Martin Erhard Fischer (10 November 1922 – 20 December 1996) was a German music and

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Career

Born in

Radeberg Radeberg is a small town in the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. It is located approximately 20 kilometres north-east of Dresden. The town has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, and an old castle. History Rade ...

, Fischer studied with in Dresden. His directing debut took place in

Radebeul Radebeul (; ) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen (district), Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a Karl May Museum, museum dedicated to writer Karl ...

with Mozart's ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

''. From 1950 to 1960, Fischer worked as an assistant and director at the Dresden State Opera. From 1960 to 1965 he worked under the opera director

Joachim Herz Joachim Herz (15 June 1924 – 18 October 2010) was a German opera director and manager. He learned at the Komische Oper Berlin as an assistant to Walter Felsenstein. His major stations were the Leipzig Opera where he opened the new house with Wa ...

as chief conductor and artistic director of the Kleiner Haus an der

Oper Leipzig The Leipzig Opera () is an opera house and opera 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 perfo ...

; here he set up productions of ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...

'', ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

'', ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

'' and ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (; short for ''Nabucodonosor'' , i.e. "Nebuchadnezzar II, Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblic ...

''. In 1965 he changed as head director, from 1969 as "chief director" to the

Staatsoper Unter den Linden The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Pr ...

Berlin. Here he was also director of rarities like ''

The Golden Cockerel ''The Golden Cockerel'' ( ) is an opera in three acts, with a short prologue and an even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last complete opera, before his death in 1908. Its libretto written by Vladimir Belsky, is derive ...

'', '' The Nose'', ''Katerina Ismaelova'' (Stalinist version of the '' Lady Macbeth von Mzensk''), ''

The Devils of Loudun ''The Devils of Loudun'' is a 1952 non-fiction account expressed in a novelistic style by Aldous Huxley. Premise It is a historical narrative of supposed demonic possession, religious fanaticism, sexual repression, and mass hysteria that occ ...

'', ''

Les vêpres siciliennes LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...

'' and Hans Pfitzner's ''

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

'' (with

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

in the title role). Among the world premieres he staged were Alan Bush's '' Joe Hill'', Günter Kochan's ' and

Joachim Werzlau Joachim Werzlau (5 August 1913 – 23 October 2001)Walk, Ines"Joachim Werzlau"(in German) DEFA, retrieved 10 August 2021. was a German pianist, radio consultant and composer. He belonged to the first generation of composers in the GDR, where he w ...

's ''Meister Röckle''. Fischer's appointment as chief director of the Staatsoper by its chief, the harpsichordist

Hans Pischner Hans Pischner (20 February 1914 – 15 October 2016) was a German harpsichordist, musicologist, opera director, and politician active in the German Democratic Republic. He encouraged the creation of musical and artistic cultural institutions in Ea ...

, proved to be far-sighted, as Fischer represented a moderate opposite pole to the music theatre style of the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, near Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, along with the Be ...

, which was influenced by

Walter Felsenstein Walter Felsenstein (30 May 1901 – 8 October 1975) was an Austrian theater and opera director. He was one of the most important exponents of textual accuracy, productions in which dramatic and musical values were exquisitely researched and b ...

, and yet, as a former comrade-in-arms of directors such as Joachim Herz, he brought both classics and world premieres to success with his skilful directing. Fischer has also been invited as director in the

Grand Theatre, Warsaw The Grand Theatre, Warsaw (), or the Great Theatre—National Opera ( Polish: ''Teatr Wielki—Opera Narodowa''), is a theatre and opera complex situated on the historic Theatre Square in central Warsaw, Poland. The Warsaw Grand Theatre is hom ...

, the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

, Geneva and in various theatres in West Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. He was also (successively) a lecturer and later head of department at the music colleges of the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest univ ...

, the

Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber The Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber (or Dresden University of Music Carl Maria von Weber; also/formerly known as Dresden Conservatory or Dresden Royal Conservatory) is a university school of music, university of music in Dresden, ...

in Dresden and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Fischer died in Berlin on 20 December 1996 aged 74.

Theatre

* 1960: Bertolt Brecht/Paul Dessau: '' The Trial of Lucullus'' – Directed by

Ruth Berghaus Ruth Berghaus (2 July 1927 – 25 January 1996) was a German choreographer, opera and theatre director, and artistic director. Life and career Berghaus was born in Dresden and studied Expressionist dance and Dance direction with Gret Palucca th ...

( Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1966: Giuseppe Verdi's ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1967: Giacomo Puccini's ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1968: Antonín Dvořák's ''

Rusalka In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalki; , plural: русалки; , plural: ''rusałki'') is a female entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water. It has counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as th ...

'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1970:

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 prol ...

: ''Joe Hill'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1971: Günter Kochan/

Erik Neutsch Erik Neutsch (21 June 1931 – 20 August 2013) was one of the most successful writers in East Germany. Life Early years Erik Neutsch came from a working family. After successfully completing his high school career he joined, in 1949, the ru ...

: ''Karin Lenz'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1973: Dmitri Shostakovich's '' Katarina Ismailowa'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) * 1973: Richard Strauss' ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

'' (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin)

Awards

* Kunstpreis der DDR (1971) *

Nationalpreis der DDR The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scien ...

(1973) *

Vaterländischer Verdienstorden The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in Silber (1976)

Bibliography

* Dieter Kranz: ''Berliner Theater. 100 Aufführungen aus drei Jahrzehnten'', Berlin 1990 – Gespräche mit Fischer und über ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' (), ''Die Nase'' (143-47), ''Die Teufel von Loudun'' (241-44), and Zimmermann's ''

Die wundersame Schustersfrau ''Die wundersame Schustersfrau'' (''The Wondrous Cobbler's Wife'') is an opera in two acts by Udo Zimmermann, with a libretto which he wrote with Eberhard Schmidt based on the 1930 Spanish play '' La zapatera prodigiosa'', a ''farsa violenta'' by ...

'' (369-73) and a short biography (503).

External links

*
Siegfried Lorenz über Erhard Fischer und Ruth Berghaus
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Erhard 1922 births 1996 deaths People from Radeberg German theatre directors German opera directors Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver