The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. Its main venue is the
Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the
Bavarian State Orchestra.
History
The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under
Electress consort Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, when
Giovanni Battista Maccioni's ''L'arpa festante'' was performed in the court theatre. In 1753, the Residence Theatre (
Cuvilliés Theatre) was opened as a major stage. While opera performances were also held in the
Prinzregententheater (completed in 1901), the company's home base is the
Nationaltheater München on
Max-Joseph-Platz.
In 1875, the
Munich Opera Festival took place for the first time. Sir
Peter Jonas became the
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
in 1993, the first British general manager of any major German-speaking opera house. In 2008,
Nikolaus Bachler became Intendant (general manager) of the opera company, and
Kirill Petrenko became
Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) in 2013. In 2014, the Bavarian State Opera received the ''Opernhaus des Jahres'' (opera house of the year) award from ''
Opernwelt'' magazine. In October 2015, the company announced the extensions of the contracts of Bachler and of Petrenko through August 2021.
Both Bachler and Petrenko stood down from their respective posts at the close of the 2020–2021 season.
In March 2018, the company announced the appointments of as its next general manager, and of
Vladimir Jurowski as its next GMD, both effective with the 2021–2022 season. In June 2024, the company announced the extension of Dorny's contract as ''Intendant'' through 2031, and of Jurowski's contract as GMD through the close of the 2027-2028 season, at which time Jurowski is expected to stand down as GMD.
The company received the "Opera Company of the Year" award at the 2018 and 2023
International Opera Awards
The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world.
Origins
The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...
.
Intendant
*
Johann Nepomuk von Poißl (1824–1848)
* (1848–1851)
*
Franz von Dingelstedt (1851–1858)
* (1868–1893)
*
Ernst von Possart (1895–1906)
*
Albert von Speidel (1907–1912)
*
Clemens von Franckenstein (1912–1918)
* (1918–1924)
* Clemens von Franckenstein (1924–1934)
*
Hans Knappertsbusch (1934–1935)
*
Oskar Walleck (1935–1937)
*
Clemens Krauss (1937–1940)
* (1945–1952)
* (1952–1967)
*
Günther Rennert (1967–1976)
*
August Everding (1977–1982)
*
Wolfgang Sawallisch (1982–1993)
*
Peter Jonas (1993–2006)
*
Kent Nagano (2006–2008)
*
Nikolaus Bachler (2008–2021)
* (2021–present)
Generalmusikdirektor
*
Franz Lachner (1836–1867)
*
Hans von Bülow (1864–1869)
*
Franz Wüllner (1870–1877)
*
Hermann Levi (1872–1896)
*
Richard Strauss (1894–1896)
*
Max Erdmannsdörfer (1896–1898)
*
Bernhard Stavenhagen (1898–1902)
*
Hermann Zumpe (1901–1903)
*
Felix Mottl (1904–1911)
*
Bruno Walter (1913–1922)
*
Hans Knappertsbusch (1922–1935)
*
Clemens Krauss (1937–1944)
*
Hans Knappertsbusch (1945)
*
Georg Solti (1946–1952)
*
Rudolf Kempe (1952–1954)
*
Ferenc Fricsay (1956–1958)
*
Joseph Keilberth (1959–1968)
*
Wolfgang Sawallisch (1971–1992)
*
Peter Schneider (interim, 1992–1998)
*
Zubin Mehta (1998–2006)
*
Kent Nagano (2006–2013)
*
Kirill Petrenko (2013–2021)
*
Vladimir Jurowski (2021–present)
World premieres
Recordings
Bavarian State Opera has issued numerous recordings under record labels such as
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. In May 2021, it launched its own recording label, Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings (BSOrec).
Among the company's noted recordings are the 1989 video recording of
Wagners' ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen'' at the
Bayreuth Festival conducted by
Wolfgang Sawallisch, which won Best Video in the 1993
Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The 1973 recording of Richard Strauss's ''
Der Rosenkavalier'', conducted by
Carlos Kleiber and released in 2008, was highly acclaimed and selected as Editor's Choice in the April 2009 issue of
''Gramophone'' Magazine.
At the International Opera Awards, the Bayerische Staatsoper won the 2018 the Opera Company Award. Their recording of Handel's Agrippina, directed by Barrie Kosky from the Royal Opera House, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Opera Awards.
In 1977, a recording by the Bavarian State Opera was selected by NASA to be included on the
Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on the
Voyager space craft. The record contained sounds and images which had been selected as examples of the diversity of life and culture on Earth. In the recording, soprano
Edda Moser sings "
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from Mozart's opera, ''
The Magic Flute'', conducted by Sawallisch.
References
External links
*
Bayerisches Staatsorchester historyat the Bach Cantatas Website
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Munich
1653 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
17th-century establishments in Bavaria
Organizations established in the 1650s
Musical groups established in the 17th century
German opera companies
Theatres in Munich