Royal Swedish Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this field; he also founded the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Dramatic Theatre. All of these were initially located in the old theatre of Bollhuset. The troupe was founded with the opening of the Royal Swedish Opera, which has served as its home since that time. In 1773, the cultural professions of acting, opera-singing
Giuseppe Verdi with a chorus, only one ("Luisa Miller") of the 'middle' period operas begin this way. Instead, Verdi experiments with a variety of means, e.g. a stage band ("Rigoletto"), an aria for bass ("Stiffelio"), a party scene ("La traviata"). Chusid also notes Verdi's increasing tendency to replace full-scale overtures with shorter orchestral introductions. Parker comments that "La traviata", the last opera of the 'middle' period, is "again a new adventure. It gestures towards a level of 'realism'...the contemporary world of waltzes pervades the score, and the heroine's death from disease is graphically depicted in the music." Verdi's increasing command of musical