Oslo's Opera House Closes to Private Wedding Due to Financial Woes

On Saturday July 2, Oslo's Opera House was closed to the public, and instead leased out their establishment for a private wedding because of its financial troubles. All its restaurants and rooftop were also blocked off.

The wedding was set for financial analyst Olivia Christine Stolt-Nielsen Holten, part of Norway's Stolt-Nielsen shipping family, and British businessman Julius Meinl, who is also part of a British-Austrian family fortune.

Newspaper Finansavisen said that the Opera & Ballet reported a deficit of NOK 67 million that may even be higher, "because actual pension costs for dancers who can retire at age 41 and singers who can retire at 52, are believed to be higher than what the Opera estimates."

The Opera & Ballet's chief executive Nils Karstad Lysø confirmed the Opera and Ballet is in a "difficult and serious" economic situation. Lysø blames it entirely on pension costs.

Researcher and senior advisor, Georg Arnestad said, "The Opera is a publicly financed institution, and there should be full openness around the price for leasing out publicly owned buildings."

Read more here.

Photo Credit: placesjournal.org