Hanover State Opera (german: Staatsoper Hannover) is an

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 in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, the state capital of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, Germany. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

organisation called Hanover State Theatre of Lower Saxony (), or simply Hanover State Theatre (). Hanover State Theatre comprises the following divisions that put on

stage production Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

s, and concert programs, in addition to maintaining a theatre museum, with seasons running from September through to June.

Hanover Opera House

Hanover State Opera is resident in the Hanover Opera House, built in classical style between 1845 and 1852 based on a plan by

Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves (17 December 1788 – 30 April 1864) was a German architect, civil engineer and urban planner. Born in Uslar, Lower Saxony, he lived and worked primarily in the city of Hanover and also died there. He was appointe ...

. The building was rebuilt from 1948 after being badly damaged by the aerial bombings of Hanover during World War II. In 1985, the

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acousticia ...

were improved, and between 1996 and 1998, the stage facilities were renovated. The

International Choreographic Competition Hannover Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

has taken place at Hanover Opera House since the early 1980s, and is the longest-running

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

competition in the world. It is organised by the Ballet Association of Hanover ().

Governance

The current

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

of the opera company is replacing Michael Klügl in 2019. The current general music director () of the opera company is Stephan Zilias, named to the post in February 2020 following his debut with the opera company in the 2019–2020 season. Past general music directors are: *

Rudolf Krasselt Rudolf Krasselt (1 January 1879 – 12 April 1954) was a German violoncellist, conductor and director of the Staatsoper Hannover during the Weimar Republic and the period of National Socialism. Life Born in Baden-Baden, Krasselt grew up as son ...

(1924–1943) * Franz Konwitschny (1945–1949) *

Johannes Schüler Johannes Schüler (21 June 18943 October 1966) was a German conductor who held leading positions at opera houses such as the Berlin State Opera and the Staatsoper Hannover. He promoted contemporary music, leading the world premieres of Alban Ber ...

(1949–1960) * Günter Wich (1961–1965) * George Alexander Albrecht (1965–1993) * Christof Perick (1993–1996) * Andreas Delfs (1996–2000) * Hans Urbanek (2000–2001) *

Lü Shao-chia Lü Shao-chia (; born 1960) is a Taiwanese conductor. He has been music director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan since 2010. Biography Born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Lü studied piano at an early age. Initiated by Taiwanese conductor C ...

(2001–2006) * (2006–2011) *

Karen Kamensek Karen Kamensek (born January 2, 1970 in Chicago) is an American orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Her parents came from Kamnica pri Mariboru, Slovenia. Kamensek received degrees in orchestral conducting and piano performance from Indiana ...

(2011–2016) * (2016–2019) The longest-serving general music director of the opera company was George Alexander Albrecht, from 1965 until 1993. The first woman, and first American, to hold the post of general music director was

, from 2011 until 2014.

Premieres

* 1838: ''

Der Bäbu '' Der Bäbu '' (''The Baboo'') is a Comic opera in three acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück (Marschner's brother-in-law) is based on the book ''The Baboo and Other Tales Descriptive of Society in India'', ...

'' by

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.

(performance took place in the old ''Schlossopernhaus'') * 1852: ''Austin'' by Marschner * 1921: ''

Die Prinzessin Girnara (''The Princess Girnara''), Op. 27, is an opera in two acts by Egon Wellesz to a libretto by Jakob Wassermann which he based on his own text. It was the composer's first opera. The world premiere was performed on 14 May 1921 simultaneously at t ...

'' by Egon Wellesz * 1931: ''Prinzessin Brambilla'' by

Walter Braunfels Walter Braunfels (; 19 December 1882 – 19 March 1954) was a German composer, pianist, and music educator. Life Walter Braunfels was born in Frankfurt. His first music teacher was his mother, the great-niece of the composer Louis Spohr. He c ...

* 1943: ''Der Kuckuck von Theben'' by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari * 1952: ''

Boulevard Solitude ' is a ' (lyric drama) or opera in one act by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Grete Weil after the play by Walter Jockisch, in its turn a modern retelling of Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel '' Manon Lescaut''. The piece is a reworking of t ...

'' by

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

* 1970: ''Der Aufsichtsrat'' by

Diether de la Motte Diether de la Motte (30 March 1928 – 15 May 2010) was a German musician, composer, music theorist, music critic and academic teacher. Life Born in Bonn, de la Motte studied at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold from 1947 to 1950, composition ...

* 1977: ''Faust und Yorick'' by

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

* 1980: ''Ein Abenteuer auf dem Friedhof'' by

Alfred Koerppen Alfred Koerppen (16 December 1926 – 5 July 2022) was a German organist, music pedagogue, composer and academic teacher. He taught composition and music theory at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover from 1948 to 1991. His composition ...

* 1992: ''Draußen vor der Tür'' by

Xaver Paul Thoma Xaver Paul Thoma (born 5 February 1953) is a German composer of contemporary music, violist and music educator. Life Thoma was born on 5 February 1953 in the Gasthaus zur Kanone in Haslach im Kinzigtal, the home of the Thoma family of artist ...

* 2000: ''Gilgamesh'' by

Volker David Kirchner Volker David Kirchner (25 June 1942 – 4 February 2020) was a German composer and violist. After studies of violin and composition at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory, the Hochschule für Musik Köln and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, he w ...

* 2005: ''iOPAL'' by Hans-Joachim Hespos * 2017: ''Lot'' by

Giorgio Battistelli Giorgio Battistelli (born 25 April 1953) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. A native of Albano Laziale (province of Rome), he studied at the conservatory in L'Aquila and is a former student of Stockhausen and Kagel. Batti ...

References

External links

* {{authority control German opera companies Tourist attractions in Hanover