Oper Frankfurt

Oper Frankfurt

Oper Frankfurt in 2024, with posters "Opera house of the year"
Formation	1782
Location	Frankfurt, Germany
Intendant	Bernd Loebe
Parent organization	Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt
Website	oper-frankfurt.de
Building details
General information
Coordinates	50°06′29″N 8°40′27″E
Other information
Seating capacity	1,369 (Opernhaus)[1]
Public transit access	Willy-Brandt-Platz 11, 12, 14, 18 Willy-Brandt-Platz N11, N12, N4, N5, N8 Willy-Brandt-Platz

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

Early history

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

Former theater and opera venue Comoedienhaus in 1902

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

Former opera house (now concert hall Alte Oper) from Opernplatz in 1900

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 [de] 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

Interior of the opera house in 2024

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]

Further information on the building: Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt

The Gielen Era

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

Four awards in 2023

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] In 2023, they were distinguished also in the categories Chorus, directed by Tilman Michael, World premiere (for Blühen), and Rediscovery (for Die ersten Menschen).^[26] The company receiced the distinction again in 2024, with recognition also in the categories Chorus and Production (shared) for Wagner's Tannhäuser, conducted by Guggeis and directed by Matthew Wild. Director of the year was Lydia Steier, including for her Frankfurt production of Verdi's Aida, and Singer of the year John Osborn, including for his Frankfurt portrayal of Éléazar in Halevy's La Juive.^[27]

As of 2023^[update], new buildings for the Städtische Bühnen are planned.^[28][29][30]

Artistic leadership

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

World premieres at the Frankfurt Opera have included:^[31]

Date	Work	Composer
16 September 1810	Silvana	Carl Maria von Weber
4 April 1819	Zemire und Azor	Louis Spohr
20 January 1851	Die Opernprobe	Albert Lortzing
26 November 1853	Rübezahl	Friedrich von Flotow
8 Dezember 1881	Das Käthchen von Heilbronn	Carl Martin Reinthaler
12 November 1902	Dornröschen	Engelbert Humperdinck
18 August 1912	Der ferne Klang	Franz Schreker
15 March 1913	Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin	Franz Schreker
25 April 1918	Die Gezeichneten	Franz Schreker
21 October 1919	Fennimore und Gerda	Frederick Delius
21 Januar 1920	Der Schatzgräber	Franz Schreker
1 July 1920	Die ersten Menschen	Rudi Stephan
14 May 1921	Die Prinzessin Girnara	Egon Wellesz
26 March 1922	Sancta Susanna	Paul Hindemith
9 July 1924	Der Sprung über den Schatten	Ernst Krenek
8 November 1924	Sakahra	Simon Bucharoff
25 February 1926	Die zehn Küsse	Bernhard Sekles
14 November 1926	Der Golem	Eugen d'Albert
25 December 1926	Die Lästerschule	Paul von Klenau
1 February 1930	Von heute auf morgen	Arnold Schönberg
23 March 1930	Achtung, Aufnahme!!	Wilhelm Grosz
25 May 1930	Transatlantic	George Antheil
31 January 1934	Prinz Eugen der edle Ritter	Max Pflugmacher
22 May 1935	Die Zaubergeige	Werner Egk
26 May 1936	Doktor Johannes Faust	Hermann Reutter
8 June 1937	Carmina Burana	Carl Orff
13 January 1942	Columbus	Werner Egk
7 September 1942	Odysseus	Hermann Reutter
20 February 1943	Die Kluge	Carl Orff
1 March 1962	Die Alkestiade	Louise Talma
24 September 1964	Dame Kobold [de]	Gerhard Wimberger
14 November 1986	Die Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde	Hans-Joachim Hespos
15 June 1986	Stephen Climax	Hans Zender
12 December 1987	Europeras 1 & 2	John Cage
18 May 1989	What Where	Heinz Holliger
14 June 2002	Dr. Popels fiese Falle	Moritz Eggert
7 Oktober 2006	Caligula	Detlev Glanert
29 June 2014	Der goldene Drache	Péter Eötvös
14 September 2014	Sirenen – Bilder des Begehrens und des Vernichtens	Rolf Riehm
31 May 2015	An unserem Fluss (By our River)	Lior Navok
12 November 2017	Der Mieter	Arnulf Herrmann
27 June 2021	Inferno	Lucia Ronchetti
23 January 2023	Blühen	Vito Žuraj

Städtische Bühnen

Main article: Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt

Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) and Schauspiel Frankfurt (Theatre Frankfurt) are part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main GmbH.^[32]

Statistics

The opera house has 1.369 seats.^[33] As of April 2023^[update], the occupancy rate of the Oper Frankfurt in the 2022/23 season was 81%.^[34] About 11 premieres and 15 revivals were shown per season.^[35]

See also

• Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester
• Bockenheimer Depot
• Schauspiel Frankfurt

References

1. "Das Haus". Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
2. "Winners 2013". International Opera Awards. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
3. F. M. Stockdale, M. R. Dreyer The Opera Guide 1990 342
4. "Die Geschichte der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt". Städtische Bühnen. Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
5. Manchester Faces & Places. Mamchester: JG Hammond & Co Ltd. February 1895. pp. 76–77.
6. "Chronology & history". alteoper.de. Frankfurt. 2019. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
7. Michalzik, Stefan (17 April 2012). "Ermatteter Selbstläufer". Offenbach-Post (in German). Offenbach. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
8. Kutsch, K.J.; Riemens, L.; Rost, H. (2012). Hans Erl. Grosses Sängerlexikon (in German). De Gruyter. p. 1349. ISBN 978-3-598-44088-5. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
9. 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 ..."
10. "Solti als Generalmusikdirektor in Frankfurt verabschiedet, 19. Juni 1961, LAGIS Hessen". Zeitgeschichte in Hessen (in German). Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
11. "Foyerbau der Städtischen Bühnen Frankfurt". DenkXweb. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
12. 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 ..."
13. Neuenfels, Hans (13 March 2019). "Erst er machte Oper lebenswichtig". Die Zeit (in German). Hamburg. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
14. "Dirigent Michael Gielen mit 91 Jahren gestorben". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Frankfurt. 9 March 2019. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
15. Brachmann, Jan (9 March 2019). "Der Vision eines Elysiums verweigerte er sich". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
16. 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]}
17. "Eine Lange Nacht über Opernskandale". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). 21 July 2019. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
18. Schulmerich, Claudia (19 January 2022). "Zum Tod des Opernsängers William Cochran". Weltexpresso (in German). Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
19. "Die Frankfurter Oper 25 Jahre nach dem Brand". Focus (Press release). Berlin. dpa. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
20. Tim Ashley (12 March 2014). "Wagner/Rienzi review – Sebastian Weigle rethinks a divisive opera". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
21. Tim Ashley (11 February 2015). "Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos CD review – an insightful but uneven Frankfurt Opera recording". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
22. "Thomas Guggeis wird Generalmusikdirektor der Oper Frankfurt" (Press release). Oper Frankfurt. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
23. Tobias Stosiek (26 October 2021). "Thomas Guggeis wird neuer Generalmusikdirektor in Frankfurt: Oper statt Quantenphysik". BR-Klassik. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
24. "Oper Frankfurt erneut zum "Opernhaus des Jahres" gewählt". Süddeutsche Zeitung (Press release). Munich. dpa. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
25. "Frankfurt ist Oper des Jahres / Kritiker zeichnen Musiktheatersparte der Städtischen Bühnen zum fünften Mal aus". FAZ (in German). 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
26. "Die Oper Frankfurt ist "Opernhaus des Jahres" / Ergebnisse der Kritikerumfrage 2023 im Jahrbuch der Zeitschrift Opernwelt". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 28 September 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
27. Sternburg, Judith von (26 September 2024). "Frankfurt erneut "Opernhaus des Jahres"". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 26 September 2024.
28. Murr, Günter (27 September 2023). "Neue Argumente gegen Abriss der Städtischen Bühnen". FAZ.NET (in German). Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
29. Trauner, Sandra (15 December 2023). "Frankfurt will "Kulturmeile" für Oper und Theater". neue musikzeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
30. "Wolken unter Denkmalschutz?". German-Architects (in German). Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
31. "Premieren der Oper Frankfurt ab September 1945 bis heute" (PDF). Oper Frankfurt. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
32. Göpfert, Claus-Jürgen (2 October 2018). "Massives Spardiktat für Städtische Bühnen". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
33. "Frankfurter Buchmesse und Oper Frankfurt kooperieren". Frankfurter Buchmesse (in German). 19 September 2017. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
34. Gründig, M. (10 May 2023). "Die Spielzeit 2023/2024 an der Oper Frankfurt". kulturfreak (in German). Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
35. "Oper Frankfurt". Operavision (in German). 21 November 2022. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.

Further reading

• Alexander, Matthias (7 December 2018). "In einer stolzen Tradition". FAZ (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Oper Frankfurt's channel on YouTube