The Royal Theatre La Monnaie, is situated in the very heart of the city of Brussels. It is the largest opera house in Belgium and one of the most beautiful historic theatres in Europe. Filled with the rich history of the last three hundred years, it has known turbulent times and has survived a revolution, a fire, two world wars, as well as the normal passage of time and changing fashions. Today it is known simply as “La Monnaie”. The national Belgian opera company is one of the driving forces of the artistic life in Belgium as well as on the wider stage of Europe. It has been acclaimed for the boldness and quality of its opera productions over the last three decades.
The Royal Theater of the Mint (De Koninklijke Muntschouwburg in Dutch) is the Brussels Opera House located on the Place de la Monnaie.
The first building was built in 1700 by Gio Paolo Bombarda and was considered one of the most beautiful theaters of the eighteenth century. It was sold in public sale on November 5, 1717 before the notary De Potter, to Jean-Baptiste Meeus and his wife Catherine Van Cutsem for the sum of twenty thousand florins. After their death two of their unmarried daughters inherited the theater. On March 16, 1763, they sold the theater called the Grand-Opéra or the Grand-Théâtre de la Monnaie, “with its lodges, outbuildings and appendages, all its decorations and clothing stores” to Guillaume Charliers de Borchgravenbroeck, Treasurer of the city of Brussels and brewer of business, for the sum of 75,000 florins.
Eighty-five years after its creation, the old building was the object of several expertises (Louis Montoyer, Laurent-Benoît Dewez, Claude Fisco, Gilles-Barnabé Guimard) and several renovation and reconstruction projects That of the architect Charles De Wailly), but it was not until 1818 that the city of Brussels, owner, had a new one built in the back of the old one. It was also at that time (1817-1819) that the city of Brussels, concerned about a quality environment, had the buildings built by Jean-Alexandre Werry to frame the new theater of La Monnaie.
The current building, built by Joseph Poelaert in 1855 and adorned with sculptures by his brother Victor and Égide Mélot, the pediment, by Eugène Simonis, succeeds the building inaugurated in 1819 and burned down. This building witnessed the outbreak of the Revolution of 1830 which led to the independence of Belgium: while the Muette de Portici d’Auber was represented at the famous “Sacred Love of the Fatherland” Stood up and went out into the street where an excited crowd opposed the measures of the Government of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, a new State created at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, with the idea of reconstituting the former Netherlands, Where the former territories were once separated by the Spaniards, reuniting again the southern provinces that had remained submissive, the future Belgium, to those of the north, which had acquired their independence since 1597. The riot that ensued turned into street fights and ended To the Belgian revolution of 1830 which routed the United Kingdom army.
Built after the bombing of Brussels by the French army (1695) on the ruins of the hotel where the money was beaten, the Theater on the Monnoye is due to the Venetian architects Paolo and Pietro Bezzi. Elector Maximilian-Emmanuel of Bavaria, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, had instructed his treasurer, Gio Paolo Bombarda4, to establish a new public auditorium in the heart of the city. The inauguration took place towards the end of the year 1700, and its first representation mentioned by the gazette within its walls, was that of Atys, Lully, 17 October 1700, given for the seventeen years of King Philip V Of Spain, in the presence of the governors. Lully and Quinault’s repertoire occupied most of the stage for twenty-five years and in 1727 gave way to the Venetian operas whose governess Marie-Élisabeth is fond of. The years 1730 to 1745 are characterized by an incessant change of direction, with some troops wiping out a bankruptcy after only a few weeks. In 1744, Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine became governor of the Austrian Low Countries and, after the French parenthesis, went on to give a new spotlight on the Brussels scene, often considered the second after Paris.
In 1745, Jean-Nicolas Servandoni arrived in Brussels, but d’Abbaye de Saxe’s invasion of French troops did not allow him time to settle at the head of the Theater de la Monnaie. Maurice de Saxe appealed to Favart to direct the Brussels scene, surrounded by a large company. He will present most of the works he had given at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
After the departure of the French troops, the directors succeeded each other at a steady pace: D’Hannetaire took over the direction of the theater in 1748, then Jean-Benoît Leclair, brother of the musician Jean-Marie Leclair, took it up the following year, Cession to other directors, like the Italian Francesco Crosa or the Hus brothers. In 1752, Jean-François Fieuzal, known as Durancy (who had come to the Netherlands with Favart), ushered in an era of greater stability. Yet he yielded his hand three years later to D’Hannetaire, who joined forces with the actor Gourville. In 1766, the “Ordinary Comedians of S.A.R.” (Prince Charles of Lorraine) joined forces in the style of the Comedie-Française, and this comedy company reigned over the “La Monnaie” a dozen years. This period was strongly influenced by the rise of the comic opera, which Favart had brought to Brussels, to the delight of the public.
In 1772, a prominent figure took the lead of the associate actors and gave a new impetus to the repertoire of the Brussels scene: Ignaz Vitzthumb, former timpanist and conductor of the Théâtre de la Monnaie, honored productions And with his companion Louis Compain-Despierrières, he invited Parisian artists to go back to their works in Brussels, or even to create specially for the Mint.
Thus, in 1774, Vitzthumb asked Pleinchesne and Philidor to mount the new opera Berthe. Philidor having declined the offer, it is finally Vitzthumb who will compose the music.
While Vitzthumb directed the troupe, Compain prospected in Paris: he discovered new talents such as Dazincourt, Larive, Florence and Grandmesnil, who, having started in Brussels, all continued a brilliant career at the Comédie-Française.
From the season 1773-1774, under the impulse of the co-director Vitzthumb and probably inspired by financial worries, the Mint began to program pieces translated into Dutch and played by a Flemish troupe called Opéra or Flemish show, issue Of the local companies in Brussels and ostensibly underpaid compared to the actors of the French Opera.
But in 1776 the Vitzthumb leadership went bankrupt, and the following year the theater passed into the hands of three associates, Louis-Jean Pin, Alexandre Bultos and Sophie Lothaire, while Vitzthumb remained the musical direction of the orchestra. This period proved to be as ruinous as the preceding, especially as Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine died in 1780 and, with him, the interest that the government takes in shows. Ten years later, the Brabant revolution reversed not only the number of the troupe and the finances, but also the repertory: with the arrival of the French troops of Dumouriez in 1792, Mademoiselle Montansier took possession of the Théâtre de la Monnaie Playing revolutionary plays, relegating to oblivion most of the comic operas popular with the public.
In 1795, the French regime was set up in Brussels and the Mint became a “provincial theater”, but many French actors came to “make their floors”.
Completely dilapidated and obsolescent, the building of Bombarda was razed in 1818 and the architect Louis Damesme conceived a new room inaugurated on 25 May 1819 by a representation of the Caravan of Cairo Grétry. The theater then passes under the administration of the City of Brussels and emerges from the tutelage of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Great performers such as Talma, Miss Mars, Laure Cinti and La Malibran, the troupe was enriched with such personalities as Jenneval, the ballet was directed by Petipa and Marie Lesueur was the first dancer. On the 25th of August, 1830, for the 59th anniversary of William I, La Muette de Portici, a great opera by Auber, was given on a libretto by Scribe and Delavigne: the sacred love of the fatherland triggered the Revolution of 1830. The theater Is closed for several weeks and only resumes its regular activities the following year. Most operas by Rossini, Auber, Meyerbeer, Boieldieu, Donizetti and Verdi remain for a long time and many works are represented for the first time in French. On January 21, 1855, the theater was completely destroyed by the flames, leaving only the four walls standing. Rebuilt almost identically, the new theater was inaugurated on March 24, 1856 by a representation of Jaguarita the Indian, comic opera Halévy. After the fall of Tannhäuser in Paris (1861) and following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Richard Wagner found in Brussels the ideal place to create his works in French: the Theater de la Monnaie became, from 1870 to 1914 , The French capital of Wagnerism. On 21 January 1914, a medal sculptor Godefroid Devreese was executed on the occasion of the first of the opera Parsifal in Belgium. After the creation of the Ballet of the twentieth century in 1960 and the huge popular success of Maurice Béjart ballet, the theater becomes the “Opera” under the direction of Maurice Huisman from the 1963-19645 season and acquires a dimension and international reputation.
In February 1926, the theater organized balls for the benefit of the victims of the floods. Mademoiselle Germaine Eyers distinguished herself particularly and received a medal in memory of the nights of 13 and 16 February.
The Act of 19 April 1963 makes it a public institution known as the Royal Theater of the Mint. Then in 1985 a major renovation was carried out, part of which was led by the architect Charles Vandenhove who took care of the decoration of the living room which is redone in black and white marble while the architecture bureau URBAT (architects: Pierre Puttemans, Jacques Aron and Frédéric De Becker) is responsible for the elevation and major renovations. This renovation has made it possible to modernize the room and restore its original colors, although the result was controversial.
It is one of the largest opera houses in Europe, especially since Gérard Mortier took over from 1982 to 1992. Bernard Foccroulle succeeded him for fifteen years and opened the institution to contemporary dance, notably By putting in residence at the Mint the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. Since August 1, 2007, Peter de Caluwe is the director.
Today the National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of the theatre in which it is housed. Therefore, la Monnaie or de Munt refers both to the structure as well as the opera company.
As Belgium’s leading opera house it is one of the few cultural institutions which receives financial support from the federal government of Belgium. Other opera houses in Belgium, such as the Vlaamse Opera and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, are funded by regional governments.