Croatian National Theatre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Croatian National Theatre (Croatian: Hrvatsko narodno kazalište - HNK) is located in Zagreb the capital of Croatia. It was established in 1840. The following year it gained government support putting it on par with many of other national theatres around Europe. In 1870 a national opera company was formed based out of the theatre. There are also Croatian National Theatres in Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Varazdin.

The Theatre moved to its current building in 1895. Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph was at the unveiling of this new building. The building itself was the project of famed Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer, whose firm had built several theatres in Vienna. Celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the building were held on October 14, 1995.

Many of Croatia's finest artist have worked at the Theatre. Ivan Zajc was the Theatre's first conductor. Jakov Gotovac was the Theatre's opera conductor from 1923 to 1958. The famous Croatian director Branko Gavella began his brilliant career here, as did the first Croatian Prima Ballerina Mia Čorak Slavenska.

The thatre has also seen many famous international artists such as: Franz Liszt, Sarah Bernhardt, Franz Lehar, Richard Strauss, Gerard Philipe, Vivian Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Jean Louis Berrault, Peter Brook, Mario Del Monaco and many others.

Croatian National Theatre at night	Croatian National Theatre	Croatian National Theatre at night	Croatian National Theatre facade
Croatian National Theatre by night	Croatian National Theatre	Croatian National Theatre