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History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
MAX FLEISCHER
Max Fleischer (July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios. He brought such animated characters as Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen and was responsible for a number of technological innovations.
Fleischer devised a concept to simplify the process of animating movement by tracing frames of live action film. His patent for the Rotoscope was granted in 1915, although Max and his brother Dave Fleischer made their first cartoon using the system in 1914. Extensive use of this technique was made in Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell series for the first five years of the series, which started in 1919 and starred Koko the Clown and Fitz the dog.
Fleischer produced his Inkwell films for the Bray Studios until 1921, when he and younger brothers Dave and Lou established Fleischer Studios (initially named "Out of the Inkwell Films") to produce animated cartoons and short subjects; Max was credited as the producer at the beginning of every cartoon as well. Koko and Fitz remained the stars of the Out of the Inkwell series, which was renamed Inkwell Imps in 1927. The Fleischer brothers also partnered with Lee DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Hugo Riesenfeld to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coast, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio.
Fleischer invented the "follow the bouncing ball" technique for his Song Car-Tunes series of animated singalong shorts beginning in May 1924. After a few films with unsynchronized sound (music and sound effects only), Fleischer added synchronized sound to this series, with My Old Kentucky Home (released April 13, 1926) with a dog-like character saying "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody." The sound entries in the Song Car-Tunes series — roughly 19 out of 36 short films — used the Phonofilm sound-on-film process developed by Lee DeForest. The Song Car-Tunes series would last until early 1927, just a few months before the actual start of the sound era. This was before Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928), which is often mistakenly cited as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation. However, by late 1926, both the DeForest Phonofilm Corp. and Red Seal Pictures had filed for bankruptcy, and the Song Car-Tunes series came to an end.
In 1923, Fleischer made two 20-minute educational features explaining Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity (The Einstein Theory of Relativity) and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Both features used a combination of animated special effects and live action. Fleischer also produced Finding His Voice (1929) illustrating how sound films worked.
Into the early sound era, Fleischer produced many technically advanced and sophisticated animated films. Several of his cartoons had soundtracks featuring live or rotoscoped images of the leading jazz performers of the time, most notably Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and Don Redman. Fleischer's use of black performers was bold at a time when depictions of blacks were often denigrating and stereotypical.
In 1928, as film studios made the transition to sound, Fleischer revived the Song Car-Tunes series as Screen Songs, starting with the release of The Sidewalks of New York on February 5, 1929 through Paramount Pictures. Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. was reorganized as Fleischer Studios in January 1929 following bankruptcy. During this time, Walt Disney was also gaining success with Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies. In August 1929, the silent Inkwell Imps series was replaced with the Talkartoon series, beginning with Noah's Lark. A year into the series, Fitz was renamed "Bimbo" and became the star of the Talkartoon series, starting with the cartoon Hot Dog (1930).
However, in August 1930, a Rubenesque poodle-human hybrid, Bimbo's girlfriend, made her screen debut in Dizzy Dishes, and quickly became Fleischer's biggest star; she would later be named Betty Boop. By 1931, Betty's floppy canine ears had evolved into hoop earrings, and she was transformed into a fully human girl (though she retained her romantic relationship with the dog for several episodes after her transmogrification). By the time of Minnie the Moocher (1932), Betty Boop was in a class of her own, and by August 1932, starting with Stopping the Show, the Talkartoon series was renamed as Betty Boop Cartoons; by now, as noted from even the opening song from Stopping the Show, Betty clearly became the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Animated Screen." Along with his standout star Boop, Fleischer had become one of the two premier animation producers; the up-and-coming Walt Disney was the other.
Fleischer cartoons were very different from Disney cartoons, in concept and in execution. The Fleischer approach was sophisticated, focused on surrealism, dark humor, adult psychological elements and sexuality. The Fleischer milieu was grittier, more urban, sometimes even sordid, often set in squalid tenement apartments with cracked, crumbling plaster and threadbare furnishings. Even the jazz music on Fleischer's soundtracks was rawer, saucier, more fitting with the unflinching Fleischer look at America's multicultural scene. But as popular as Betty Boop was for Fleischer, the Fleischer Studios would never come close to matching the huge international success of Mickey Mouse.
Fleischer would come closest through his deal securing the rights to the comic strip character Popeye the Sailor from King Features Syndicate. Popeye started out as a secondary character in 1929 in the newspaper feature Thimble Theater, and made his film debut in July, 1933, introduced in the Betty Boop short Popeye the Sailor. Popeye was an immediate hit for Fleischer, and would remain in production until 1957.
Fleischer's studio was a major operation in New York under the support of Paramount Studio. But as a recipient of Paramount cash, Fleischer was also at the mercy of Paramount's management. During the Great Depression, Paramount went through four name changes and reorganizations due to bankruptcies. These reorganizations affected the production budgets and created obstacles to Fleischer's development.
When the three-color Technicolor process became available, Paramount vetoed it based on their concerns with economic balance, giving Disney the opportunity to acquire an exclusivity to the process for four years, thus giving him the market edge on color cartoons. Two years later, Paramount approved color production for Fleischer, but he was left with the clearly inferior two-color processes of Cinecolor (red and blue) and two-strip Technicolor (red and green). The Color Classics series was introduced in 1934 as Fleischer's answer to Disney's Silly Symphonies.
These color cartoons were augmented with a Fleischer-patented three-dimensional background effect called "The Stereoptical Process," a precursor to Disney's Multiplane. This technique replaced the usual flat-plane, drawn and painted cartoon backgrounds with a circular 3-D scale-model background — a diorama — in front of which the action cels were positioned and photographed. As the character, say, hustled down a city street, the camera operator would rotate the diorama a click with each frame. The result was a constantly changing perspective of converging parallel lines that gave an amazing sense of depth. The process worked most dramatically with pans or tracking shots; for static shots, traditional drawn backgrounds sufficed. It was used to great effect in the longer format Popeye cartoons Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936) and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937). These series of double-length (two-reel) cartoons were a gradual progression expressing Fleischer's desire to produce feature-length animated features. And while he had concepts for full-length features, it was not until the success of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) that the stodgy Paramount executives realized the value of an animated feature as Fleischer had been proposing for the previous three years.
The popularity of Betty Boop was irreparably damaged as a result of the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934. Her overt sexuality was downplayed, and her racy flapper attire was replaced with longer skirts and a less revealing neckline. While the production of the cartoons had become more refined with more structured stories, the level of the content was more juvenile, largely influenced by Paramount's front office, which was changing the tone of their films to reflect a more family-oriented audience by producing films more of the nature of MGM. Betty became a spinster career girl and maiden aunt character, a judgmental "good citizen" instead of the carefree, funloving Jazz Baby she had once been. As a result, she lost much of her audience appeal, and the era and musical style that she represented had already faded away with the coming of the Swing Era.
In 1937, film production at Fleischer's studio was affected by a five month strike, which kept his cartoons off theater screens through the rest of the year. The strikers represented by the Commercial Artists and Designers Union were not recognized by the IATSE, which represented the majority of the motion picture crafts. But after five months, Paramount Pictures urged Fleischer to settle. Then in March 1938, Fleischer Studios moved from New York City to Miami, Florida. The reasons were many. While it was reasoned that the relocation removed the studio from further union agitation, they were in need of additional space for the production of features. Coincidentally with the move, relations between brothers Dave and Max began deteriorating. A feud started simmering after Dave began an adulterous affair with his Miami secretary in 1938, and was followed by more personal and professional disputes.
While at Paramount, Dave Fleischer was asked by the studio to put the popular comic book and radio hero Superman into a cartoon series. Despite the high budgets that came from the series — triple the budget of typical Popeye one-reelers — Superman became the most successful cartoons in the late period of the studio. Its ultra-realistic drawing, stylish Art Deco look and magnificently intricate scoring made the Superman pilot the highwater mark of the studio's sophisticated output.
In the wake of Disney's inarguable triumph with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Paramount top brass finally acquiesced to Fleischer's longstanding appeals to produce feature-length animated films — and now they wanted one for a Christmas 1939 release. In order to finance the new operation, Fleischer negotiated a loan with Paramount that in essence surrendered the studio's assets for the term of the loan, 10 years.
While Gulliver's Travels (1939) did moderate box office, it did not make back all of its costs since the production ran nearly $500,000 overbudget due to the relocation, transportation of film for processing and back, and costs of training new workers. At the time, it was also reported that the escalated war in Europe just three months before cut off Paramount's foreign release potential; however, recent information indicates that the picture was released in Europe but the returns were not reported to Fleischer Studios' accounting department. At the same time, returns on Popeye cartoons were also not properly accounted. These factors contributed to the continued financial losses for Fleischer's studio. The final blow came with the ill-fated release of their second feature, Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) two days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
On May 24, 1941, Paramount initiated takeover of Fleischer's studio. Max remained nominally in charge, but the long-simmering personal feud with his brother Dave further complicated the situation. Shortly after the release of Mr. Bug, a disgusted Dave left for California to take over as head of Columbia's Screen Gems animation unit in April 1942 — just one month prior to the renewal of Fleischer's contract. The move put Dave in breach of contract, for taking a position with a competitor while still contracted to Paramount. This breach, along with the substantial debt to Paramount, gave the bigger studio the right to take control of the smaller, forcing Max out. Paramount installed new management, among them Max's son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel. On May 25, 1942, the studio was renamed Famous Studios, and it moved back to New York within eight months.
Despite the disappointing performance of the feature films, the Superman series continued to do well. Nine episodes were completed by Fleischer Studios, with the final eight made by Famous Studios after the reorganization. Today, the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons are considered the final triumph of this great pioneer and his innovative studio.
After leaving his studio, Fleischer was brought in as head of the Animation Department for the industrial film company, The Jam Handy Organization. While there he supervised the technical and cartoon animation departments, producing training films for the Army and Navy and was also involved with research and development for the war effort. Following the war, he supervised the production of the animated adaptation of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1948), sponsored by Montgomery Ward. Fleischer left Handy in 1954 and returned as Production Manager for the Bray Studios in New York.
Fleischer lost a lawsuit against Paramount in 1955 over the removal of his name from the credits of his films. While Fleischer had issues over the breach of contract, he had avoided suing to protect his son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel, who still had a position with Paramount's Famous Studios. The lawsuit was lost because the court decided that, though Fleischer's case had merit, the statute of limitations had expired. In 1958, Fleischer revived Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. and partnered with his former animator, Hal Seeger to produce 100 color Out of the Inkwell (1960–1961) cartoons for television. Actor Larry Storch performed the voices for Koko and supporting characters Kokonut and Mean Moe.
Although the rift with his brother Dave was never resolved, Max eventually formed a friendship with his old rival Walt Disney, who welcomed Max to a reunion with former Fleischer animators who were by then employed by Disney.
Fleischer, along with his wife Essie, moved to the Motion Picture Country House in 1967. He died from heart failure on September 11, 1972, after a period of poor health. On the day of his death, Max Fleischer was cited as a great pioneer who invented an industry, and was named by Time magazine as the "Dean of Animated Cartoons."[
His son Richard Fleischer, born in 1916, entered the film industry in the 1940s, and in retirement worked on merchandising Betty Boop.
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
A 2005 international survey of self esteem published in the highest ranking social psychology journal found that Japan had the lowest of all 53 nations surveyed (Schmitt & Allik, 2005). The US had the 5th highest self esteem. US self-esteem is 25% higher than that in Japan. This rises to approximately 60% higher when compared to a North American Caucasian population (Heine, Lehman, Markus, & Kitayama, 1999). Psychologists who believe in the universality of the importance of self-esteem, believe that these results explain various social problems in Japan (古荘, 2009). Cultural-psychologists, however, argue that Self-esteem does not occupy a central position in the position in the psychology of the Japanese, nor explains Japanese behaviour or psychological processes. Considering these again, in the Japanese case, while Maslow argues that ego needs (and self esteem) are required for self-actualisation, innovation at which Japan ranks in top 15% of countries (The Global Innovation Index 2014.), shows no correlation (r=0.07) with comparison of self-esteem across cultures (Schmitt & Allik, 2005). While in the West birds of a feather flock together and friendships are formed between the like-minded, and notwithstanding the fact that a similar saying exists in Japanese (類は友と呼ぶ types call friends）, cross cultural research on the similarity between friends and others finds that while US subjects rate their friends more similar to themselves in their actions and preferences, the Japanese do not (Heine, Foster, & Spina, 2009). Similarly, while Americans identify with their homogeneous groups and denigrate outgroups, Japanese groups are congnised as networks containing mutually cooperating variety and are disinterested in denigrating outgroups (Yuki, 2003). Japanese make fewer risky financial decisions preferring to invest in neighbourhood banks (Hyoudo, 2011), and while the Japanese do gamble the most popular form of Japanese gambling pachinko provides "escape" (Brooks, Ellis, & Lewis, 2008) involving few decision, where gamblers might brandish their self-esteem. Japanese tourist enjoy group tours (Chon & Inagaki, 2000; Dace, 1995; Mak, 2003; Nishiyama, 1996; Pizam & Sussmann, 1995) where there few opportunities use or bolster their self-esteem, and the Japanese tend to travel to luxury destinations (Nishiyama, 1996) where there is little opportunity for downward comparison. Japanese hospitality (Omotenashi) is a psychological service where hosts provide taste, knowledge, and mental relaxation (星野, 1991, p35) and Japanese guests often enjoy 'depending' (土居, 1971, p4) on a sensitive host to make choices for them.
自動和訳
2005年の社会心理学雑誌に掲載された自己評価の国際調査では、日本は調査対象の53カ国の中で最も低い国であることが判明した（Schmitt&Allik、2005）。 米国は5番目に高い自尊心を持っていました。 米国の自尊心は日本のそれよりも25％高いです。 これは、北米の白人人口と比較すると約60％高くなります（Heine、Lehman、Markus、＆Kitayama、1999）。 自尊心の重要性の普遍性を信じる心理学者は、これらの結果が日本の様々な社会問題を説明していると信じている（uma、2009）。 しかし、文化心理学者は、自尊心は日本人の心理学における位置の中心的な位置を占めておらず、日本人の行動や心理的プロセスを説明していないと これらを改めて考えると、日本の場合、マズローは自己実現のためには自我の必要性（および自尊心）が必要であると主張しているが、日本がトップ15％の国にランクされているイノベーション（The Global Innovation Index2014。）、文化間の自尊心の比較との相関（r=0.07）を示さない（Schmitt＆Allik、2005）。 西洋では羽の鳥が一緒に群がり、志を同じくする人々の間に友情が形成されているが、日本語には同様の言葉が存在する（友人は友人と呼ぶ）という事実にもかかわらず、友人と他者の類似性に関する異文化研究は、米国の被験者が彼らの友人を彼らの行動や好みにおいて自分自身に似ていると評価しているが、日本人はそうではないことを発見している（heine,Foster,&Spina,2009）。 同様に、アメリカ人は同種のグループと同一視してアウトグループを中傷するが、日本のグループは相互に協力する多様性を含むネットワークとしてcongnisedされ、アウトグループを中傷することに無関心である(Yuki,2003)。 日本人は近所の銀行に投資することを好む危険な財務上の決定を少なくし（Hyoudo、2011）、日本人はギャンブルをしている間、日本のギャンブルパチンコの最も人気のある形は、ギャンブラーが自尊心を振り回すかもしれないいくつかの決定を含む"脱出"を提供する（Brooks、Ellis、&Lewis、2008）。 日本人観光客はグループツアーを楽しむ（Chon&Inagaki,2000;Dace,1995;Mak,2003;Nishiyama,1996;Pizam&Sussmann,1995）機会が少なく、自尊心を高めたり強化したりする機会が少なく、日本人は豪華な目的地に旅行する傾向がある（Nishiyama,1996）。 日本のおもてなし（おもてなし）は、ホストが味、知識、精神的なリラクゼーションを提供する心理的なサービスであり、日本人のゲストはしばしば敏感なホストに"依存"（土居、1971、p4）を楽しんで選択することが多い。
Image based upon table 4 page 631 in
Schmitt, D. P., & Allik, J. (2005). Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(4), 623. Retrieved from psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/89/4/623/
Bibliography
Brooks, G., Ellis, T., & Lewis, C. (2008). Pachinko: A Japanese Addiction? International Gambling Studies, 8(2), 193–205. doi:10.1080/14459790802168958
Chon, K. S., & Inagaki, T. (2000). Japanese Tourists: Socio-Economic, Marketing and Psychological Analysis (1st ed.). Routledge.
Dace, R. (1995). Japanese Tourism: How a Knowledge of Japanese Buyer Behaviour and Culture Can Be of Assistance to British Hoteliers in Seeking to Develop This Valuable Market. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 1(3), 281–288. doi:10.1177/135676679500100308
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. Retrieved from www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
Diener, E., & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(4), 653–663. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.68.4.653
Heine, S. J., Foster, J.-A. B., & Spina, R. (2009). Do birds of a feather universally flock together? Cultural variation in the similarity-attraction effect. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 12(4), 247–258. Retrieved from onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-839X.2009.0128...
Hyoudo, T. (2011). Japanese Economics and Culture: The Japanese Financial System: Financial Asset Holdings in the Private Sector. Yamaguchi University, Faculty of Economics.
Mak, J. (2003). Tourism and the Economy: Understanding the Economics of Tourism. University of Hawaii Press.
Nishiyama, K. (1996). Welcoming the Japanese Visitor: Insights, Tips, Tactics. University of Hawaii Press.
Pizam, A., & Sussmann, S. (1995). Does nationality affect tourist behavior? Annals of Tourism Research, 22(4), 901–917. doi:10.1016/0160-7383(95)00023-5
Schmitt, D. P., & Allik, J. (2005). Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(4), 623. Retrieved from psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/89/4/623/
The Global Innovation Index. (2014). Retrieved 20 September 2014, from www.globalinnovationindex.org/content.aspx?page=data-anal...
Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2011). Greater Equality: The Hidden Key to Better Health and Higher Scores. American Educator, 35(1), 5–9. Retrieved from eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ920510
Yuki, M. (2003). Intergroup comparison versus intragroup relationships: A cross-cultural examination of social identity theory in North American and East Asian cultural contexts. Social Psychology Quarterly, 166–183. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1519846.pdf
古荘純一. (2009). 日本の子どもの自尊感情はなぜ低いのか: 児童精神科医の現場報告. 光文社.
土居健郎. (1971). 「甘え」の構造 (新装.). 弘文堂.
星野克美. (1991). 「もてなし文化」ルネッサンスー新・日本型サービスをどう創造するかー. TBSブリタニカ.
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Right and left of the house are the two old wells by Josef Gasser. They represent opposing worlds. On your left, it depens on your position: "music, dance, joy, levity", right: "Loreley, sadness, love, revenge". This one stands for music...
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
In addition to being friends or guests President Barack "My Brother's Keeper" and Mrs. Girl Power" Obama invited to their children's and Nation's home...
...factual evidence clearly shows each of the above 13 American urban story-TRUTH-tellers and/or popular recording artists composes, produces, performs and/or promotes American music art HATEFULLY informing their American neighbors, as well as people residing all around our beautiful tiny blue orb, that black or African American girls and women should be viewed as less than human *itches, and *hores or 'hoes' undeserving of being treated with basic human respect.
Factual evidence shows most all of Mr. and Mrs. Obama's urban TRUTH-teller friends or WH guests compose and promote VIOLENCE riddled American music art vividly describing the SUIC!DAL, HOMIC!DAL 'people and community harming" behaviors they personally engaged in, or witnessed their emotionally ill family members, friends and neighbors engaging in. (*May 18, 2015 - Rise in Suic!de by Black Children Surprises Researchers - The New York Times*)
Popular urban story-TRUTH-teller Kendrick Lamar, a repeat President "My Brother's Keeper" Obama WH guest whose music art was admired and publicly touted by Mr. Obama...
...composes music and offers public interviews vividly describing an abusive, potentially life scarring Culture of Black or African American Child Abuse, Emotional Neglect and Maltreatment that THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, deprived most all of President and Mrs. Obama's American urban story-TRUTH-teller WH guests, their childhood friends, as well as many of their elementary and JHS classmates from experiencing a SAFE, fairly or wonderfully happy American kid childhood upbringing all Americans have a right, as well as ABSOLUTE NEED to experience during a critical period of human/childhood development.
At the 2015 BET Awards, President Obama's 28-year-old American urban story-TRUTH-teller friend, Kendrick Lamar, an admitted victim of CRIMINAL Childhood Abuse, Neglect and Maltreatment perpetrated by "living wild" violent felon family GANG members who exposed Kendrick, his siblings & numerous cousins to gun violence, as well as other life threatening 'people and community' harming behaviors, performed these lyrics for a worldwide audience,
"AND WE HATE THE PO-PO, WANNA KILL US DEAD IN THE STREET FO’ SHO."
In his 2015 Grammy award winning Rap Performance titled "I", Kendrick Lamar writes, "I've been dealing with depression ever since an adolescent."
In paragraph eight of a January 20, 2011 LAWeekly interview published online, Kendrick born in 1987, the same year songwriter Suzanne Vega wrote a Grammy nominated song about child abuse and *VICTIM DENIAL*, told the interviewer:
*"Lamar's parents moved from Chicago to Compton in 1984 with all of $500 in their pockets."
"My mom's one of 13 [THIRTEEN] siblings, and they all got SIX kids, and till I was 13 everybody was in Compton," he says."
*"I'M 6 YEARS OLD, SEEIN' MY UNCLES PLAYING WITH SHOTGUNS, SELLIN' DOPE IN FRONT OF THE APARTMENT"*
"My moms and pops never said nothing, 'cause they were young and living wild, too. I got about 15 stories like 'Average Joe.'"
Clearly, without question, urban-TRUTH-teller Kendrick Lamar, an admitted depressed, suic!dal thinking adult, is describing a SYSTEMIC AND GENERATIONAL Culture of Child Abuse and Maltreatment responsible for President Obama's urban-TRUTH-teller friends composing HATEFUL art denigrating the MATERNAL HALF of our Nation's population as less than human creatures unworthy of being treated with basic human respect.
Will my American neighbors permit me to be angry, sad and frustrated with an American president claiming to fully embrace the concept of "My Brother's Keeper", while the same president willfully ignores the PAIN, anguish, sorrow, hate, anger, resentment, depression, frustrations, concerns and FEARS expressed in the popular music composed by American entertainers my president and his wife invited to their children's and Nation's home!?
Seriously, if you possessed the power and sway to help improve the Quality of Life for significant numbers of your neighbors, wouldn't you want to learn why, as well as find a remedy and help heal your apparent angry, frustrated friends and WH guests composing violence riddled music hatefully demeaning American girls and women as less than human creatures?
___
Are you aware improving the Quality of Life, as well as emotional health and well being of our Nation's people begins with honestly RECOGNIZING the late American urban-TRUTH-teller Tupac Shakur's #T_H_U_G_L_I_F_E Child Abuse & Emotional Neglect, Maltreatment *AWARENESS* concept applies to all Americans, as well as our foreign born neighbors?
"The Hate U Give Little Infants Fvvks *EVERYONE"* ~Tupac Shakur
"We need more people who care; you know what I'm saying? We need more women, mothers, fathers, we need more of that..." ~Tupac Shakur
Unfortunately, before he developed the confidence to properly promote his #T_H_U_G_L_I_F_E Child Abuse *AWARENESS* concept, Tupac was brutally murdered by OTHER apparent emotionally or mentally ill victims of America's Culture of African American Child Abuse, Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment evolving from America's multi-generational, ignorant, once legal Culture of Racism.
Peace.
___
American *(Children's)* Lives Matter; Take Pride In Parenting; End Our National Health Crisis; Child Abuse and Neglect; End Community Violence/Fear, Police Anxiety & Educator's Frustrations
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
MAX FLEISCHER
Max Fleischer (July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios. He brought such animated characters as Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen and was responsible for a number of technological innovations.
Fleischer devised a concept to simplify the process of animating movement by tracing frames of live action film. His patent for the Rotoscope was granted in 1915, although Max and his brother Dave Fleischer made their first cartoon using the system in 1914. Extensive use of this technique was made in Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell series for the first five years of the series, which started in 1919 and starred Koko the Clown and Fitz the dog.
Fleischer produced his Inkwell films for the Bray Studios until 1921, when he and younger brothers Dave and Lou established Fleischer Studios (initially named "Out of the Inkwell Films") to produce animated cartoons and short subjects; Max was credited as the producer at the beginning of every cartoon as well. Koko and Fitz remained the stars of the Out of the Inkwell series, which was renamed Inkwell Imps in 1927. The Fleischer brothers also partnered with Lee DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Hugo Riesenfeld to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coast, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio.
Fleischer invented the "follow the bouncing ball" technique for his Song Car-Tunes series of animated singalong shorts beginning in May 1924. After a few films with unsynchronized sound (music and sound effects only), Fleischer added synchronized sound to this series, with My Old Kentucky Home (released April 13, 1926) with a dog-like character saying "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody." The sound entries in the Song Car-Tunes series — roughly 19 out of 36 short films — used the Phonofilm sound-on-film process developed by Lee DeForest. The Song Car-Tunes series would last until early 1927, just a few months before the actual start of the sound era. This was before Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928), which is often mistakenly cited as the first cartoon to synchronize sound with animation. However, by late 1926, both the DeForest Phonofilm Corp. and Red Seal Pictures had filed for bankruptcy, and the Song Car-Tunes series came to an end.
In 1923, Fleischer made two 20-minute educational features explaining Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity (The Einstein Theory of Relativity) and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Both features used a combination of animated special effects and live action. Fleischer also produced Finding His Voice (1929) illustrating how sound films worked.
Into the early sound era, Fleischer produced many technically advanced and sophisticated animated films. Several of his cartoons had soundtracks featuring live or rotoscoped images of the leading jazz performers of the time, most notably Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and Don Redman. Fleischer's use of black performers was bold at a time when depictions of blacks were often denigrating and stereotypical.
In 1928, as film studios made the transition to sound, Fleischer revived the Song Car-Tunes series as Screen Songs, starting with the release of The Sidewalks of New York on February 5, 1929 through Paramount Pictures. Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. was reorganized as Fleischer Studios in January 1929 following bankruptcy. During this time, Walt Disney was also gaining success with Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies. In August 1929, the silent Inkwell Imps series was replaced with the Talkartoon series, beginning with Noah's Lark. A year into the series, Fitz was renamed "Bimbo" and became the star of the Talkartoon series, starting with the cartoon Hot Dog (1930).
However, in August 1930, a Rubenesque poodle-human hybrid, Bimbo's girlfriend, made her screen debut in Dizzy Dishes, and quickly became Fleischer's biggest star; she would later be named Betty Boop. By 1931, Betty's floppy canine ears had evolved into hoop earrings, and she was transformed into a fully human girl (though she retained her romantic relationship with the dog for several episodes after her transmogrification). By the time of Minnie the Moocher (1932), Betty Boop was in a class of her own, and by August 1932, starting with Stopping the Show, the Talkartoon series was renamed as Betty Boop Cartoons; by now, as noted from even the opening song from Stopping the Show, Betty clearly became the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Animated Screen." Along with his standout star Boop, Fleischer had become one of the two premier animation producers; the up-and-coming Walt Disney was the other.
Fleischer cartoons were very different from Disney cartoons, in concept and in execution. The Fleischer approach was sophisticated, focused on surrealism, dark humor, adult psychological elements and sexuality. The Fleischer milieu was grittier, more urban, sometimes even sordid, often set in squalid tenement apartments with cracked, crumbling plaster and threadbare furnishings. Even the jazz music on Fleischer's soundtracks was rawer, saucier, more fitting with the unflinching Fleischer look at America's multicultural scene. But as popular as Betty Boop was for Fleischer, the Fleischer Studios would never come close to matching the huge international success of Mickey Mouse.
Fleischer would come closest through his deal securing the rights to the comic strip character Popeye the Sailor from King Features Syndicate. Popeye started out as a secondary character in 1929 in the newspaper feature Thimble Theater, and made his film debut in July, 1933, introduced in the Betty Boop short Popeye the Sailor. Popeye was an immediate hit for Fleischer, and would remain in production until 1957.
Fleischer's studio was a major operation in New York under the support of Paramount Studio. But as a recipient of Paramount cash, Fleischer was also at the mercy of Paramount's management. During the Great Depression, Paramount went through four name changes and reorganizations due to bankruptcies. These reorganizations affected the production budgets and created obstacles to Fleischer's development.
When the three-color Technicolor process became available, Paramount vetoed it based on their concerns with economic balance, giving Disney the opportunity to acquire an exclusivity to the process for four years, thus giving him the market edge on color cartoons. Two years later, Paramount approved color production for Fleischer, but he was left with the clearly inferior two-color processes of Cinecolor (red and blue) and two-strip Technicolor (red and green). The Color Classics series was introduced in 1934 as Fleischer's answer to Disney's Silly Symphonies.
These color cartoons were augmented with a Fleischer-patented three-dimensional background effect called "The Stereoptical Process," a precursor to Disney's Multiplane. This technique replaced the usual flat-plane, drawn and painted cartoon backgrounds with a circular 3-D scale-model background — a diorama — in front of which the action cels were positioned and photographed. As the character, say, hustled down a city street, the camera operator would rotate the diorama a click with each frame. The result was a constantly changing perspective of converging parallel lines that gave an amazing sense of depth. The process worked most dramatically with pans or tracking shots; for static shots, traditional drawn backgrounds sufficed. It was used to great effect in the longer format Popeye cartoons Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936) and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937). These series of double-length (two-reel) cartoons were a gradual progression expressing Fleischer's desire to produce feature-length animated features. And while he had concepts for full-length features, it was not until the success of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) that the stodgy Paramount executives realized the value of an animated feature as Fleischer had been proposing for the previous three years.
The popularity of Betty Boop was irreparably damaged as a result of the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934. Her overt sexuality was downplayed, and her racy flapper attire was replaced with longer skirts and a less revealing neckline. While the production of the cartoons had become more refined with more structured stories, the level of the content was more juvenile, largely influenced by Paramount's front office, which was changing the tone of their films to reflect a more family-oriented audience by producing films more of the nature of MGM. Betty became a spinster career girl and maiden aunt character, a judgmental "good citizen" instead of the carefree, funloving Jazz Baby she had once been. As a result, she lost much of her audience appeal, and the era and musical style that she represented had already faded away with the coming of the Swing Era.
In 1937, film production at Fleischer's studio was affected by a five month strike, which kept his cartoons off theater screens through the rest of the year. The strikers represented by the Commercial Artists and Designers Union were not recognized by the IATSE, which represented the majority of the motion picture crafts. But after five months, Paramount Pictures urged Fleischer to settle. Then in March 1938, Fleischer Studios moved from New York City to Miami, Florida. The reasons were many. While it was reasoned that the relocation removed the studio from further union agitation, they were in need of additional space for the production of features. Coincidentally with the move, relations between brothers Dave and Max began deteriorating. A feud started simmering after Dave began an adulterous affair with his Miami secretary in 1938, and was followed by more personal and professional disputes.
While at Paramount, Dave Fleischer was asked by the studio to put the popular comic book and radio hero Superman into a cartoon series. Despite the high budgets that came from the series — triple the budget of typical Popeye one-reelers — Superman became the most successful cartoons in the late period of the studio. Its ultra-realistic drawing, stylish Art Deco look and magnificently intricate scoring made the Superman pilot the highwater mark of the studio's sophisticated output.
In the wake of Disney's inarguable triumph with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, Paramount top brass finally acquiesced to Fleischer's longstanding appeals to produce feature-length animated films — and now they wanted one for a Christmas 1939 release. In order to finance the new operation, Fleischer negotiated a loan with Paramount that in essence surrendered the studio's assets for the term of the loan, 10 years.
While Gulliver's Travels (1939) did moderate box office, it did not make back all of its costs since the production ran nearly $500,000 overbudget due to the relocation, transportation of film for processing and back, and costs of training new workers. At the time, it was also reported that the escalated war in Europe just three months before cut off Paramount's foreign release potential; however, recent information indicates that the picture was released in Europe but the returns were not reported to Fleischer Studios' accounting department. At the same time, returns on Popeye cartoons were also not properly accounted. These factors contributed to the continued financial losses for Fleischer's studio. The final blow came with the ill-fated release of their second feature, Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941) two days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
On May 24, 1941, Paramount initiated takeover of Fleischer's studio. Max remained nominally in charge, but the long-simmering personal feud with his brother Dave further complicated the situation. Shortly after the release of Mr. Bug, a disgusted Dave left for California to take over as head of Columbia's Screen Gems animation unit in April 1942 — just one month prior to the renewal of Fleischer's contract. The move put Dave in breach of contract, for taking a position with a competitor while still contracted to Paramount. This breach, along with the substantial debt to Paramount, gave the bigger studio the right to take control of the smaller, forcing Max out. Paramount installed new management, among them Max's son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel. On May 25, 1942, the studio was renamed Famous Studios, and it moved back to New York within eight months.
Despite the disappointing performance of the feature films, the Superman series continued to do well. Nine episodes were completed by Fleischer Studios, with the final eight made by Famous Studios after the reorganization. Today, the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons are considered the final triumph of this great pioneer and his innovative studio.
After leaving his studio, Fleischer was brought in as head of the Animation Department for the industrial film company, The Jam Handy Organization. While there he supervised the technical and cartoon animation departments, producing training films for the Army and Navy and was also involved with research and development for the war effort. Following the war, he supervised the production of the animated adaptation of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1948), sponsored by Montgomery Ward. Fleischer left Handy in 1954 and returned as Production Manager for the Bray Studios in New York.
Fleischer lost a lawsuit against Paramount in 1955 over the removal of his name from the credits of his films. While Fleischer had issues over the breach of contract, he had avoided suing to protect his son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel, who still had a position with Paramount's Famous Studios. The lawsuit was lost because the court decided that, though Fleischer's case had merit, the statute of limitations had expired. In 1958, Fleischer revived Out of the Inkwell Films, Inc. and partnered with his former animator, Hal Seeger to produce 100 color Out of the Inkwell (1960–1961) cartoons for television. Actor Larry Storch performed the voices for Koko and supporting characters Kokonut and Mean Moe.
Although the rift with his brother Dave was never resolved, Max eventually formed a friendship with his old rival Walt Disney, who welcomed Max to a reunion with former Fleischer animators who were by then employed by Disney.
Fleischer, along with his wife Essie, moved to the Motion Picture Country House in 1967. He died from heart failure on September 11, 1972, after a period of poor health. On the day of his death, Max Fleischer was cited as a great pioneer who invented an industry, and was named by Time magazine as the "Dean of Animated Cartoons."[
His son Richard Fleischer, born in 1916, entered the film industry in the 1940s, and in retirement worked on merchandising Betty Boop.
Bugis, in Singapore, was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gathering of transvestites and transsexuals, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations during that period.
In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of the nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history.
Today, the original Bugis Street is now a cobblestoned, relatively wide avenue sandwiched between the buildings of the Bugis Junction shopping complex. On the other hand, the lane presently touted as "Bugis Street" by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is actually developed from New Bugis Street, formerly Albert Street, and is billed as "the largest street-shopping location in Singapore". An attempt by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to bring back the former exotic atmosphere was unsuccessful. Although the street is now not a well-known tourist destination, it is frequented by many Singaporeans.
Bugis Street lies in an extensive area which was commonly referred to in the past, by the Chinese-educated community, as Xiao Po (小坡; little slope). The latter stretched all the way from Tanjong Pagar, through Singapore's Chinatown, to Jalan Sultan. The whole vicinity was thriving and crammed with merchants and traders, making it one of the most vibrant economic zones of old Singapore.
Pre-1950s
According to knowledgeable long-term residents of the area, before the arrival of the British, there used to be a large canal which ran through the area where the Bugis, a seafaring people from South Sulawesi province in Indonesia, could sail up, moor their boats and trade with Singaporean merchants.
It was these people after whom the thoroughfare was named. The Bugis, or Buginese, also put their sailing skills to less benign uses and gained a reputation in the region as a race of bloodthirsty pirates.
During the early colonial era, there also used to be low mounds of whitish sand in the area, earning the street the familiar Hokkien (Min Nan) moniker of Peh Soa Pu or Bai Sha Fu in Mandarin (白沙浮; white sand mounds). The Cantonese, however, referred to the street as Hak Gaai or Hei Jie in Mandarin (黑街; black street) as there were many clubs catering to the Japanese invaders in the 1940s. During the first half of the 20th century, commuters could conveniently travel from Bugis Street to anywhere else in Xiao Po via a tram service which ran along North Bridge Road, which was referred to by the Chinese-educated as Xiao Po Da Ma Lu (小坡大马路; little slope main road).
Prior to the second world war, Bugis had a high proportion of Japanese prostitutes; Karayuki-san. At its peak, there were 633 Karauki-san to 109 brothels, with a high concentration within the compound of Bugis St, Malabar St and Hylam Street. Due to the lack of space within the Early Style shophouse, being two stories, applying to Rafflesian Shophouses, overcrowding and hygiene issues became prevalent. With many people using the same latrines and drinking water sources, disease spread with a cholera outbreak occurring in Bugis St, Malabar St and Hylam St. Thus leading to them being zoned off. The bad hygiene and poor ventilation due to overcrowding of the sites led to the Singapore Improvement Trust trying to demolish those buildings and rebuild. This led to the infamous "Bugis Street Case" which over the course of multiple courts decisions, decided that it was not legal to commandeer a building and only pay the price of the land, which had been going on previously and the decision was made by 1937, that new houses should be built to alleviate overcrowding and problems that are associated instead of tearing it down and rebuilding, expecting change to occur. This established a new form of slum clearance in Singapore that was more closely tied to the rights of the citizen and the owner.
1950s–1980s
After World War II, hawkers gathered there to sell food and goods. There was initially also a small number of outdoor bars set up beside rat-infested drains.
When transvestites began to rendezvous in the area in the 1950s, they attracted increasing numbers of Western tourists who came for the booze, the food, the pasar malam shopping and the "girls". Business boomed and Bugis Street became an extremely lively and bustling area, forming the heart of Xiao Po. It was one of Singapore's most famous tourist meccas from the 1950s to the 1980s, renowned internationally for its nightly parade of flamboyantly-dressed transvestites and attracted hordes of Caucasian gawkers who had never before witnessed Asian queens in full regalia.
The latter would tease, cajole and sit on visitors' laps or pose for photographs for a fee.
Others would sashay up and down the street looking to hook half-drunk sailors, American GIs and other foreigners on R&R, for an hour of profitable intimacy. Not only would these clients get the thrill of sex with an exotic oriental, there would be the added spice of transgressing gender boundaries in a seamy hovel.
There was an adage amongst Westerners that one could easily tell who was a real female and who was not – the transvestites were drop-dead gorgeous, while the rest were real women. The amount of revenue that the transvestites of Bugis Street raked in was considerable, providing a booster shot in the arm for the tourism industry. The street was popularly called Boogie Street by British servicemen; the term 'Boogie Street' was not coined by Americans in the wake of the 1970s disco craze as some mistakenly believe.
Veterans recall that the notorious drinking section began from Victoria Street west to Queen Street. Halfway between Victoria and Queen Streets, there was an intersecting lane parallel to the main roads, also lined with al fresco bars. There was a well-patronised public toilet with a flat roof of which there are archival photos, complete with jubilant rooftop transvestites.
One of the "hallowed traditions" bestowed upon the area by sojourning sailors (usually from Britain, Australia and New Zealand), was the ritualistic "Dance of the Flaming Arseholes" on top of the infamous toilet's roof. Compatriots on the ground would chant the signature "Haul 'em down you Zulu Warrior" song whilst the matelots performed their act.
Over the years this became almost a mandatory exercise and although it may seem to many to be a gross act of indecency, it was generally well received by the sometimes up to hundreds of tourists and locals. The Kai Tais or Beanie Boys, as the transvestites were referred to by Anglophone white visitors, certainly did not mind either. By the mid-70s Singapore started a crackdown on this type of lewd behaviour and sailors were arrested at gunpoint by the local authorities for upholding the tradition. By this time those sailors brave enough to try it were dealt with severely and even shipped home in disgrace. Though many locals accepted this part of Singaporean culture, many conservative Singaporeans felt that it was a disgrace and it defaced Singapore's image.
While many were concerned about the public image and embarrassment that went along with it, the global concern of HIV/AIDS became more prevalent, a growing suspicion of the activities that took place in. The HIV scare in Singapore can draw parallels with the English Syphilis scare. Bugis Street was demolished as a way of not only controlling the population to become more orderly and normative, but also to prevent an HIV epidemic. With fears also being present that through homosexuality, the society and culture would denigrate and would limit the island's growth, especially post independence. By allowing a site like Bugis Street would go against the idea of Singapore's nuclear family and is therefore "othered" this othering scares the Singaporean authorities as it can be seen as dissenting. By using an HIV scare and the economic benefits of inserting an MRT station and eventually a mall, the amount of resistance from most Singaporeans would be minimal.
The earliest published description of Bugis Street found by Yawning Bread as a place of great gender diversity was in the book "Eastern Windows" by F.D. Ommaney, 1960. Ommaney did not date specifically his description of the street but his book made clear that he was in Singapore from 1955 to 1960. A first-person account of Bugis Street in the 1950s is by "Bob", a visiting Australian sailor is given here.
In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of the nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history.
Tourist and local lamentation of the loss sparked attempts by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) to attempt to recreate some of the old sleazy splendour by staging contrived "Ah Qua shows" on wooden platforms, but these artificial performances fell flat on their faces and failed to pull in the crowds. They were abandoned after a short time.
Bugis, in Singapore, was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gathering of transvestites and transsexuals, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations during that period.
In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of the nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history.
Today, the original Bugis Street is now a cobblestoned, relatively wide avenue sandwiched between the buildings of the Bugis Junction shopping complex. On the other hand, the lane presently touted as "Bugis Street" by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is actually developed from New Bugis Street, formerly Albert Street, and is billed as "the largest street-shopping location in Singapore". An attempt by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to bring back the former exotic atmosphere was unsuccessful. Although the street is now not a well-known tourist destination, it is frequented by many Singaporeans.
Bugis Street lies in an extensive area which was commonly referred to in the past, by the Chinese-educated community, as Xiao Po (小坡; little slope). The latter stretched all the way from Tanjong Pagar, through Singapore's Chinatown, to Jalan Sultan. The whole vicinity was thriving and crammed with merchants and traders, making it one of the most vibrant economic zones of old Singapore.
Pre-1950s
According to knowledgeable long-term residents of the area, before the arrival of the British, there used to be a large canal which ran through the area where the Bugis, a seafaring people from South Sulawesi province in Indonesia, could sail up, moor their boats and trade with Singaporean merchants.
It was these people after whom the thoroughfare was named. The Bugis, or Buginese, also put their sailing skills to less benign uses and gained a reputation in the region as a race of bloodthirsty pirates.
During the early colonial era, there also used to be low mounds of whitish sand in the area, earning the street the familiar Hokkien (Min Nan) moniker of Peh Soa Pu or Bai Sha Fu in Mandarin (白沙浮; white sand mounds). The Cantonese, however, referred to the street as Hak Gaai or Hei Jie in Mandarin (黑街; black street) as there were many clubs catering to the Japanese invaders in the 1940s. During the first half of the 20th century, commuters could conveniently travel from Bugis Street to anywhere else in Xiao Po via a tram service which ran along North Bridge Road, which was referred to by the Chinese-educated as Xiao Po Da Ma Lu (小坡大马路; little slope main road).
Prior to the second world war, Bugis had a high proportion of Japanese prostitutes; Karayuki-san. At its peak, there were 633 Karauki-san to 109 brothels, with a high concentration within the compound of Bugis St, Malabar St and Hylam Street. Due to the lack of space within the Early Style shophouse, being two stories, applying to Rafflesian Shophouses, overcrowding and hygiene issues became prevalent. With many people using the same latrines and drinking water sources, disease spread with a cholera outbreak occurring in Bugis St, Malabar St and Hylam St. Thus leading to them being zoned off. The bad hygiene and poor ventilation due to overcrowding of the sites led to the Singapore Improvement Trust trying to demolish those buildings and rebuild. This led to the infamous "Bugis Street Case" which over the course of multiple courts decisions, decided that it was not legal to commandeer a building and only pay the price of the land, which had been going on previously and the decision was made by 1937, that new houses should be built to alleviate overcrowding and problems that are associated instead of tearing it down and rebuilding, expecting change to occur. This established a new form of slum clearance in Singapore that was more closely tied to the rights of the citizen and the owner.
1950s–1980s
After World War II, hawkers gathered there to sell food and goods. There was initially also a small number of outdoor bars set up beside rat-infested drains.
When transvestites began to rendezvous in the area in the 1950s, they attracted increasing numbers of Western tourists who came for the booze, the food, the pasar malam shopping and the "girls". Business boomed and Bugis Street became an extremely lively and bustling area, forming the heart of Xiao Po. It was one of Singapore's most famous tourist meccas from the 1950s to the 1980s, renowned internationally for its nightly parade of flamboyantly-dressed transvestites and attracted hordes of Caucasian gawkers who had never before witnessed Asian queens in full regalia.
The latter would tease, cajole and sit on visitors' laps or pose for photographs for a fee.
Others would sashay up and down the street looking to hook half-drunk sailors, American GIs and other foreigners on R&R, for an hour of profitable intimacy. Not only would these clients get the thrill of sex with an exotic oriental, there would be the added spice of transgressing gender boundaries in a seamy hovel.
There was an adage amongst Westerners that one could easily tell who was a real female and who was not – the transvestites were drop-dead gorgeous, while the rest were real women. The amount of revenue that the transvestites of Bugis Street raked in was considerable, providing a booster shot in the arm for the tourism industry. The street was popularly called Boogie Street by British servicemen; the term 'Boogie Street' was not coined by Americans in the wake of the 1970s disco craze as some mistakenly believe.
Veterans recall that the notorious drinking section began from Victoria Street west to Queen Street. Halfway between Victoria and Queen Streets, there was an intersecting lane parallel to the main roads, also lined with al fresco bars. There was a well-patronised public toilet with a flat roof of which there are archival photos, complete with jubilant rooftop transvestites.
One of the "hallowed traditions" bestowed upon the area by sojourning sailors (usually from Britain, Australia and New Zealand), was the ritualistic "Dance of the Flaming Arseholes" on top of the infamous toilet's roof. Compatriots on the ground would chant the signature "Haul 'em down you Zulu Warrior" song whilst the matelots performed their act.
Over the years this became almost a mandatory exercise and although it may seem to many to be a gross act of indecency, it was generally well received by the sometimes up to hundreds of tourists and locals. The Kai Tais or Beanie Boys, as the transvestites were referred to by Anglophone white visitors, certainly did not mind either. By the mid-70s Singapore started a crackdown on this type of lewd behaviour and sailors were arrested at gunpoint by the local authorities for upholding the tradition. By this time those sailors brave enough to try it were dealt with severely and even shipped home in disgrace. Though many locals accepted this part of Singaporean culture, many conservative Singaporeans felt that it was a disgrace and it defaced Singapore's image.
While many were concerned about the public image and embarrassment that went along with it, the global concern of HIV/AIDS became more prevalent, a growing suspicion of the activities that took place in. The HIV scare in Singapore can draw parallels with the English Syphilis scare. Bugis Street was demolished as a way of not only controlling the population to become more orderly and normative, but also to prevent an HIV epidemic. With fears also being present that through homosexuality, the society and culture would denigrate and would limit the island's growth, especially post independence. By allowing a site like Bugis Street would go against the idea of Singapore's nuclear family and is therefore "othered" this othering scares the Singaporean authorities as it can be seen as dissenting. By using an HIV scare and the economic benefits of inserting an MRT station and eventually a mall, the amount of resistance from most Singaporeans would be minimal.
The earliest published description of Bugis Street found by Yawning Bread as a place of great gender diversity was in the book "Eastern Windows" by F.D. Ommaney, 1960. Ommaney did not date specifically his description of the street but his book made clear that he was in Singapore from 1955 to 1960. A first-person account of Bugis Street in the 1950s is by "Bob", a visiting Australian sailor is given here.
In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of the nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history.
Tourist and local lamentation of the loss sparked attempts by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) to attempt to recreate some of the old sleazy splendour by staging contrived "Ah Qua shows" on wooden platforms, but these artificial performances fell flat on their faces and failed to pull in the crowds. They were abandoned after a short time.
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Whilst copying this photo from the NCO'S mess,
military barracks in Kilkenny I Googled for information
and come across this beautiful tribute............
Ambush in Niemba
PostFri Mar 02, 2012 4:02 pm
It’s a lonely place the Congo for an Irishman to die,
Where the savage drums are beating and the jungle grass is high.
It was the morning of November the 10th 1960. I was a section commander in the No 1 Platoon “B” Coy, 32nd Infantry Bn. We were stationed in Kamina Air Base in Katanga in the Republic of Congo, as part of the United Nations peace keeping force.
The morning, like most mornings in the Congo, was beautiful. The sun shining from a cloudless sky but not yet hot enough to be uncomfortable. Something was wrong, however. An air of foreboding hung over the camp. Suddenly I realised there were no Africans to be seen. Usually there would be the camp workers and souvenir sellers brightening up the camp with their colourful clothing and flashing smiles.
Jacko, the chimpanzee, who was the company mascot, was the only one who seemed unaffected. He did his usual routine of somersaults at the end of his rope and waved his empty beer bottle at passers by trying to get drink. Small groups of soldiers stood whispering, the groups constantly changing as soldiers left one group to join another, bringing or seeking information.
Rumours were flying around the camp. Something dreadful had happened to a patrol from “A” Coy of our sister battalion the 33rd. Army camps are normally full of rumours, forgotten before they are really told. This one, however, had a ring of truth about it.
A patrol had been ambushed and we had a lot of casualties. Eventually the company was assembled in the church and the dreaded news was confirmed. An eleven man patrol had been ambushed at the bridge at Niemba by a couple of hundred Balubas and many of them were dead.
At this moment all out thoughts went back to our families. They would know Irish soldiers were dead but wouldn’t know who. It would take several days for the news to get through. For some their worst nightmares would be realised, for other relief, for all, terrible days of tension and worry.
At the time in Katanga a civil war was raging between the two main tribes. The Baluba cats whose leader was Patrice Lumumba and the Coney cats led by Moise Tshombe. Tshombe was a puppet leader set up by British and Belgian mining companies determined to control the vast copper mines of Katanga. They employed white mercenary soldiers, who had committed many atrocities against the Balubas in the area.
To slow down their movements, the badly armed Balubas set up road blocks and damaged bridges. The job of the 33rd Bn. Was to keep the roads clear. While repairing the bridge at Niemba, the eleven man patrol was ambushed by hundreds of Balubas. They were armed with rifles, spears, bow and arrows, clubs and pangas. The Irish were caught unawares and although they fought bravely, they were slaughtered. Their comrades and soldiers from the Ethiopian U.N. forces were now searching for them.
Slowly news began to filter through that one man, Private Fitzpatrick, had been found badly shocked but unharmed. Then came news that brought grim smiles to our faces after two nights, a survivor stumbled from the jungle, staggered up to the rescue patrol, saluted and said “Pte Kenny reporting for duty sir.” He then fell forward on his face and his comrades saw the two arrows sticking from his back. He was attended by the medical orderlies and taken to hospital where he made a full recovery. Next a tale of unbelievable bravery unfolded. A twenty-year old Dubliner, trooper Browne, had fought his way clear of the ambush but realised that his friend Pte Kenny had not made it. Browne returned and found his wounded friend. “Look,” he said, “you’re married. I’ll draw them away and you try and escape.” Then, breaking cover and screaming at the Balubas, firing his sub machine gun, he disappeared into the jungle never to be seen again.
Slowly and sadly the rescue patrols collected the bodies of their comrades. Nine had been killed. Eight bodies we quickly discovered but it was years later that the body of the gallant trooper Browne was found.
The bodies were flown home to Dublin for a heroes funeral. Two hundred thousand people turned out to pay tribute to the young men who died for a noble cause. Then came the big question, why did it happen? How did it happen? I believe it happened because the Balubas didn’t know who they were attacking. The Balubas I met were kind, gentle people. People who had been oppressed, murdered and tortured all through the century. Yet they were a happy people, content with very little and showing little or no hostilities to Europeans. I believe they thought the removal of road blocks made it easier for the mercenaries to slaughter them. I also think on that day, they were fired on drink and dope. This fire was fanned into a blood lust b the witch doctors.
How did it happen? I and many of my comrades believe that the patrol, which had been removing road blocks for days, grew careless. They did not take adequate precautions at Niemba and paid a terrible price for it.
What did we learn? The name Niemba has echoed in the minds of Irish soldiers since that fateful November day. That was the day the laughter died. The day we were all forced to grow up. The day our great adventure became a serious, dangerous job. Never again would Irish soldiers give up their lives so easily. A hard, bitter lesson we learned well and we would always remember.
For me, the outstanding part of the whole episode was the dignity and discipline of the Irish soldier. Although most were very young (I was twenty-two and all of my section were younger than me) they displayed a maturity beyond their years. Not once did I hear a call for revenge. No Baluba in our camp was insulted or attacked. Our soldiers did what good soldiers should do, they got on with the job. Now, thirty-five years later, each time I hear of a U.N. peacekeeper being killed, my mind goes back to that tragic beautiful Katangan morning. At the moment it is fashionable to denigrate the U.N. for its failure in Somalia and Bosnia. While most of the criticism is correct, none of it should be directed at the P.B.I. (Poor Bloody Infantry) soldier in his blue beret. With nothing to offer but his skill and bravery, standing between forces who hate each other, in every troubled corner of the world. Carrying out humanitarian duties is a dangerous thankless job, he’ll get all the blame but none of the glory.
The men who died in Niemba:
Lt. Gleeson, Sgt. Gaynor, Cpl. Dougan, Cpl. Kelly, Pte. McGuinn, Trooper Browne, Pte. Fennell, Pte. Farrell, Pte. Killeen.
Trooper Browne was awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry posthumously for bravery above and beyond the call of duty.
You men of Niemba you are on the honoured roll,
You can rest in peace now soldiers,
You have done your last patrol.
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Stigmatized, Ostracized, Vilified & Alienated -
Blacklisted former federal employee in exile.
Mazatlan Mexico -Paseo Olas Altas
www.google.com/maps/place/Paseo+Olas+Altas,+Centro,+Mazat...
"O earth do not cover my blood; may my cry never be lain to rest!" Job 16:18 NIV
araisedfist.wordpress.com/tag/dirty-tricks/
Snuffed by my own government - cumulative, miniscule lethal lacings of public eatery meal orders, confedrate merchant groceries tampering & residence kitchen food pantry poisonings.
You Tube Video:
"YOUR LIVES ARE IN DANGER. . . "
I Kings 21:17-20 NIV
". . . .Have you not murdered a man and seized his property? . . ."
". . . .The heroic figure's destruction points a wrong, or an evil in his environment. . ."
"Tragedy and The Common Man,"
Arthur Miller 1949
". . . DOES NOT HE WHO GUARDS YOUR LIFE KNOW IT?
WILL HE NOT REPAY EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO WHAT HE HAS DONE?"
Proverbs 24: 12b NIV
www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/242fin.php
Stasiland
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrMAvy_Aoak&index=11&list...
Hidden Psychological Destruction of Dissidents
-IN AMERICA?
".…the Stasi often used a method which was really diabolic. It was called Zersetzung, and it's described in another guideline. The word is difficult to translate because it means originally "biodegradation". But actually, it's a quite accurate description. The goal was to destroy secretly the self-confidence of people, for example by damaging their reputation, by organizing failures in their work, and by destroying their personal relationships. Considering this, East Germany was a very modern dictatorship. The Stasi didn't try to arrest every dissident. It preferred to paralyze them, and it could do so because it had access to so much personal information and to so many institutions." —Hubertus Knabe, German historian.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi#Zersetzung
1947-201? -RIP -Isaiah 60:20 NIV
FAITH BASED DISSIDENCE: Facebook
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
“Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.”
~Henry Miller
Located at number 19 Camp Street in the former Gold Rush town of Daylesford, the former St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church offers wonderful views as it looks down from the high side of the road, across the township, now known for its natural mineral springs and day spas.
Built in 1903 under the benefaction of Jessie Leggatt, who laid the foundation stone on the 9th of December that year, St Andrew’s is not unlike the Castlemaine Presbyterian Church in Lyttleton Street. Built of red brick with sandstone detailing, St Andrew’s has been built in a Picturesque Gothic style with adaptations of both Florentine and Pauduan Gothic. It features a splendid slate roof, and has been built in a symmetrical style, with two hexagonal towers to either side of the enclosed loggia entrance. The taller of the towers on the left hand side serves also as the church’s belfry and has a crenellated parapet and a copper covered spire. The gable over the front doors is pierced with a traceried window with two mullions in early English decorated style. The small gables of the transepts are pierced with single mullioned windows of the same period. The interior is filled with magnificent original features including stained glass windows, ceiling roses, cathedral ceilings, lovely old floorboards and an extremely rare church organ.
In the intervening years since 1903, Daylesford has gone through many changes, going from a town populated by citizens seeking to make their fortunes in gold, to those come to seek rest and relaxation in this now resort town in central Victoria. With parish numbers dwindling, the Presbyterian Church has seen fit to close the doors of St Andrew’s, opting for a smaller and less formal presence in the town’s community centre. At the time of photographing, St Andrew’s is up for sale, and has had council approval for the construction of apartments and town houses in the rear of the property and the adaptation of the church itself into a single or multiple dwellings. With an asking price just short of one million dollars, to date there has been very little interest in the property, and so St Andrew’s falls slowly, but surely into decay as neglect sinks in. The grass grows high around its bluestone foundations; graffiti denigrates Jessie Leggatt’s memorial plaque in the entranceway; the painted archway above the gates rots, save for the faded letters that spell out St Andrew’s in weathered greyish white flecks, and the old weatherboard Sunday School sags into the briars. A large holly tree, planted when the church was first built still sits at the side, waiting, like the church, for a new lease of life like other former churches in the area.
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Right and left of the house are the two old wells by Josef Gasser. They represent opposing worlds. On your left, it depens on your position: "music, dance, joy, levity", right: "Loreley, sadness, love, revenge". This one stands for music...
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Right and left of the house are the two old wells by Josef Gasser. They represent opposing worlds. On your left, it depens on your position: "music, dance, joy, levity", right: "Loreley, sadness, love, revenge". This one stands for music...
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Here's YouTube video of the speech.
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
"A More Perfect Union"
Constitution Center
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands
across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple
words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers
and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean
to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration
of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the
spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately
unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery,
a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a
stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to
continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final
resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded
within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the
ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised
its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should
be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves
from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their
full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What
would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were
willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the
streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience
and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of
our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this
campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a
march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more
prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment
in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the
challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we
perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories,
but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not
have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same
direction – towards a better future for of children and our
grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and
generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own
American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.
I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a
Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white
grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth
while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in
America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married
to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and
slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.
I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of
every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for
as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on
Earth is my story even possible.
It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But
it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that
this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we
are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to
the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this
message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through
a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some
of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where
the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of
African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign.
At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me
either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions
bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina
primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest
evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black,
but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the
discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive
turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my
candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's
based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial
reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former
pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express
views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but
views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our
nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of
Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging
questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic
of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear
him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in
church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political
views? Absolutely – just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks
from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly
disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply
controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to
speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a
profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white
racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above
all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts
in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart
allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful
ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive,
divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when
we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two
wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care
crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are
neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that
confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals,
there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation
are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the
first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I
confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets
of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television
and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the
caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that
I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I
met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my
Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love
one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man
who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured
at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and
who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by
doing God's work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering
to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison
ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of
my first service at Trinity:
"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out,
a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters….And
in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of
that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I
imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories
of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's
den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and
freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had
spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church,
on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a
people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials
and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than
black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a
means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame
about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with
which we could start to rebuild."
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly
black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black
community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model
student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches,
Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy
humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting
that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in
full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the
shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the
bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright.
As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He
strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my
children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk
about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom
he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains
within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the
community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can
no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who
helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a
woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a
woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on
the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or
ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this
country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that
are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the
politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just
hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright
as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine
Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some
deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to
ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend
Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and
stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts
reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that
have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race
in this country that we've never really worked through – a part of our
union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we
simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to
come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or
the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at
this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and
buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here
the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to
remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the
African-American community today can be directly traced to
inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under
the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't
fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the
inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the
pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through
violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to
African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access
FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police
force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass
any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history
helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and
the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of
today's urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and
frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family,
contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare
policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic
services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play
in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code
enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and
neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other
African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the
late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the
law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted.
What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of
discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds;
how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who
would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of
the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it – those who
were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination.
That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those
young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street
corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for
the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race,
and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways.
For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of
humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger
and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed
in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does
find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times,
that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial
lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in
the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are
surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons
simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in
American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always
productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving
real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in
our condition, and prevents the African-American community from
forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the
anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn
it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of
misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white
community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel
that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their
experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they're concerned,
no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've
worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped
overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are
anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in
an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to
be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense.
So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town;
when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in
landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice
that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their
fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced,
resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't
always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the
political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and
affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians
routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk
show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers
unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate
discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political
correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these
white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the
middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing,
questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington
dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that
favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of
white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without
recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens
the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been
stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics,
black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can
get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a
single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my
faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working
together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in
fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more
perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the
burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means
continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of
American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances –
for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the
larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to
break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the
immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full
responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and
spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and
teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination
in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism;
they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative –
notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's
sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is
that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that
society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke
about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was
static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a
country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run
for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and
black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still
irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have
seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this
nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to
hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means
acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not
just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of
discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less
overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just
with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our
communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness
in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with
ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations.
It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to
come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health,
welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will
ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing
less, than what all the world's great religions demand – that we do
unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's
keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us
find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our
politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that
breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only
as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy,
as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly
news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every
day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only
question in this campaign whether or not the American people think
that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words.
We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that
she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men
will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of
his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be
talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then
another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come
together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about
the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children
and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native
American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that
tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look
like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not
those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in
a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room
are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health
care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special
interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it
together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided
a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale
that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region,
every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the
real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take
your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas
for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and
creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under
the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home
from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've
been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by
caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they
have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my
heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this
country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after
generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today,
whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this
possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the
young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have
already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with
today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr.
King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia
who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had
been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the
beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable
discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they
were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got
cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and
lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's
when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so
Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really
wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish
sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told
everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was
so that she could help the millions of other children in the country
who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told
her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks
who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming
into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in
her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and
asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have
different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And
finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there
quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he
does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or
the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say
that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone
in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."
"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of
recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is
not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs
to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And
as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the
two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that
document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
Reproduction. Original in the British Museum.
Excavated by the British archaeologist John Garstang in December 1910 at Meroë, found buried beneath a monumental stairway that led to an altar of victory in the Royal City.
The Greek historian Strabo mentions in his chronicles that numerous towns in Lower Egypt were adorned with statues of Augustus before an invading Kushite army looted many of them in 25 BC. Although the Roman military successfully invaded Kushite territory and reclaimed many statues, they were unable to reach as far south as the Kushite capital itself. The placing of the Emperor's head below the shrine's steps symbolically denigrated the reputation of Augustus in the eyes of the Meroitic aristocracy and Kushite queen Amanirenas.
Wikipedia
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton
History of the Vienna State Opera
132 years house on the Ring
(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901
About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.
The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .
State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903
The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.
1869 - 1955
On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.
However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.
In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.
Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.
Technique: Lithography
from www.aeiou.at
In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.
staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)
The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.
The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.
But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.
staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)
Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.
staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)
State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak
1955 to 1992
The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:
staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)
Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.
Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher
After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.
It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.
The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)
After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.
His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.
State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA
Image : Vienna State Opera
In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).
Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).
At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.
more...
Directors since 1869
Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870
Opening 5/25/1869
Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875
Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880
Director College:
Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and
Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880
Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897
Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907
Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911
Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918
Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919
Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924
Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929
Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934
Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936
Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940
Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941
Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941
Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943
Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945
Alfred Jerger,
State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945
Franz Salmhofer,
State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955
Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956
Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962
Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963
Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964
Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968
Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972
Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982
Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984
Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986
Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991
Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992
Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010
Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010
Opera world premieres
Abbreviations:
Od = the Odeon
Ron = Ronacher
TW = the Theater an der Wien
1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba
1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede
1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade
15.12. Brüller Bianca
1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold
21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin
1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria
1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana
4:10 . Hager Marffa
19.11. Goldmark Merlin
1887 03:04. Harold pepper
1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King
4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth
1891 19:02. Mader Refugees
1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman
16.02. Massenet Werther
19.11. Bulk Signor Formica
1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam
1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth
1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war
1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once
1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon
1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor
1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale
1910 12:04. The musician Bittner
18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen
1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake
1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite
1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess
1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame
1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)
1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise
1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten
1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School
1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin
1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens
1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum
27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna
1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae
1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless
1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta
08.12. Bittner The violet
1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream
1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement
17.04. Frank The strange woman
18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein
1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko
1939 02:02. Will King ballad
1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk
1956 17.06. Martin The Storm
1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady
1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue
1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)
1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)
1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)
26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo
2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld
2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree
2010 28.02. Reimann Medea
2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton