The Semperoper is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera, Dresden) and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra, Dresden).
It is located near the Elbe River in the historic center of Dresden, Germany.
The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841.
After a devastating fire in 1869, the opera house was rebuilt, partly again by Semper, and completed in 1878.
The opera house has a long history of premieres, including major works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.
In 1945, during the last months of World War II, the building was destroyed again, this time by the bombing of Dresden and subsequent firestorm.
Exactly 40 years later, on February 13, 1985, the opera's reconstruction was completed.
It was rebuilt to be almost identical to its appearance before the war.
When the Elbe flooded in 2002, the building suffered heavy water damage. With substantial help from around the world, it reopened in December that year.
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