Opernhaus Dortmund

Opernhaus Dortmund

The opera house in 2008
General information
Location Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Coordinates 51°30′40″N 7°27′42″E / 51.5110°N 7.4616°ECoordinates: 51°30′40″N 7°27′42″E / 51.5110°N 7.4616°E
Opening 1966
Design and construction
Architect
  • Heinrich Rosskotten
  • Edgar Tritthart
Website
www.theaterdo.de

Opernhaus Dortmund is the opera house of Dortmund, Germany, which opened in 1966 and is formally operated by the Theater Dortmund organisation. This is the second opera house to exist in Dortmund, the first one having been built in 1904, but it was destroyed during World War I.

The 1966 opera house was designed by architects Heinrich Rosskotten and Edgar Tritthart.[1] The design separates the functions of the stage and technical areas in the Bühnenhaus (stage house), which is dominated by straight lines, from the auditorium under a thin-shell structure roof.

Opening season

The new house opened on 3 March 1966 to serve as a venue for operas, ballets, concerts, and for plays which require a big stage. The inaugural performance was Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, an opera which had been first performed in 1911, shortly after its premiere; Wilhelm Schüchter conducted the Dortmunder Philharmoniker.[1] Teresa Żylis-Gara appeared as Octavian, along with guest artist Elisabeth Grümmer as the Marschallin and Kurt Böhme as Ochs. In the short remaining part of the season, Verdi's Il trovatore, with Fedora Barbieri as Azucena, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, and Johann Strauss' Der Zigeunerbaron were performed.

The first plays staged in the so-called Großes Haus during this period were Brecht's Leben des Galilei and Anouilh's Becket. Unusual for the era of the iron curtain, the Volkstheater Rostock performed Peter Weiss's Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgruppe des Hospizes zu Charenton unter Anleitung des Herrn de Sade.

Administrative personnel

Marek Janowski was the Generalmusikdirektor from 1973 to 1979, followed by Moshe Atzmon (1996-2000), Anton Marik, Arthur Fagen, and since 2008 Jac van Steen. The Dortmunder Philharmoniker used the opera house for concerts until 2002.

Christine Mielitz was Opera Director at the Dortmund Theatre for the 2002 / 2003 season.

Jens-Daniel Herzog has been Opera Director since August 2011.[2]

World premieres and repertoire

In 1967 Schüchter conducted the premiere of the opera Eli by Walter Steffens after the drama by Nelly Sachs, a work commissioned by the city of Dortmund.[3]

In 1992 the opera Sekunden und Jahre des Caspar Hauser by Reinhard Febel was first performed, with Alexander Marco-Buhrmester in the title role.[4]

The 1998 opera Doctor Ox's Experiment by Gavin Bryars received its second staging in 1999, produced by Pascal Paul-Harang and conducted by Alexander Rumpf.[5]

In 2000 Michael Hofstetter conducted a production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.[6]

The opera Wallenberg of Erkki-Sven Tüür was commissioned by the Oper Dormund and premiered there on 5 May 2001, staged by Philipp Kochheim, conducted by Alexander Rumpf.[7]

In 2004, the 100th anniversary of the first opera house, a new production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen was planned.[8] It began with Das Rheingold on 26 June 2005, directed by Mielitz and conducted by Arthur Fagen.[9] Siegfried was performed on 2 September 2006.[10] In April 2007 a complete cycle was performed.[11] In 2009 she staged Henze's Der junge Lord, conducted by Jac van Steen, related to the project RUHR.2010, the whole Ruhr being European Capital of Culture.[12]

Verdi's Falstaff was performed on 11 April 2010, staged by Beverley Blankenship, conducted by Jac van Steen, with Jacek Strauch in the title role.[13]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dortmund Opera House". structurae. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  2. ↑ Nadine Albach (14 April 2010). ""Wir sind eine Oper für alle"" (in German). derwesten.de. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  3. ↑ "Walter Steffens Werke / Works" (in German). Walter Steffens. 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Reinhard Febel / Werke". Ricordi. 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "Doctor Ox's Experiment". Schott. 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Michael Hofstetter" (in German). Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  7. ↑ "Erkki-Sven Tüür". home.wanadoo.nl. 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  8. ↑ "Christine Mielitz" (in German). Lewin Management. 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  9. ↑ Stefan Schmöe (2005). "Christines kleine Dortmunder Farbenlehre" (in German). Online Music Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  10. ↑ Stefan Schmöe (2006). "Siegfried-Metamorphosen" (in German). Online Music Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  11. ↑ "Wagner Performance Diary 2007". The Wagner Society. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  12. ↑ Julia Gaß (18 May 2010). "Henzes "Junger Lord" ist ein operettenhafter Spaß" (in German). Ruhr-Nachrichten. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  13. ↑ Ursula Decker-Bönniger (2010). "Falstaff" (in German). Online Music Magazine. Retrieved 28 August 2010.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oper Dortmund.