The Aalto Theatre () is a performing arts venue in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, Germany, and is home to the city's opera company Aalto-Musiktheater and the ballet company Aalto Ballett. The serve as the venue's orchestra. The theatre opened on 25 September 1988 with

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

's opera ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'' and is mainly used for opera and ballet, but also for concerts and galas. The design by the Finnish architect

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

was the unanimous winner in a competition in 1959, but the building was begun only in 1983, seven years after Aalto's death. A feature of the auditorium's design is its asymmetrical layout and the

indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

blue colour of the seats. Conductor Wolf-Dieter Hauschild held the positions of both

Intendant An intendant (; ; ) 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 the War of the Spanish Success ...

and

Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

in personal union from 1992 until 1997, followed by Stefan Soltesz from 1997 until 2013. Soltesz led the Essener Philharmoniker to the title Orchestra of the Year in 2003 and 2008 and the Aalto-Musiktheater to that of Opera House of the Year in 2008, following a survey of 50 critics by magazine ''

Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...

''. He was succeeded as Intendant by

Hein Mulders Hein Mulders (born 9 October 1962 in Bussum) is a Dutch people, Dutch cultural manager and intendant of the Saalbau Essen since the beginning of the 2013/14 season.Tomáš Netopil Tomáš Netopil (born 18 July 1975) is a Czech conductor. He conducted the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005 and made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2006. In 2006, he also conducted at the Salzburg Festival and l'Orche ...

References

External links

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Image gallery

"Gesamtkonzept Theater – Das Aalto-Theater Essen"
by Eckhard Gropp
Models, architectural drawings, bibliography

Aalto Theater, Essen
o
Architectuul
{{authority control Alvar Aalto buildings Buildings and structures in Essen Opera houses in Germany Ballet venues Modernist architecture in Germany Music venues completed in 1988 Theatres in Essen Theatres completed in 1988