the building's history
The Cuvilliés Theatre: from 1753 to today
A court theatre built after a fire, the stage of Mozart's Idomeneo, destroyed in 1944, and rebuilt piece by piece.
Reserve your seat in the tiers ↗The theatre, in five dates
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1753 | François de Cuvilliés's new theatre opens on 12 October |
| 1781 | Mozart's Idomeneo has its world premiere here |
| 1944 | The theatre is destroyed during the Second World War |
| 1958 | The restored theatre reopens with The Marriage of Figaro |
| 2008 | A new production of Idomeneo reopens the renovated theatre on 14 June |
A fire clears the way
A fire destroyed the Residenz's court theatre in the St. George's Hall. Elector Maximilian III Joseph had François de Cuvilliés design its replacement.
Built in three years
Cuvilliés's theatre went up between 1751 and 1753, opening on 12 October 1753 with Giovanni Ferrandini's opera Catone in Utica.
Rococo in gold and crimson
Four tiers of carved and gilded boxes circle the hall in a horseshoe, fourteen to a tier, the carving done under the supervision of sculptor Johann Baptist Straub, with the Electoral box raised opposite the stage.
The night Idomeneo was born
Elector Karl Theodor commissioned Mozart's Idomeneo for the 1781 court carnival, and it had its world premiere in this room on 29 January that year.
Idomeneo's return
The opera returned to the Cuvilliés Theatre on 14 June 2008, when a new production, directed by Dieter Dorn and conducted by Kent Nagano, reopened the theatre after its 2004–2008 renovation.
Lost, saved and rebuilt
The theatre's carved and gilded fittings were removed to safety in 1943, before Allied bombing destroyed the building on 18 March 1944. The theatre was recreated in a wing of the Residence and reopened in 1958 with Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.