The Deutsche Oper am Rhein (German Opera on the Rhine) is an opera company based in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

. The opera also has an associated

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

. Axel Kober has been its music director since 2009. The resident orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, play both opera and symphonic repertoire. After the 1875 construction of what became the Düsseldorf ''Opernhaus'', a strong connection between the two cities' opera houses existed from 1887 to 1920, and was not re-established until 1955 with the creation of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The company performs in the Opernhaus Düsseldorf, built in 1875. It was partially destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and reconstructed to officially re-open in 1956.

Theater Duisburg The Theater Duisburg is located in Duisburg, Germany and is one of two Opera house, opera houses where performances are given by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. The other is the Opernhaus Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf. The original theatre was built in ...

, built in 1912, was destroyed, and rebuilt in 1950. For the 25th anniversary of the house,

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; 10 August 1932 – 26 August 2024) was a German-born English composer of contemporary classical music and academic teacher. A long-time professor of music at the University of Cambridge, Goehr influenced many notable c ...

was commissioned to compose an opera. He wrote '' Behold the Sun'' with a libretto by John McGrath about the

anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term (tra ...

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

. The current general manager is Christoph Meyer; the chief conductor is Axel Kober. In 2006 and 2007, a major reorganization and renovation of the Opera House in Düsseldorf took place. The first opera performance in the newly renovated theater was '' La traviata'', conducted by the American John Fiore. During the year 2000 up to 2005 the German photographer Karl Maria Udo Remmes was invited to portray the backstage operations at the Deutsche Oper in Düsseldorf. Two singers of the opera, member Oleg Bryjak and guest artist Maria Radner, were killed in the

Germanwings Flight 9525 Germanwings Flight 9525 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona–El Prat Airport in Spain to Düsseldorf Airport in Germany. The flight was operated by Germanwings, a low-cost carrier owned by the German airline Luftha ...

disaster.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Music in Düsseldorf Culture in Duisburg German opera companies Opera houses in Germany Theatres in Düsseldorf 1955 establishments in West Germany Musical groups established in 1955