Komische Oper Berlin
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The Komische Oper Berlin is an opera company in Berlin, Germany, which specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta and musicals.
Since 2004, it has been operated by the Berliner Opernstiftung, and is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from the famous Berlin street Unter den Linden.
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[edit] History of the Building
The theatre was built between 1891-1892 by architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer for a private society. It first opened on September 24, 1892 as "Theater Unter den Linden" with Adolf Ferron's operetta Daphne and Gaul and Haßreiter's ballet Die Welt in Bild und Tanz.
The theatre was primarily a vehicle for operetta, but was also used for various other events and balls. Around 800 people could be seated in the stalls, and the balconies and various en-suite dinner rooms housed about a further 1,700 seats. Its directors went bankrupt in 1896 and the theatre was forced to close its doors.
On September 3, 1898 the theatre was reopened as Metropol-Theater with Julius Freund's revue Paradies der Frauen. It then grew to become one of Berlin's most famous and successful variety theatres. However, due to a decline of variety and music hall entertainment in the late 1920's the theatre was again closed in 1933.
In 1934 the theatre was nationalized and renamed Staatliches Operettentheater. It operated as part of the Nazi Kraft durch Freude entertainment and leisure programmes. During World War II, the auditorium was damaged by Allied bombing on May 7, 1944. The façade, entrance hall, and auditorium ceiling murals were destroyed by bombs on March 9, 1945.
Following repair works and provisional rebuilding, the theatre reopened on December 23, 1947, as the Komische Oper with Johann Strauß's operetta Die Fledermaus.
The 1950's saw various further alterations and extensions. The theatre was completely rebuilt in 1965-1966 by Architektenkollektiv Kunz Nierade, adding functional extensions and giving the theatre a completely new exterior.
It reopened again on December 4, 1966, to Mozart's Don Giovanni. The auditorium (still more or less in its 1892 state) was restored in 1986. In 1989 the stage technology was modernized. Today the theatre seats 1270.
Note:
- The names mentioned should not be confused with similar names of other theatres in Berlin. The theatre is not identical to the "Theater unter den Linden" which operated from 1933 to 1945 in the former "Kleines Theater" at Unter den Linden 44; nor to the "Staatsoper Unter den Linden", the Berlin State Opera. Neither is it identical to the "Metropol-Theater" that operated in the former Admiralspalast from 1955 into the 1990s. Furthermore, today's "Komische Oper" has no connection to the "Komische Oper (an der Weidendammer Brücke)" which operated from 1905 into the 1920s as an opera theater, later as an operetta theatre, and finally as a revue theatre.
[edit] The Komische Oper company
The resident opera company, the Komische Oper, was founded and directed by Walter Felsenstein until his death in 1975. It specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta and musicals.
From 1966 to 2004 the theatre was also home to a resident ballet company - first as "Tanztheater der Komischen Oper", and then from 1999 as "BerlinBallett - Komische Oper".
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