Motie Concerts: Helios x Gizem Öz (live)

Het Muziektheater is the opera and ballet house of Amsterdam, built specifically to stage opera, ballet and other forms of musical theatre. It stands on the banks of the Amstel at Waterlooplein, in one of the oldest parts of the city, and forms one half of a complex known as the Stopera. The other half is the Amsterdam city hall, a name that combines "stad" and "opera" and tells you how the two buildings came to share a site. The idea of putting an opera and a city hall in one complex first came up in 1915, but it took decades to become reality. In 1981 the city council finally decided to go ahead with the project. The Dutch architect Cees Dam designed the music theatre, working alongside the Austrian architect Wilhelm Holzbauer, who was responsible for the city hall. The Stopera had its official opening in 1986, and the council moved into the city hall in 1988. The building was home to two separate companies, De Nederlandse Opera, which later became the Dutch National Opera, and the Dutch National Ballet. Together with the Ballet Orchestra, they make this the most important venue for these art forms in the Netherlands. In 2014 the two companies and the Muziektheater came together as one organisation, described as a single artistic family. Today the opera part of the building goes by the name Nationale Opera & Ballet, though many people still know it as Het Muziektheater. It should not be confused with the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, a separate contemporary music hall on the waterfront near Central Station.