Oper Frankfurt
 Oper Frankfurt in 2024, with posters "Opera house of the year" | |
| Formation | 1782 |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Bernd Loebe | |
Parent organization | Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt |
| Website | oper-frankfurt.de |
Building details | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Coordinates | 50°06′29″N 8°40′27″E / 50.10806°N 8.67417°E |
| Other information | |
| Seating capacity | 1,369 (Opernhaus)[1] |
| Public transit access |
|
The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's Der ferne Klang in 1912, Fennimore und Gerda by Frederick Delius in 1919, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937. Frankfurt's international recognition began in the Gielen Era, 1977 to 1987, when Michael Gielen and stage directors such as Ruth Berghaus collaborated.
A historic opera house from 1880 was destroyed in World War II, and reconstructed as a concert hall, the Alte Oper. The present opera house, built in 1963, is under one roof with the stage for drama. The opera orchestra is called Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. Today's venue for Baroque and contemporary opera is the Bockenheimer Depot, a former tram depot.
Voted best 'Opera house of the year' by Opernwelt several times since 1996, including 2020, 2022 and 2023, Oper Frankfurt is part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. It received the "Opera Company of the Year" award at the 2013 International Opera Awards.[2]
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]Frankfurt's first opera was Johann Theile's Adam und Eva, performed in 1698 by Johann Velten's touring company. The young Goethe's first operas in his home town of Frankfurt were productions by Theobald Marchand's company.[3]
1782 – 1880
[edit]
Opened in 1782, the Comoedienhaus was the first permanent venue of the Frankfurt Theater (drama and opera).[4] In 1878 German violinist Willy Hess took up the leadership of the Oper Frankfurt. He resigned from that post in 1886 to take up a professorship in the Rotterdam Conservatorium voor Muziek.[5]
1880 – 1944
[edit]
The first representative opera house of the city was inaugurated in Frankfurt in 1880 at Opernplatz. Under the direction of the first Intendant Emil Claar and the first Kapellmeister Felix Otto Dessoff, the house was opened with Mozart's opera Don Giovanni.[6]
During the 1920s, the opera in Frankfurt had more prominent Jewish singers than any other company in Germany, including the tenor Hermann Schramm, bass Hans Erl (the first King in Schreker's Der Schatzgräber), baritone Richard Breitenfeld and contralto Magda Spiegel, who also toured with Frankfurt Opera performing Wagner in the Netherlands. These singers were forced to leave the opera in June 1933. Orff's Carmina Burana was premiered at Oper Frankfurt in 1937.[7] Jewish members of the opera company among those rounded up at 9 November 1938 at the Festhalle Frankfurt, where Erl sang In diesen Heilgen Hallen, from the Magic Flute for the deportees.[8] Members of Frankfurt Opera were sent to Auschwitz and other camps where they perished.
1945 – 1970s
[edit]
The opera house was damaged in an air raid in January 1944, and then almost completely destroyed in March.[9] In 1952, Georg Solti became Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) and Intendant of the Oper Frankfurt, where he remained in charge for nine years.[10] A new house for opera and play was built, completed in 1963 at the Theaterplatz (now Willy-Brandt-Platz).[11]
The Gielen Era
[edit]From 1977 to 1987, Frankfurt Opera was led by Michael Gielen.[12][13][14][15] This decade became known as the "Gielen Era",[16] notable for the music of a conductor who was also a composer, and directors including Ruth Berghaus and Hans Neuenfels, whose productions of standard works such as Verdi's Aida and Wagner's Ring Cycle were thought-provoking.[17][18] Operas which received their world premieres at the house were also performed again, including Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten.[16]
1987 – present
[edit]
The stage of the opera house was destroyed by a fire in November 1987.[19] The opera house was rebuilt and opened in April 1991.[19] Many famous singers started their career with the company, including Franz Völker, Edda Moser, Cheryl Studer and Diana Damrau, and many established artists have been engaged there in recent seasons including Christian Gerhaher, whose roles here have included Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and his first Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Piotr Beczała in Massenet's Werther and Jan-Hendrik Rootering in Wagner's Parsifal.
Since 2002, Bernd Loebe has served as Intendant of the company. The company's current GMD is Thomas Guggeis, succeeding Sebastian Weigle, who held this position since 2008 until the end of season 2023–24. Weigle has made commercial recordings of opera with the company for the OEHMS Classics label.[20][21][22][23]
Oper Frankfurt was voted "Opera House of the Year" by the magazine Opernwelt, in 1996, 2003, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023.[24][25][26] In 2023, they were distinguished also in the categories Chorus, World premiere (for Blühen), and Rediscovery (for Die ersten Menschen).
As of 2023[update], new buildings for the Städtische Bühnen are planned.[27][28][29]
Artistic leadership
[edit]The first conductors had the title Kapellmeister. From 1924 it was GMD, who often also held the administrative leadership Intendant (Int.).
- Felix Otto Dessoff (1880–1892, Kapellmeister)
- Ludwig Rottenberg (1893–1924, Kapellmeister)
- Clemens Krauss (1924–1929, GMD)
- Hans Wilhelm Steinberg (1929–1933)
- Bertil Wetzelsberger (1933–1934)
- Karl Maria Zwißler (1935–1936)
- Georg Ludwig Jochum (1937–1938)
- Franz Konwitschny (1938–1944, GMD)
- Bruno Vondenhoff (1945–1951, GMD)
- Georg Solti (1952–1961, GMD & Int.)
- Lovro von Matačić (1961–1966, GMD & Int.)
- Christoph von Dohnányi (1967–1977, GMD & Int.)
- Michael Gielen (1977–1987, GMD & Int.)
- Gary Bertini (1987–1991, GMD)
- Sylvain Cambreling (1993–1997, GMD)
- Martin Steinhoff (1997–2002, Int.)
- Paolo Carignani (1999–2008, GMD)
- Bernd Loebe (2002–present, Int.)
- Sebastian Weigle (2008–2023, GMD)
- Thomas Guggeis (2023–present, GMD)
Premieres
[edit]World premieres at the Frankfurt Opera have included:[30]
Städtische Bühnen
[edit]Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) and Schauspiel Frankfurt (Theatre Frankfurt) are part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main GmbH.[31]
Statistics
[edit]The opera house has 1.369 seats.[32] As of April 2023[update], the occupancy rate of the Oper Frankfurt in the 2022/23 season was 81%.[33] About 11 premieres and 15 revivals were shown per season.[34]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Das Haus". Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ "Winners 2013". International Opera Awards. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ F. M. Stockdale, M. R. Dreyer The Opera Guide 1990 342
- ^ "Die Geschichte der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt". Städtische Bühnen. Frankfurt. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ Manchester Faces & Places. Mamchester: JG Hammond & Co Ltd. February 1895. pp. 76–77.
- ^ "Chronology & history". alteoper.de. Frankfurt. 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ Michalzik, Stefan (17 April 2012). "Ermatteter Selbstläufer". Offenbach-Post (in German). Offenbach. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ Kutsch, K.J.; Riemens, L.; Rost, H. (2012). Hans Erl. Grosses Sängerlexikon (in German). De Gruyter. p. 1349. ISBN 978-3-598-44088-5. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ Die Frankfurter "Alte Oper": Baumonographie eines Opernhauses Christiane Wolf Di Cecca – 1997 p225 "Das Frankfurter Opernhaus erfährt am 29. Januar 1944 durch einen Luftangriff zunächst eine leichte, schließlich in der Nacht zum 23. März 1944 eine schwere Beschädigung. Nach dem Krieg fehlt vor allem zunächst das Geld für Abriß und ..."
- ^ "Solti als Generalmusikdirektor in Frankfurt verabschiedet, 19. Juni 1961, LAGIS Hessen". Zeitgeschichte in Hessen (in German). Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ "Foyerbau der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt". DenkXweb. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ Richard Wagner, Fritz Lang, and the Nibelungen ix David J. Levin – 1999 "For a decade, 1978 to 1988, Frankfurt Opera under Michael Gielen was such a place. ' He hired some of the most interesting and innovative production teams — stage directors as well as set and costume designers ..."
- ^ Neuenfels, Hans (13 March 2019). "Erst er machte Oper lebenswichtig". Die Zeit (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ "Dirigent Michael Gielen mit 91 Jahren gestorben". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Frankfurt. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ Brachmann, Jan (9 March 2019). "Der Vision eines Elysiums verweigerte er sich". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Roth, Wilhelm (20 July 2017). "Dirigent, der in Frankfurt einst eine Ära begründete, wird 90 Jahre alt: Unermüdlich trieb Michael Gielen die Moderne voran". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Eine Lange Nacht über Opernskandale". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). 21 July 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ Schulmerich, Claudia (19 January 2022). "Zum Tod des Opernsängers William Cochran". Weltexpresso (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Die Frankfurter Oper 25 Jahre nach dem Brand". Focus (Press release). Berlin. dpa. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ Tim Ashley (12 March 2014). "Wagner/Rienzi review – Sebastian Weigle rethinks a divisive opera". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ Tim Ashley (11 February 2015). "Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos CD review – an insightful but uneven Frankfurt Opera recording". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "Thomas Guggeis wird Generalmusikdirektor der Oper Frankfurt" (Press release). Oper Frankfurt. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ Tobias Stosiek (26 October 2021). "Thomas Guggeis wird neuer Generalmusikdirektor in Frankfurt: Oper statt Quantenphysik". BR-Klassik. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ "Oper Frankfurt erneut zum "Opernhaus des Jahres" gewählt". Süddeutsche Zeitung (Press release). Munich. dpa. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ "Frankfurt ist Oper des Jahres / Kritiker zeichnen Musiktheatersparte der Städtischen Bühnen zum fünften Mal aus". FAZ (in German). 30 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "Die OPER FRANKFURT ist "Opernhaus des Jahres" / Ergebnisse der Kritikerumfrage 2023 im Jahrbuch der Zeitschrift OPERNWELT". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 28 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ Murr, Günter (27 September 2023). "Neue Argumente gegen Abriss der Städtischen Bühnen". FAZ.NET (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ Trauner, Sandra (15 December 2023). "Frankfurt will "Kulturmeile" für Oper und Theater". neue musikzeitung (in German). Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Wolken unter Denkmalschutz?". German-Architects (in German). Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Premieren der Oper Frankfurt ab September 1945 bis heute" (PDF). Oper Frankfurt. 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ Göpfert, Claus-Jürgen (2 October 2018). "Massives Spardiktat für Städtische Bühnen". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- ^ "Frankfurter Buchmesse und Oper Frankfurt kooperieren". Frankfurter Buchmesse (in German). 19 September 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Gründig, M. (10 May 2023). "Die Spielzeit 2023/2024 an der Oper Frankfurt". kulturfreak (in German). Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Oper Frankfurt". Operavision (in German). 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
Further reading
[edit]- Alexander, Matthias (7 December 2018). "In einer stolzen Tradition". FAZ (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt at Wikimedia Commons- Oper Frankfurt's channel on YouTube
