Theater Aachen is a theatre in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, Germany. It is the principal venue in that city for

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

and

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

s. It is the home of the Sinfonieorchester Aachen. The original project was by Johann Peter Cremer, later altered by

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, urban planning, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed b ...

. Construction on the original theatre began in 1822 and it opened on 15 May 1825. A bomb attack on 14 July 1943 destroyed the first theatre, and the current structure was inaugurated on 23 December 1951 with a performance of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

'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 traditio ...

''.

Conductors

The conductors of the theatre have also been

Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a 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 ...

of Aachen: *1920–1935

Peter Raabe Peter Raabe (27 November 1872 – 12 April 1945) was a German people, German composer and Conductor (music), conductor. Biography Raabe graduated from 3 schools: the Higher Musical School in Berlin; and the universities of Munich University, M ...

*1935–1942 Herbert von Karajan *1942–1944 Paul van Kempen *1946–1953 Felix Raabe *1953–1958

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 ...

*1958–1962 Hans Walter Kämpfel *1962–1974 Wolfgang Trommer *1974–1983 Gabriel Chmura *1984–1990 Yoram David *1990–1992 Bruce Ferden *1993–1996 Yukio Kitahara *1997–2002 Elio Boncompagni *2002–2012 Marcus Bosch *2012–2017 Kazem Abdullah *2017–2018 Justus Thorau *since 2018 Christopher Ward

References

External links

Official Website of Theater Aachen
Aachen Opera houses in Germany Theatres in North Rhine-Westphalia Theatres completed in 1825 Music venues completed in 1825 Karl Friedrich Schinkel buildings {{opera-struct-stub