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Culture
In addition to high-quality museums and galleries, Zurich has one of the most important theatres in the German-speaking world and high-calibre chamber and symphony orchestras. Richard Wagner lived in the Villa Wesendonck (now part of the Museum Rietberg). Fuseli, the pre-Romantic painter, also made his home in Zurich, and it was in Zurich that Tristan Tzara and the other Dadaists formulated their ideas in the Cabaret Voltaire on Spiegelgasse in 1916.
There is an online guide to concerts, cinema and theatre (website: www.kulturinfo.ch). Tickets for events are available from Billettzentrale Zrich (BIZZ), Bahnhofstrasse 9 (tel: (01) 221 2283; website: www.bizz-online.ch), as well as at Jecklin, Rmistrasse 30/42 (tel: (01) 253 7777; website: www.jecklin.ch), Musik Hug, Limmatquai 28-30 (tel: (01) 269 4141; website: www.musikhug.ch) and UBS TicketCorner (tel: (0900) 800 800; website: www.ticketcorner.com).
Music: The Opernhaus Zrich, Falkenstrasse 1 (tel: (01) 268 6666; website: www.opernhaus.ch), is the venue for opera and ballet performances. First opened in 1891, its neo-Baroque auditorium and location by the lakeside promenade add to the atmosphere of a romantic evening. The Zurich Chamber Orchestra or Zrcher Kammerorchester (tel: (0848) 848 844; website: www.zko.ch) plays at the Tonhalle, Claridenstrasse 7 (tel: (01) 206 3434; website: www.tonhalle.ch), from August to June, while the Tonhalle Orchester (website: www.tonhalle.ch), founded in 1868, performs symphonic concerts. The Tonhalle is renowned for its acoustics and has two halls – the larger seats 1455 and the smaller 636. Part of the Kongresshaus Zrich, it was built in 1895 and the concert chamber was inaugurated by Johannes Brahms.
Theatre: The Schauspielhaus Zrich, Rmistrasse 34 (tel: (01) 258 7777; website: www.schauspielhaus.ch), is one of the largest and most important theatres in Switzerland. Some 14 new productions are staged here each year, varying from Shakespeare to Zurich’s own Friedrich Drrenmatt. Built in the late 19th century, the theatre comprises two venues – the 745-seat Grosse Haus and the 130-seat Schauspielhaus-Keller, which stages more alternative and off-beat productions.
Dance: Zurich’s ballet company, the Zrcher Balletts, performs at the Opernhaus, Falkenstrasse 1 (tel: (01) 268 6666; website: www.opernhaus.ch). Modern and experimental dance can be seen in a number of venues, including the Rote Fabrik, Seestrasse 395 (tel: (01) 481 9143; website: www.rotefabrik.ch).
Film: Films shown in Zurich are almost always in the original language with subtitles. Open-air screenings take place on the lakeside at Zrichhorn in July and August. There are some 50 cinemas in the city, including repertory and arthouse cinemas such as Xenix, Kanzleistrasse 56 (tel: (01) 242 0411; website: www.xenix.ch). There are also a number of multiple screen cinemas showing the latest mainstream films. The ten-screen Cinemax complex, Heinrichstrasse 269 (tel: (022) 273 2222; website: www.cinemax.ch), is the largest.
KinoTel (tel: (0900) 900 999) provides information on screenings.
Cultural Events: The most traditional events on the Zurich calendar are Sechseluten, Zurich’s Spring Festival, on the third Monday of April, and Knabenschiessen, over the first weekend of September. Sechseluten (website: www.sechselaeuten.ch) involves guild members parading in historic costumes and the Bgg (a mock snowman filled with fireworks) being burned to symbolise the end of winter, while the Knabenschiessen festival (website: www.knabenschiessen.ch) is a folk festival featuring a shooting competition for boys, complete with a market, funfair and concerts. The Zrcher Festspiele (website: www.zuercher-festspiele.ch) takes place from mid-June to mid-July, with ballet, opera, theatre and concerts at stages around the city. During the Zri-Fscht every third year (website: www.zuerifaescht.ch), the city of Zurich is transformed into a giant festival site, with the celebrations culminating in an impressive fireworks display over Lake Zurich. The next festival takes place 6-8 July 2007.
Literary Notes: James Joyce worked on Ulysses (1922) in Zurich, at the same time as the Dadaists were creating at the Cabaret Voltaire. Joyce died in Zurich in 1941 and lies buried in Fluntern Cemetery. Strauhof Zrich, Augustinerstrasse 9 (tel: (01) 216 3139; website: www.strauhof.ch), has a library and organises readings of works by Joyce and other modern writers. Thomas Mann lived in the Zurich area before World War II and again in the 1950s – the Thomas Mann Archiv, at the Federal Institute of Technology, Schnberggasse 15 (tel: (01) 632 4045; website: www.tma.ethz.ch), houses his manuscripts, library and study. He died in Zurich in 1955 and is buried in Kilchberg, to the south of the city. The German playwright, Georg Bchner, lived and died at Spiegelgasse 12. Another of Zurich’s literary residents, 19th-century poet Gottfried Keller is best known for his 1876 novella, Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe (Romeo and Juliet in the Village), which transposes Shakespeare’s famous tragedy to a small Swiss village. The playwrights Max Frisch, author of I’m Not Stiller (1958), and Friedrich Drrenmatt, who penned The Visit (1955), are yet more famous literary Zrchers.
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Culture