instruments between different premises is not safe or secure.

– We usually call the orchestra the backbone of the house, therefore it is a completely absurd idea to remove the backbone, orchestra director Helle Solberg has previously told DN.

Max Elger, director general at SFV, writes in a comment to DN that the preliminary study was produced “on the basis of the assignment we received from the government”.

“The task was to renovate the opera building, and to expand it only to a small extent. Moving part of the business out is a prerequisite for delivering on that mission, because the space in the opera building is not enough. Musical is an option that we have looked at – but it is ultimately up to the Opera to find the premises that suit best”, he continues.

Read more:

Opera ratifies renovation proposal: “Logistical nightmare”

The concerts will remain in the Musical Quarter