Hanover State Opera () is a German opera company based in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, the state capital of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. The company is resident in the Hanover Opera House (), and is part of a publicly-funded umbrella performing arts organisation called Hanover State Theatre of Lower Saxony (), or simply Hanover State Theatre (). Hanover State Theatre comprises the following divisions that put on operas, stage productions, 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 appointed ...

. 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 acoustician ...

were improved, and between 1996 and 1998, the stage facilities were renovated. The International Choreographic Competition Hannover has taken place at Hanover Opera House since the early 1980s, and is the longest-running choreography competition in the world. It is organised by the Ballet Association of Hanover ().

Administration

The current

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 ...

of the opera company is replacing Michael Klügl in 2019. The longest-serving general music director (GMD) 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

Karen Kamensek Karen Kamensek (born January 2, 1970, in Chicago) is an American orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Kamensek's parents immigrated from Kamnica, Maribor, Kamnica pri Mariboru, Slovenia to the United States, eventually settling in the Lou ...

, from 2011 until 2014. The current GMD 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. In April 2024 the company announced the extension of Zilias' contract as GMD through the 2025–2026 season.

General music directors

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 so ...

(1924–1943) *

Franz Konwitschny Franz Konwitschny (14 August 1901, Fulnek, Moravia – 28 July 1962, Belgrade) was a German conductor and violist of Moravian descent. Biography Konwitschny came from a family of musicians. From 1920 to 1923 he took violin lessons at the Academ ...

(1945–1949) *

Johannes Schüler Johannes Schüler (21 June 18943 October 1966) was a German conductor. He 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 Be ...

(1949–1960) * Günter Wich (1961–1965) * George Alexander Albrecht (1965–1993) *

Christof Perick Christof Prick (born 1946) is a German orchestra conducting, conductor. He uses the name Christof Perick in English-speaking countries. His father was the concertmaster of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Biography Born in Hamburg, Prick studied at th ...

(1993–1996) * Andreas Delfs (1996–2000) * Hans Urbanek (2000–2001) *

Lü Shao-chia Lü Shao-chia (; born 1960) is a Taiwanese conducting, conductor. He has been music director of the National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan since 2010. Biography Born in Hsinchu County, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Lü s ...

(2001–2006) * (2006–2011) *

(2011–2016) * (2016–2019) * Stephan Zilias (2020–present)

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 a German composer best known for his operas. He is considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.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 ...

'' by

Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz, CBE, FBA (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Well ...

* 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 co ...

* 1943: ''Der Kuckuck von Theben'' by

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as ''Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by ...

* 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 ...

'' by

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

* 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, compositio ...

* 1977: ''Faust und Yorick'' by

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

* 1980: ''Ein Abenteuer auf dem Friedhof'' by Alfred Koerppen * 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 ...

* 2005: ''iOPAL'' by

Hans-Joachim Hespos Hans-Joachim Hespos (13 March 1938 – 18 July 2022) was a German composer of avant-garde music. He was trained as a teacher and worked until 1984. Self-taught as a composer, he then worked freelance and created more than 200 works in many genre ...

* 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. Battistel ...

Notable people

Marco Goecke Marco Goecke (born 12 April 1972) is a German choreographer. He was the director of Hanover State Ballet between 2019 and 2023, and had also held positions at Stuttgart Ballet, , Nederlands Dans Theater and Gauthier Dance. He had additionally c ...

References

External links

* * * {{authority control German opera companies Tourist attractions in Hanover Musical groups from Hanover Organisations based in Hanover