The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German

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 libre ...

company based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. Its main venue is the

Nationaltheater München The National Theatre (german: link=no, Nationaltheater) on Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany, is a historic opera house, home of the Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian State Orchestra and the Bavarian State Ballet. Building First theatre ...

, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester.

History

The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Electress consort Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, when

Giovanni Battista Maccioni Giovanni Battista Maccioni (''floruit'' 1651 – 1674) was an Italian composer, librettist, and musician. His ''L'arpa festante'' (''The Festive Harp''), first performed in 1653, inaugurated what was to become the Bavarian State Opera and is oft ...

's ''L'arpa festante'' was performed in the court theatre. In 1753, the Residence Theatre ( Cuvilliés Theatre) was opened as a major stage. While opera performances were also held in the

Prinzregententheater The Prinzregententheater, or, as it was called in its first decades, the Prinz-Regenten-Theater, in English the Prince Regent Theatre, is a concert hall and opera house on Prinzregentenplatz in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany. Building ...

(completed in 1901), the company's home base is the

on Max-Joseph-Platz. In 1875, the

Munich Opera Festival The Munich Opera Festival (german: Münchner Opernfestspiele) takes place yearly in the Bavarian capital from late June to late July. Preceding on the calendar the two nearby festivals of Bayreuth and Salzburg, which both start in late July, the ...

took place for the first time. Sir Peter Jonas became the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

in 1993, the first British general manager of any major German-speaking opera house. In 2008,

Nikolaus Bachler Nikolaus Bachler, (until 2008 also Klaus Bachler) (born 29 March 1951 in Fohnsdorf, Styria) is an Austrian theater and opera director and actor. Life Klaus Bachler first studied acting at the Wiener Max-Reinhardt-Seminar. After graduation h ...

became Intendant (general manager) of the opera company, and

Kirill Petrenko Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (russian: Кирилл Гарриевич Петренко, Latin script: ; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early life Petrenko was born in Omsk ...

became

Generalmusikdirektor A music(al) director or director of music is the 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 band, the di ...

(GMD) in 2013. In 2014, the Bavarian State Opera received the ''Opernhaus des Jahres'' (opera house of the year) award from ''

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 house An opera house is a theater (structure) ...

'' magazine. In October 2015, the company announced the extensions of the contracts of Bachler and of Petrenko through August 2021. Both Bachler and Petrenko stood down from their respective posts at the close of the 2020–2021 season. In March 2018, the company announced the appointments of as its next general manager, and of

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began his ...

as its next

, both effective with the 2021–2022 season.

Intendant

Johann Nepomuk von Poißl Johann Nepomuk von Poißl (15 February 1783 17 August 1865) was a Bavarian composer and intendant. He was born in the Haunkenzell Castle in Rattiszell, Straubing-Bogen, Bavaria. He died in Munich. Selected works Operas * ''Antigonus'' (1 ...

(1824–1848) * (1848–1851) *

Franz von Dingelstedt Franz von Dingelstedt (30 June 1814 – 15 May 1881) was a German poet, dramatist and theatre administrator. Life and career Dingestedt was born at Halsdorf, Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), Germany, and later studied at the University of Marburg ...

(1851–1858) * (1868–1893) *

Ernst von Possart Ernst von Possart (11 May 18418 April 1921) was a German actor and theatre director. Possart was born in Berlin and was early an actor at Breslau, Bern, and Hamburg. Connected with the Munich Court Theatre after 1864, he became the oberregisseu ...

(1895–1906) *

Albert von Speidel Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

(1907–1912) *

Clemens von Franckenstein Clemens Erwein Heinrich Karl Bonaventura Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein (14 July 1875 – 19 August 1942) was a German opera composer, studying in Vienna, Austria, and later in Munich, Germany, with Ludwig Thuille and at the Hoch Conservator ...

(1912–1918) * (1918–1924) * Clemens von Franckenstein (1924–1934) *

Hans Knappertsbusch Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Ge ...

(1934–1935) * Oskar Walleck (1935–1937) * Clemens Krauss (1937–1940) * (1945–1952) * (1952–1967) * Günther Rennert (1967–1976) * August Everding (1977–1982) *

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

(1982–1993) * Peter Jonas (1993–2006) *

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 202 ...

(2006–2008) *

(2008–2021) * (2021–present)

Generalmusikdirektor

Franz Lachner Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 1803 – 20 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family (his brothers Ignaz, Theodor and Vinzenz also became musicians). He studied music with ...

(1836–1867) *

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for est ...

(1864–1869) *

Franz Wüllner Franz Wüllner (28 January 1832 – 7 September 1902) was a German composer and conductor. He led the premieres of Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', but was much criticized by Wagner himself, who greatly preferred the more celebrate ...

(1870–1877) *

Hermann Levi Hermann Levi (7 November 1839 – 13 May 1900) was a German Jewish orchestral conductor. Levi was born in Giessen, Germany, the son of a rabbi. He was educated at Giessen and Mannheim, and came to Vinzenz Lachner's notice. From 1855 to 1858 ...

(1872–1896) *

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...

(1894–1896) *

Max Erdmannsdörfer Max Erdmannsdörfer (14 June 184814 February 1905) (sometimes seen as ''Max von Erdmannsdörfer'') was a German conductor, pianist and composer. He was born in Nuremberg. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, becoming concertmaster at Sonder ...

(1896–1898) *

Bernhard Stavenhagen Bernhard Stavenhagen (24 November 1862 – 25 December 1914) was a German pianist, composer and conductor. His musical style was influenced by Franz Liszt, and as a conductor he was a strong advocate of new music. Biography Born in Greiz, he com ...

(1898–1902) * Hermann Zumpe (1901–1903) * Felix Mottl (1904–1911) *

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

(1913–1922) *

(1922–1935) * Clemens Krauss (1937–1944) *

(1945) *

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-serving ...

(1946–1952) *

Rudolf Kempe Rudolf Kempe (14 June 1910 – 12 May 1976) was a German conductor. Biography Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and t ...

(1952–1954) * Ferenc Fricsay (1956–1958) *

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career He started his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe. In 1940 he became director of the German Philharmonic Orches ...

(1959–1968) *

(1971–1992) * Peter Schneider (interim, 1992–1998) *

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

(1998–2006) *

(2006–2013) *

(2013–2021) *

(2021–present)

World premieres

Recordings

Bayerische Staatsoper has issued numerous recordings under record labels such as

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family o ...

. In May 2021, it launched its own recording label, Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings (BSOrec). Among the company's noted recordings are the 1989 video recording 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' ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

'' at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

conducted by

, which won Best Video in the 1993

Gramophone Classical Music Awards The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

. The 1973 recording of Richard Strauss's ''

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 the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'', conducted by Carlos Kleiber and released in 2008, was highly acclaimed and selected as Editor's Choice in the April 2009 issue of ''Gramophone'' Magazine. At International Opera Awards, the Bayerische Staatsoper won the 2018 the Opera Company Award. Their recording of Handel's Agrippina, directed by Barrie Kosky from the Royal Opera House, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Opera Awards. In 1977, a recording by the Bayerische Staatsoper was selected by NASA to be included on the

Voyager Golden Record The Voyager Golden Records are two phonograph records that were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended fo ...

, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on the Voyager space craft. The record contained sounds and images which had been selected as examples of the diversity of life and culture on Earth. In the recording, soprano

Edda Moser Edda Moser (born 27 October 1938) is a German operatic soprano. She was particularly well known for her interpretations of music by Mozart. Her 1973 recital LP ' received the Grand Prix du Disque. Life and career Moser was born in Berlin, the ...

sings " Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from Mozart's opera, ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...

'', conducted by Sawallisch.

References

External links

*
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
at the Bach Cantatas Website {{Authority control Music in Munich 1653 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 17th-century establishments in Bavaria Organizations established in the 1650s Musical groups established in the 17th century German opera companies Theatres in Munich