Opernhaus Leipzig Langzeitbelichtung Tag

Opernhaus Leipzig Zuschauerraum mit Loge

The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany.

History

Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspiel performances beginning in the year 1693. The composer of many early operas at the first opera house, the Oper am Brühl, was

Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hilde ...

. He was director of the house from 1703 to 1705. The Leipzig Opera does not have its own opera orchestra – the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

performs as its orchestra. This relationship began in 1766 with performances of the Singspiel ' by

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...

Opera House, 1868

The previous theater (the "") was inaugurated on 28 January 1868 with ''Jubilee Overture'' by

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

and the overture for ''

Iphigénie en Aulide ''Iphigénie en Aulide'' ('' Iphigeneia in Aulis'') is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and was based on Jean ...

'' by

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

's play ''

Iphigenia in Tauris ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Ταύροις, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, '' Helen'', as ...

''. From 1886 to 1888, Gustav Mahler was the second conductor;

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...

was his superior. During an air raid in the night of 3 December 1943, part of the

bombing of Leipzig in World War II During World War II, Leipzig was repeatedly attacked by British as well as American air raids. The most severe attack was launched by the Royal Air Force in the early hours of 4 December 1943 and claimed more than 1,800 lives. Large parts of t ...

, the theater was destroyed, as were all of Leipzig's theatres.

Opera House, 1960

Construction of the modern opera house began in 1956. The theater was inaugurated on 8 October 1960 with a performance of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. Since 2009,

Ulf Schirmer Ulf Schirmer (born 1959) is a German conductor and opera house administrator. Born in Eschenhausen, Lower Saxony, Schirmer studied at the Bremen Conservatory, and also at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, with György Ligeti, Christ ...

is the '' Generalmusikdirektor'' (General Music Director, or GMD); he was elected artistic director in 2011 for a five-year term.

General music directors

Among the people with the title Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) were *

(1878) * Gustav Mahler (1886–1888) * Otto Lohse (1912) * Gustav Brecher (1923) * Paul Schmitz (1932) * Helmut Seydelmann (1951) * Paul Schmitz (1964) *

Lothar Zagrosek Lothar Zagrosek (born 13 November 1942 in Otting, Germany) is a German conductor. As a youth, he sang in the Regensburg Cathedral choir, including performances as the First Boy in ''The Magic Flute'' at the 1954 Salzburg Festival. From 1962 to ...

(1990–1992) * Jiří Kout (1993) *

Michail Jurowski Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski (; 25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in concerts a ...

(1999) * Riccardo Chailly (2005–2008) *

(2009–present)

World premieres

Several operas received their premiere in Leipzig, including: * 1826: ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...

'' by Weber (first production in Germany) * 1828: '' Der Vampyr'' by Marschner * 1837: ''

Zar und Zimmermann ''Zar und Zimmermann'' (''Tsar and Carpenter'') is a comic opera in three acts, music by Albert Lortzing, libretto by the composer after Georg Christian Römer's ''Der Bürgermeister von Saardam, oder Die zwei Peter'', itself based on the French p ...

'' by Lortzing * 1850: ''

Genoveva ''Genoveva'', Op. 81, is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at ...

'' by Schumann * 1902: ' by

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...

*1906: '' The Wreckers'' by

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended t ...

* 1927: ''

Jonny spielt auf ''Jonny spielt auf'' (''Jonny Strikes Up''), Op. 45, is a German-language with words and music by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. He dedicated the opera to his second wife, Berta Herrmann.Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny'' by Weill * 1931: '' Die Blume von Hawaii'' by Abraham * 1933: ''

Der Silbersee ''Der Silbersee: ein Wintermärchen'' (''The Silver Lake: a Winter's Fairy Tale'') is a 'play with music' in three acts by Kurt Weill to a German text by Georg Kaiser. The subtitle is an allusion to Heinrich Heine's 1844 satirical epic poem, '' G ...

'' by Weill * 1937: ''Viola'' by Ludwig Schmidseder * 1943: '' Catulli Carmina'' by Orff * 1966: '' Guyana Johnny'' by

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed pro ...

* 1971: ''Der zerbrochne Krug'' by Fritz Geißler * 1988: ''Der Idiot'' by Karl Ottomar Treibmann * 1991: ''Matka'' by Annette Schlünz * 1993: ''Nachtwache'' by Jörg Herchet * 1993: ''Dienstag'' from '' Licht'' by Stockhausen * 1996: ''Freitag'' from ''Licht'' by Stockhausen * 1997: ''Abraum'' by Jörg Herchet * 2001: ''Persephone oder der Ausgleich der Welten'' by Günter Neubert * 2006: ''Der schwarze Mönch'' by

Philippe Hersant Philippe Hersant (born 21 June 1948 in Rome) is a French composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Selected works :: Hersant's works are largely published by Éditions Durand. ;Stage * '' Le Château des Carpathes'', Opera in a pro ...

* 2009: ''Rituale – eine Tanzoper für Georg Friedrich Händel'' by

Heike Hennig Heike Hennig (born 8 November 1966) is a German dancer, choreographer and director of the opera and dance ensemble "Heike Hennig & Co". Life Heike Hennig had her first dance lessons at the age of 5 years in Leipzig of East Germany, studied moder ...

* 2009: ''Das Wesentliche ist unsichtbar'', production of the opera's children's choir * 2010: ''Monsieu Mathieu, was wird?'' production of the opera's children's choir with schools, music by

Bruno Coulais Bruno Coulais (born 13 January 1954) is a French composer, most widely known for his music on film soundtracks. Life and career Coulais was born in Paris; his father, Farth Coulais, is from Vendée, and his mother, Bernsy Coulais, was born in ...

and Christophe Barratier * 2011: ''Was, wäre, wenn?'' production of the opera's children's choir * 2011: ''Waldrandgeflüster'', produktion of the opera's youth and children's choir * 2015: ''The Canterville Ghost'' by Gordon Getty

References

External links

*
Interview with Damien Diaz, Principal Dancer under Uwe Scholz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leipzig Opera Opera houses in Germany German opera companies Buildings and structures in Leipzig Tourist attractions in Leipzig Theatres completed in 1693 Music venues completed in 1693 Theatres completed in 1868 Music venues completed in 1868 Theatres completed in 1960 Music venues completed in 1960 1693 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire