Editing Berlin State Opera (section)

===Early years===
[[File:Berlin Opernhaus um 1745.jpg|thumb|The Court Opera, {{Circa|1745}}]]
King [[Frederick II of Prussia]], shortly after his accession to the throne, commissioned the original building on the site. Though architecturally significant as an early example of the Palladian revival in Germany, the north and west façades are direct copies of [[Colen Campbell]]'s elevations at [[Stourhead]] and [[Wanstead House|Wanstead]] respectively.<ref>T. Blanning, ''Frederick the Great'' (London, 2015) p. 139</ref> Construction work began in July 1741, with what was designed by [[Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff]] to be the first part of a "Forum Fredericianum" on present-day [[Bebelplatz]]. Although not entirely completed, the Court Opera (''Hofoper'') was inaugurated with a performance of Carl Heinrich Graun's ''[[Cesare e Cleopatra]]'' on 7 December 1742. This event marked the beginning of the successful, 250-year co-operation between the Staatsoper and the [[Staatskapelle Berlin]], the state orchestra, whose roots trace back to the 16th century.

In 1821, the Berlin Opera—hosted at the [[Schauspielhaus Berlin]]—gave the premiere of Weber's ''[[Der Freischütz]]''. In 1842, [[Wilhelm Taubert]] instituted the tradition of regular symphonic concerts. In the same year, [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]] succeeded [[Gaspare Spontini]] as General Music Director. [[Felix Mendelssohn]] also conducted symphonic concerts for a year.
[[File:Koenigliches opernhaus berl.jpg|thumb|Interior, rebuilt after the fire in 1843]]
On 18 August 1843 the Linden Opera was destroyed by fire. The reconstruction of the building was supervised by architect [[Carl Ferdinand Langhans]], and the Königliches Opernhaus (Royal Opera House) was inaugurated the following autumn by a performance of Meyerbeer's ''[[Ein Feldlager in Schlesien]]''. In 1849, Otto Nicolai's ''[[Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor]]'' was premiered at the Royal Opera House, conducted by the composer.