In two years, the Royal Opera House will need to be closed for renovation. This means that the business must be located elsewhere.
The Norwegian Property Agency, which owns both the Opera House and the Musical Quarter, has therefore carried out a preliminary study in which it is proposed that the orchestra Hovkapellet’s rehearsal rooms be moved temporarily to Nybrokajen in central Stockholm.
The musical quarter’s Andil Dahl doesn’t think it’s a good idea.
– That would mean that Sweden’s oldest concert hall, which is currently buzzing with activity, would close to the public, he tells Kulturnyheterna.
Several businesses remain in the concert hall
Dahl is operations manager for Musikaliska Kvarteret AB, which rents the historic concert hall with the same name: Musikaliska kvarteret. The house was previously rented by the Blåsarsymfonikerna, who were forced to move to the Diesel workshop in Nacka after the Norwegian Property Agency shockingly raised the rent last year.
However, many of the businesses that had long rented on second-hand contracts remained in the building – including the World Music Stage, the Stables, the jazz scene Blinda Tigern and the Events Company Musikaliska Kvarteret, which was formed in 2021.
SFV: “Up to the Opera”
The Norwegian Real Estate Agency writes in an email to Kulturnyheterna that it is a prerequisite to move part of the Opera’s operations out in order to deliver on the commission from the government, 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 most suitable premises”, writes SFV’s director general, Max Elger.
