A special treat for members of ZIWA’s energetic Swinging
Sixties group was in store on Tuesday 24 February, thanks to the organising
skills of its chairlady Vreni Riedler. Over 30 ladies gathered in the foyer of
the small but very welcoming Ambassador à
l’Opera Hotel just behind the imposing Opera House building in Zurich Bellevue.
Three guides from the hotel staff were on hand to take us on a tour from cellar
to roof of this small gem of a hotel. We discovered that the hotel is a family-run concern and has been recently renovated. Each floor is dedicated to a particular operatic composer such as Verdi or Wagner, and we were invited inside some of the bedrooms to see the special touches provided to make guests feel welcome. We emerged onto the roof terrace with its splendid view over the city, and saw where on a warmer day one might enjoy a picnic or a sun lounger.
Then we descended into the warren of rooms comprising the kitchen, storage rooms and cellars. Here the planners had been very creative in making use of every corner of space. We met the ten-strong team of chefs and kitchen assistants in the small domain comprising the food washing station, the meat and fish cooking area and the vegetable preparation area. The Ambassador prides itself on its fish specialities in its restaurant with sixty covers. The building dates back to 1898 and has been substantially renovated. In total 16.8 million Swiss francs have been spent on the renovations over the past 10-15 years.
We also discovered that while the hotel has space for its
weekly wine and beer requirements in a temperature-controlled environment,
there is also an offsite wine cellar with even more capacity. Some laundry is done on site and the rest is
sent out; the hotel staff all have a uniform. We explored the air filter
system, the silver cleaning room, the water softener and the gas tumbler. The
hotel employs 70 staff who can also have their lunch in specially designated
spaces. Heat is recycled from the kitchen and supplemented by a gas heater. One of the limitations on space in the
underground areas is because of the high water level due to the adjacent lake
of Zurich, and the location of the drainage system under the cellar floor. A
close eye is kept on the underground water level which must not rise higher
than 4.04 metres above sea level. 
After exploring the hotel from top to bottom, the three
groups convened in the restaurant for a lunch of soup and fish with optional
wine. We admired the ceiling and walls painted by a young Swiss artist, Tatjana Tiziana. We were
invited to take part in a quiz to test our knowledge and attention on the
earlier tour. See below* for quiz answers and prizewinners.
After this amazing experience, the ladies left taking a
small gift of chocolates each, and walked across to the Opera House for another
set of tours. First we sat in the audience and saw a new stage set being built
for one of the premieres, Rote Laterne, which was not to be photographed until
after its first show. A second premiere, Juliette, was also in
preparation. Each of the two groups was able to explore on the stage, and then backstage
where we saw the sets being stored, the costumes hanging up ready and props
used for the shows. Each matinee and evening show requires the sets to be put
up in a short time before the next performance, so the stage crew have to practice
setting up each new production. There was a vast array of costumes for every
performer and scene, not to mention the racks of shoes and hats. Wigs are made
by hand to suit each performer. The ballet productions are even more demanding
on shoes. Our guides gave us a vivid picture of life behind the scenes of the
opera with its ever-changing repertoire.
Zurich Opera House was built in 1890-91 by two experienced architects, Helmar and Felder from Vienna, and it can accommodate 1100 seats at full capacity. The foyer and stockrooms were added later and the stage has been recently redesigned to allow a complex repertory program of changing productions. The Opera Ball is also held in the house in March. As with the Ambassador Hotel, the Opera House is built on oak stilts because of the underlying water. It’s an amazing feat of construction and host to numerous international stars.
*The quiz questions were a) How many tonnes of washing per year is done at the hotel? 68 Tonnes. b) How much money has been invested in renovation in the past 10 years? CHF 16.8 million. c) On what foundation is the Ambassador Hotel built? On oak piles. Tiebreaker question: How many steps are there from the cellar to the roof terrace? 158.
The winners of the Ambassador Hotel quiz were: first prize Marijke Largiader, second prize Junita Keil. Congratulations to them!
Julia Newton, 3 March 2015.
