Opernhaus Leipzig Langzeitbelichtung Tag

Opernhaus Leipzig Zuschauerraum mit Loge

The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an

opera house An opera house is a theater (structure), theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a Stage (theatre), stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venu ...

and

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 located at the

Augustusplatz The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest (and, prior to almost all its buildings being destroyed in bombing in the Second Wo ...

and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreu ...

, Germany.

History

Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspiel performances beginning in the year 1693. The composer of many early operas at the first opera house, the

Oper am Brühl The Oper am Brühl (also ''Barockoper Leipzig'') was the first opera house in Leipzig. It existed from 1693 to 1720 and was the second municipal music theatre in Germany, after the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg. It was initiated by Nicolaus Adam ...

, was

Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hi ...

. He was director of the house from 1703 to 1705. The Leipzig Opera does not have its own opera orchestra – the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

performs as its orchestra. This relationship began in 1766 with performances of the Singspiel ' by

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728, in Wendisch-Ossig, Saxony – 16 June 1804, in Leipzig) was a German composer, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas ...

Opera House, 1868

The previous theater (the "") was inaugurated on 28 January 1868 with ''Jubilee Overture'' by

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

and the overture for ''

Iphigénie en Aulide ''Iphigénie en Aulide'' ('' Iphigeneia in Aulis'') is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and was based on Je ...

'' by

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he ga ...

and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

's play ''

Iphigenia in Tauris ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Ταύροις, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, '' Helen'', as ...

''. From 1886 to 1888, Gustav Mahler was the second conductor;

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...

was his superior. During an

air raid Air raid may refer to: Attacks * Airstrike * Strategic bombing Other uses * ''Air Raid'' (album), by the improvisational collective Air * Air Raid ''(Transformers)'', the name of three characters in the Transformers universes * ''Air Raid'' ...

in the night of 3 December 1943, part of the

bombing of Leipzig in World War II During World War II, Leipzig was repeatedly attacked by British as well as American air raids. The most severe attack was launched by the Royal Air Force in the early hours of 4 December 1943 and claimed more than 1,800 lives. Large parts of the ...

, the theater was destroyed, as were all of Leipzig's theatres.

Opera House, 1960

Construction of the modern opera house began in 1956. The theater was inaugurated on 8 October 1960 with a performance 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 ''

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 traditi ...

''. Since 2009,

Ulf Schirmer Ulf Schirmer (born 1959) is a German conductor and opera house administrator. Born in Eschenhausen, Lower Saxony, Schirmer studied at the Bremen Conservatory, and also at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, with György Ligeti, Christ ...

is the ''

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 ...

'' (General Music Director, or GMD); he was elected artistic director in 2011 for a five-year term.

General music directors

Among the people with the title Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) were *

(1878) * Gustav Mahler (1886–1888) * Otto Lohse (1912) *

Gustav Brecher Gustav Brecher (5 February 1879 – May 1940) was a German conductor, composer, and music critic. As director of the Leipzig Opera, he conducted world premieres of works by Ernst Krenek and Kurt Weill, including '' Jonny spielt auf'' and '' Ris ...

(1923) * Paul Schmitz (1932) * Helmut Seydelmann (1951) * Paul Schmitz (1964) *

Lothar Zagrosek Lothar Zagrosek (born 13 November 1942 in Otting, Germany) is a German conductor. As a youth, he sang in the Regensburg Cathedral choir, including performances as the First Boy in '' The Magic Flute'' at the 1954 Salzburg Festival. From 1962 t ...

(1990–1992) *

Jiří Kout Jiří Kout (born 26 December 1937) is a Czech conductor who currently works as both chief conductor of the and as a director of the Theater St. Gallen. Coming from the eastern surroundings of Prague, Kout experienced the Soviet influence early ...

(1993) *

Michail Jurowski Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski (; 25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in concerts a ...

(1999) *

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting position ...

(2005–2008) *

(2009–present)

World premieres

Several operas received their premiere in Leipzig, including: * 1826: ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fair ...

'' by Weber (first production in Germany) * 1828: ''

Der Vampyr '' Der Vampyr '' (''The Vampire'') is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück (Marschner's brother-in-law) is based on the play ''Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut'' (1821) by Heinrich Ludw ...

'' by Marschner * 1837: ''

Zar und Zimmermann ''Zar und Zimmermann'' (''Tsar and Carpenter'') is a comic opera in three acts, music by Albert Lortzing, libretto by the composer after Georg Christian Römer's ''Der Bürgermeister von Saardam, oder Die zwei Peter'', itself based on the French p ...

'' by Lortzing * 1850: ''

Genoveva ''Genoveva'', Op. 81, is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 a ...

'' by Schumann * 1902: ' by

Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...

*1906: ''

The Wreckers The Wreckers were an American country music duo formed in 2005 by Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, both of whom had solo recordings before the duo's foundation. In 2006, the duo released its debut album '' Stand Still, Look Pretty'', which prod ...

'' by

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended t ...

* 1927: ''

Jonny spielt auf ''Jonny spielt auf'' (''Jonny Strikes Up''), Op. 45, is a German-language with words and music by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. He dedicated the opera to his second wife, Berta Herrmann.Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the i ...

'' by Weill * 1931: ''

Die Blume von Hawaii ''The Flower of Hawaii'' (German language, German:''Die Blume von Hawaii'') is an operetta in three acts by Paul Abraham with a libretto by Alfred Grünwald (librettist), Alfred Grünwald, Fritz Löhner-Beda, and Imre Földes (writer), Imre Földe ...

'' by Abraham * 1933: ''

Der Silbersee ''Der Silbersee: ein Wintermärchen'' (''The Silver Lake: a Winter's Fairy Tale'') is a 'play with music' in three acts by Kurt Weill to a German text by Georg Kaiser. The subtitle is an allusion to Heinrich Heine's 1844 satirical epic poem, ''Ger ...

'' by Weill * 1937: ''Viola'' by

Ludwig Schmidseder Ludwig Schmidseder (24 August 1904, in Passau – 21 June 1971, in Munich) was a German composer and pianist of the "Light Muse". Several of his Schlager compositions are still popular tunes today. The young Schmidseder followed his father's wi ...

* 1943: ''

Catulli Carmina ' (''Songs of Catullus'') is a cantata by Carl Orff dating from 1940–1943. He described it as ''ludi scaenici'' (scenic plays). The work mostly sets poems of the Latin poet Catullus to music, with some text by the composer. ''Catulli Carmina'' ...

'' by Orff * 1966: ''

Guyana Johnny Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

'' by

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 ...

* 1971: ''Der zerbrochne Krug'' by

Fritz Geißler Fritz Geißler (or Geissler) (16 September 1921 in Wurzen, Saxony – 11 January 1984 in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg) was one of the most important composers of the German Democratic Republic. The son of Elsa and Walther Geißler, he was raised in ...

* 1988: ''Der Idiot'' by

Karl Ottomar Treibmann Karl Ottomar Treibmann (14 January 1936 – 13 February 2017) was a German composer and music educator. From 1981 until his retirement in 2001, he was professor of music theory and at the Leipzig University. He was one of the representatives of ...

* 1991: ''Matka'' by

Annette Schlünz Annette Schlünz (born 23 September 1964) is a German musician and composer. Biography Schlünz was born in Dessau, East Germany. She studied music at the Dresden Music School from 1983 to 1987 with Udo Zimmermann and at the Academy of Arts in Be ...

* 1993: ''Nachtwache'' by

Jörg Herchet Jörg Herchet (born 20 September 1943) is a German composer. Life Born in Dresden, Herchet grew up as the son of a driver and a worker in modest circumstances. As a pupil he received recorder and cello lessons, later piano and singing lessons. ...

* 1993: ''Dienstag'' from ''

Licht 275px, Karlheinz Stockhausens grave with the score to LICHT . ''Licht'' (Light), subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche" (The Seven Days of the Week), is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen between 1977 and 2003. The compose ...

'' by Stockhausen * 1996: ''Freitag'' from ''Licht'' by Stockhausen * 1997: ''Abraum'' by

* 2001: ''Persephone oder der Ausgleich der Welten'' by

Günter Neubert Günter Neubert (born 11 March 1936) is a German composer and tonmeister. Life Born in Crimmitschau, Saxony, after his Abitur at a secondary school in Crimmitschau in 1954, Neubert studied school music at the University of Music and Theat ...

* 2006: ''Der schwarze Mönch'' by

Philippe Hersant Philippe Hersant (born 21 June 1948 in Rome) is a French composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Selected works :: Hersant's works are largely published by Éditions Durand. ;Stage * ''Le Château des Carpathes'', Opera in a prolo ...

* 2009: ''Rituale – eine Tanzoper für Georg Friedrich Händel'' by

Heike Hennig Heike Hennig (born 8 November 1966) is a German dancer, choreographer and director of the opera and dance ensemble "Heike Hennig & Co". Life Heike Hennig had her first dance lessons at the age of 5 years in Leipzig of East Germany, studied m ...

* 2009: ''Das Wesentliche ist unsichtbar'', production of the opera's children's choir * 2010: ''Monsieu Mathieu, was wird?'' production of the opera's children's choir with schools, music by

Bruno Coulais Bruno Coulais (born 13 January 1954) is a French composer, most widely known for his music on film soundtracks. Life and career Coulais was born in Paris; his father, Farth Coulais, is from Vendée, and his mother, Bernsy Coulais, was born in ...

and

Christophe Barratier Christophe Barratier (born 17 June 1963) is a French film producer, director and screenwriter, and lyricist. Early life and education Barratier is the son of the actress Eva Simonet and M. Barratier. He is the nephew of the film director Jacque ...

* 2011: ''Was, wäre, wenn?'' production of the opera's children's choir * 2011: ''Waldrandgeflüster'', produktion of the opera's youth and children's choir * 2015: ''The Canterville Ghost'' by Gordon Getty

References

External links

*
Interview with Damien Diaz, Principal Dancer under Uwe Scholz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leipzig Opera Opera houses in Germany German opera companies Buildings and structures in Leipzig Tourist attractions in Leipzig Theatres completed in 1693 Music venues completed in 1693 Theatres completed in 1868 Music venues completed in 1868 Theatres completed in 1960 Music venues completed in 1960 1693 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire