The Deutsche Oper Berlin
is an opera company located in Berlin, Germany, in what was formerly West Berlin. The resident building, also called Deutsche Oper Berlin
, also is home to the Staatsballett Berlin.
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History
The company's history goes back to the
Deutsches Opernhaus
in
Charlottenburg (Bismarckstraße 34-37) which was started in 1911 and opened
November 7,
1912 with a production of
Beethoven's
Fidelio, conducted by
Ignatz Waghalter. In 1925, the name of the resident building was changed to
Städtische Oper
(Municipal Opera House). With the rise of the
Third Reich,
Joseph Goebbels had the name changed back to
Deutsches Opernhaus
. In 1935, the building was remodeled by
Paul Baumgarten and the seating reduced from 2300 to 2098.
Carl Ebert, the pre-
World War II general manager, chose to emigrate from Germany rather than endorse a Nazi view of music, and went on to co-found the
Glyndebourne opera festival in England. The opera house was destroyed on
November 23,
1943. Ebert later returned as general manager after the war.
After the war, the company used the building of the
Theater des Westens until the new building, designed by
Fritz Bornemann, was completed on
September 24,
1961. The opening production was
Mozart's
Don Giovanni. The new building opened with the current name.
Past General Music Directors have included
Bruno Walter,
Ferenc Fricsay,
Lorin Maazel,
Gerd Albrecht,
Jesús López Cobos, and
Christian Thielemann. In
October 2005, the Italian conductor
Renato Palumbo was appointed
Generalmusikdirector
as of the 2006-2007 season.
[1] In October 2007, the Deutsche Oper announced the appointment of
Donald Runnicles as their next
Generalmusikdirector
, effective August 2009, for an initial contract of 5 years.
[2] Simultaneously, Palumbo and the Deutsche Oper mutually agreed to terminate his contract, effective November 2007.
Since 2004, the Deutsche Oper's
Intendantin
has been Kirsten Harms.
Controversy
In
1967, the opera house was the scene of the shooting of
Benno Ohnesorg, a student taking part in the
German student movement. He had been protesting against the visit to Germany by the
Shah of Iran.
In April 2001, the Italian conductor
Giuseppe Sinopoli died at the podium while conducting Verdi's Aida, at the age of 54.
In
September 2006, the opera house drew criticism after it cancelled performances of
Mozart's opera Idomeneo
because of fears that a scene in it featuring the severed heads of
Jesus,
Buddha and
Muhammad would offend
Muslims, and that the opera house's security might become under threat if violent protests took place. Critics of the decision include
German Ministers and the
German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
[3] The reaction from Muslims has been mixed — the leader of Germany's Islamic Council welcomed the decision, whilst a leader of Germany's Turkish community, criticising the decision, said:
"This is about art, not about politics ... We should not make art dependent on religion — then we are back in the Middle Ages." [4]
At the end of
October 2006 the opera house announced that performances of
Mozart's
opera Idomeneo
would then proceed.
[5] On this subject, see also
Idomeneo (controversy).
Intendanten (General Directors)
- Georg Hartmann (1912-1923)
- Wilhelm Holthoff von Faßmann (1923-1925)
- Heinz Tietjen (1925-1931)
- Carl Ebert (1931-1933)
- Max von Schillings (1933)
- Wilhelm Rode (1934-1944)
- Michael Bohnen (1945-1947)
- Heinz Tietjen (1948-1954)
- Carl Ebert (1954-1961)
- Gustav Rudolf Sellner (1961-1972)
- Egon Seefehlner (1972-1976)
- Siegfried Palm (1976-1981)
- Götz Friedrich (1981-2000)
- André Schmitz (interim, 2000-2001)
- Udo Zimmermann (2001-2003)
- Heinz Dieter Sense / Peter Sauerbaum (interim, 2003-2004)
- Kirsten Harms (2004-present)
Generalmusikdirektoren (GMD, General Music Directors)
- Bruno Walter (1925-1929)
- Artur Rother (1935-1943, 1953-1958)
- Karl Dammer (1937-1943)
- Ferenc Fricsay (1949-1952)
- Richard Kraus (1954-1961)
- Lorin Maazel (1965-1971)
- Jesús López Cobos (1981-1990)
- Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (1992-1997)
- Christian Thielemann (1997-2004)
- Renato Palumbo (2006-2007)
- Donald Runnicles (from 2009 on)
References
- Deutsche Oper Berlin Names Music Director
- In Sudden Appointment, Donald Runnicles Named Next Music Director of Deutsche Oper Berlin
- Merkel voices concern over opera cancellation
- Fear Of Muslim Ire Stops German Opera
- Shelved Muhammad opera to return