Attractions in Zurich
Art
Along with New York, London, Paris and Berlin, Zurich ranks among the world’s leading cities that enjoy a flourishing art trade. A typical feature of Zurich is its high density of art galleries; along the Rämistrasse "art mile", the galleries are just a few minutes’ walk apart, while in the former grounds of the Löwenbräu brewery, they are even next door to each other. The reopening of the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich’s Old Town in October 2004, after being closed for 90 years, marked the beginning of a brand the new Dada era. Nowadays, the Dadahaus, with its exhibitions, events and bar, as well as its small specialist lending library, is open to the public; in this vibrant cultural center, bridges are built between Dada and modern social and cultural trends. Some fourteen of Zurich's 50 museums are devoted to art.
Museums
Zurich and the surrounding region are home to the biggest number of museums and exhibitions in Switzerland. The Kunsthaus is one of Europe's foremost museums of art and host to a series of constantly changing exhibitions. Art, architecture, painting and objects of interest from the past and present. Zurich is culture!
E.G. Bührle Collection
Established as a foundation in 1960, the E.G. Bührle Collection is amongst the most celebrated museums in the world. In addition to works by old masters, the focal point is French Impressionism with its precursors and followers, with outstanding works by Manet, Degas, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Gaugin, van Gogh, Picasso and Braque. The collection also includes some significant paintings by the Venetian masters of the 18th century and the Dutch masters of the baroque period. An important group of religious sculptures depicts developments from the middle Ages to the Renaissance.
House of Art Zurich
International works of significance include many paintings by Edvard Munch, Van Gogh, Picasso and leading Expressionists. There is also a significant group of works by Claude Monet and Marc Chagall. Amongst modern artistic trends represented by Rothko, Merz, Twombly, Beuys, Bacon and Baselitz the visitors can discover a wide choice of Popart works. An audio guide gives background information on 200 «highlights» of the collection.
- The torches of Prometheus
Museum Rietberg Zurich
A magnificent park and historical buildings create a unique setting for Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. This relatively small museum contains displays of objects of the highest quality. The world-famous sculptures donated to the city of Zurich by Eduard Baron von der Heydt in 1952 form the nucleus of the permanent collection in the Villa Wesendonck. The Park-Villa Rieter contains exhibitions of selected paintings from India, China and Japan. The Haus zum Kiel hosts smaller special exhibitions of non-European art.
Winterthur Art Museum
With the opening of the new building in 1995, the museum now has room for both the changing exhibitions and the collection itself. The old building is reserved for works from the late 19th century to Cubism, whilst the presentation in the new building ranges from the Avant-garde period of the 1930s through to the present. The collection is divided into a sequence of self-contained rooms, each dedicated to the various focal themes, including French and Swiss painting, sculpture at the turn of the century (van Gogh, Redon, Monet, Bonnard, Vuillard, Rodin, Maillol, Hodler, Vallotton, Auberjonois), the New Functionalism, early sculptures of the modern period (Brancusi, Lehmbruck), the abstract works of the 1930s (Mondrian, van Doesburg, Taeuber-Arp, Calder) Surrealism and related (Arp, Chirico, M. Ernst, Klee, Magritte), Alberto Giacometti and Morandi, more recent paintings and sculpture (Richter, Guston, Mangold, Marden, A. Martin, E. Hesse, Merz, Kounellis, Schütte). Visitors may also look at the Graphic Cabinet with its changing selection of drawings and prints.
Opera House (www.opernhaus.ch)
The Zurich Opera House was the first opera house in all of Europe that had electric lighting. The neo-baroque theater building in front of the Sechseläuten green on the shore of Lake Zurich was built in 1891 upon 1,800 oak piles. The first opera ever performed there was Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin". In 1926, with the construction of the Schauspielhaus, Switzerland's largest theater, all theater performances moved to a different location.
Heinz Spörli, one of the most renowned choreographers of our time, has been director of the Zurich Ballet since 1996. Director of the Opera House is Alexander Pereira, who has fulfilled this position with great dedication since 1991. It is a kind of unwritten law that each of the some 50 productions staged each year is offered at least once as a people's performance. Of the 50 productions, some 15 are premieres, making the Zurich Opera House the opera house with the most opera premieres in Europe.
Tonhalle (www.tonhalle.ch)
In recent years, the Tonhalle Orchestra has developed into one of Europe’s leading ensembles. Ground-breaking CD recordings of the orchestral works of Richard Strauss and the symphonies of Robert Schumann, for example – and most notably of all the Beethoven symphonies, overtures and solo concertos – paved the way for the orchestra’s rise to prominence. Wherever the Tonhalle Orchestra performs, be it in Switzerland, Europe or overseas, it is enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike. Ever since 1999, when the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich won the German Record Critics’ Prize for its seminal recording of all the Beethoven symphonies, it has been at the center of worldwide attention. Since then, well over one million Beethoven CDs have been sold. The first seven CDs of the Mahler cycle are already available.