De Nederlandse Opera

De Nederlandse Opera (DNO), (English: The Dutch Opera) in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986.

DNO was established shortly after the end of World War II as a repertory company with a permanent ensemble. In the postwar period, it toured extensively in the Netherlands from its home base in the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, a fin de siècle theatre on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam. In 1964, it was renamed De Nederlandse Operastichting. (The Dutch Opera Foundation), and the company adopted a stagione orientation, inviting different soloists and artistic teams for each new production. In 1986, the company moved to the new Muziektheater building, the Stopera, which it shares with the Dutch National Ballet, on the Amstel river and thereafter became known as De Nederlandse Opera (DNO).

DNO has its own choir of sixty singers and a technical staff of 260. DNO does not have its own resident orchestra, and so various orchestras of the Netherlands, including the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO), the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (NKO), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the ASKO Ensemble, and the Schoenberg Ensemble have provided the orchestral forces for DNO productions.

DNO produces on average eleven productions per year, with nearly all performances sold out. While most performances are in the Muziektheater, the company has also performed in the Stadsschouwburg, at the Koninklijk Theater Carré, and on the Westergasfabriek industrial site in Amsterdam. F or many years, the June production has been organized as part of the Holland Festival and includes the participation of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. DNO has lent its productions to foreign companies, such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Lincoln Center Festival in New York, as well as the Adelaide Festival in Australia.

Since 1988, the French-Lebanese theatre director Pierre Audi has been artistic director of DNO. Hartmut Haenchen was chief conductor from 1986 to 1999, in parallel with holding the title of chief conductor of the NPO. He now holds the title of principal guest conductor with DNO. Subsequent chief conductors have been Edo de Waart (1999-2004) and Ingo Metzmacher (2005-2008). In March 2009, DNO announced the appointment of Marc Albrecht as the orchestra's next chief conductor, with the 2011-2012 season, for an initial contract of 4 years. This return to a single chief conductor at both DNO and the NPO/NKO allows for the NPO to become the principal opera orchestra for DNO.