Bielefeld Opera
Encyclopedia
The Bielefeld Opera is the venue of Städtische Bühnen Bielefeld (Municipal Theatre Bielefeld) in Bielefeld
, Germany. It is a Dreisparten Haus (three-department house), offering plays
, music (opera
, musical theatre
), and ballet
. The main performance venue is the Stadttheater am Niederwall (Municipal Theatre at the Lower Wall), built in 1904 and extensively renovated from 2004 to 2006. It is the largest theater in East Westphalia
, offering 500 performances annually. It is under the direction of Michael Heicks; its resident orchestra is the 72-member Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra that also performs symphonic concerts at the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle.
building was inaugurated with a performance of Carl Maria von Weber
's Der Freischütz
on April 3, 1904.
The financial crisis in the 1920s led to discussions about reducing the number of employees or amalgamating with neighboring theaters in Münster
and Osnabrück
. When the Nazis
came to power in 1933, Director Max Cahnbley was fired and replaced by Leon Geer. The building was rebuilt in 1937 but badly damaged during the bombing of Bielefeld on the night of October 26, 1944.
It proved difficult to restart normal theater life immediately after the war as the British administration forbade drama performances. Nevertheless, the opera house reopened on December 1, 1945 with a performance of Mozart's
The Magic Flute
. During the renovation of the building in 1960, it was decided not to renew the Art Deco façade; it was reconstructed for the 75th jubilee in 1979.
The Theater Foundation Bielefeld was founded in 2001 with the purpose of renovating the building again at a cost of €23 million. It was closed in 2004 for two years, but the opera ensemble continued to perform in the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle. The opera house reopened on September 19, 2006, with a performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
.
Alexander Gruber, the Bielefeld Opera became internationally renowned as the Bielefelder Opernwunder ("Bielefeld Opera miracle"), producing a series of successful rediscoveries and premiere performances. The team, which included John Dew as stage director, Gottfried Pilz as stage designer; Rainer Koch, David de Villiers, and Geoffrey Moull
as conductors, helped Bielefeld Opera attract attention of the national German and British press; critics from Gramophone, the Financial Times
, and New York (Opera News
) became regular visitors.
, Così fan tutte
, Der Rosenkavalier
and Aida
, several dramaturgical leitmotif
s were to be found in the programming of the Opernwunder years of the Bruns era. A number of operas from the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate art
) period were performed for the first time since being banned by the Nazis in the 1930s. Publishers and opera house staff recreated lost orchestral materials for productions of Bohuslav Martinů
's Julietta
, Karoly Rathaus' Fremde Erde, and Ernst Toch
's Der Fächer. German romantic operas that had been lost since the 19th century were given new life, thus the rediscovery of Robert Schumann
's Genoveva
, Louis Spohr's Faust and Carl Maria von Weber's Die drei Pintos
for the operatic stage. Some operas from abroad received their European premieres in Bielefeld, such as John Adams
' Nixon in China
and Shulamit Ran
's Der Dybbuk. The Bielefeld Opera also produced a number of world premieres, including Nikolai Karetnikov
's Till Eulenspiegel and Michael Hirsch's Das stille Zimmer.
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
, Germany. It is a Dreisparten Haus (three-department house), offering plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, music (opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
), and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. The main performance venue is the Stadttheater am Niederwall (Municipal Theatre at the Lower Wall), built in 1904 and extensively renovated from 2004 to 2006. It is the largest theater in East Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
, offering 500 performances annually. It is under the direction of Michael Heicks; its resident orchestra is the 72-member Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra that also performs symphonic concerts at the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle.
History
Plans to build an opera house in Bielefeld were laid in 1885 by a foundation set up the widow of the founder of the Crüwell Tobacco Company. Bernhard Sehring was chosen as architect and construction was started in 1901 on the Niederwall. The Art DecoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building was inaugurated with a performance of Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
on April 3, 1904.
The financial crisis in the 1920s led to discussions about reducing the number of employees or amalgamating with neighboring theaters in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
and Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
. When the Nazis
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
came to power in 1933, Director Max Cahnbley was fired and replaced by Leon Geer. The building was rebuilt in 1937 but badly damaged during the bombing of Bielefeld on the night of October 26, 1944.
It proved difficult to restart normal theater life immediately after the war as the British administration forbade drama performances. Nevertheless, the opera house reopened on December 1, 1945 with a performance of Mozart's
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. During the renovation of the building in 1960, it was decided not to renew the Art Deco façade; it was reconstructed for the 75th jubilee in 1979.
The Theater Foundation Bielefeld was founded in 2001 with the purpose of renovating the building again at a cost of €23 million. It was closed in 2004 for two years, but the opera ensemble continued to perform in the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle. The opera house reopened on September 19, 2006, with a performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
.
Opernwunder
Between 1975 and 1998, under Director Heiner Bruns and dramaturgeDramaturge
A dramaturge or dramaturg is a professional position within a theatre or opera company that deals mainly with research and development of plays or operas...
Alexander Gruber, the Bielefeld Opera became internationally renowned as the Bielefelder Opernwunder ("Bielefeld Opera miracle"), producing a series of successful rediscoveries and premiere performances. The team, which included John Dew as stage director, Gottfried Pilz as stage designer; Rainer Koch, David de Villiers, and Geoffrey Moull
Geoffrey Moull
Geoffrey Moull is a professional conductor and pianist.- Education :Geoffrey Moull was born in London, Ontario, Canada and studied conducting with Kirill Kondrashin, Sergiu Celibidache and Martin Stephani...
as conductors, helped Bielefeld Opera attract attention of the national German and British press; critics from Gramophone, the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, and New York (Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
) became regular visitors.
Programming philosophy
In addition to operas like LohengrinLohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
, Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
and Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, several dramaturgical leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
s were to be found in the programming of the Opernwunder years of the Bruns era. A number of operas from the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
) period were performed for the first time since being banned by the Nazis in the 1930s. Publishers and opera house staff recreated lost orchestral materials for productions of Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Martinu
Bohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
's Julietta
Julietta
Julietta is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, which is based on the play Juliette, ou La clé des songes by the French author Georges Neveux. The opera received its first performance at the National Theatre, Prague on 16 March 1938, with Ota Horaková in the title role and...
, Karoly Rathaus' Fremde Erde, and Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch
Ernst Toch was a composer of classical music and film scores.- Biography :Toch, born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family of a humble Jewish leather dealer when the city was at its 19th-century cultural zenith, sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music...
's Der Fächer. German romantic operas that had been lost since the 19th century were given new life, thus the rediscovery of Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
's Genoveva
Genoveva
Genoveva is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at the Stadttheater in Leipzig, with the composer conducting...
, Louis Spohr's Faust and Carl Maria von Weber's Die drei Pintos
Die drei Pintos
Die drei Pintos is a comic opera of which Carl Maria von Weber began composing the music, working on a libretto by Theodor Hell...
for the operatic stage. Some operas from abroad received their European premieres in Bielefeld, such as John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
' Nixon in China
Nixon in China (opera)
Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by the 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with...
and Shulamit Ran
Shulamit Ran
Shulamit Ran is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony won her the Pulitzer Prize...
's Der Dybbuk. The Bielefeld Opera also produced a number of world premieres, including Nikolai Karetnikov
Nikolai Karetnikov
Nikolai Nikolayevich Karetnikov , was a Russian composer of the so-called Underground – alternative or nonconformist group in Soviet music.-Biography:...
's Till Eulenspiegel and Michael Hirsch's Das stille Zimmer.
Operatic productions
Nearly half of all new productions of the Bielefeld Opera between 1980 and 1998 were of innovative operas, including:- Rudi Stephan: Die erste Menschen
- Franz Schreker: IrreloheIrreloheIrrelohe is an opera in three acts by the Austrian composer Franz Schreker, libretto by the composer.-Composition history:Schreker wrote the libretto in a very short time in 1919. The work takes its name from a train station called Irrenlohe which Schreker passed through during a journey to...
- Franz Schreker: Der Schmied von Gent
- Franz Schreker: Der Singende Teufel
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Das Wunder der HelianeDas Wunder der HelianeDas Wunder der Heliane , Op.20 is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold with a libretto by Hans Müller-Einigen, after Hans Kaltneker. It was first performed at the Hamburg State Opera on 7 October 1927...
- Karol Rathaus: Fremde Erde
- Andre-Ernest-Modeste Gretry: Zemire und Azor
- Thea Musgrave: Maria Stuart
- George Antheil: Transatlantik
- Erwin Dressel: Armer Columbus
- Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
: A Quiet Place - Frederick Delius: Fennimore and Gerda
- Giacomo Meyerbeer: Der Prophet
- Ernst Krenek: Der Sprung über den Schatten
- Ernst Krenek: Die Zwingburg
- Rudolf Mors: Der Kreidekreis
- Jacques F. Frommental Halevy: Die Jüdin
- John Adams: Nixon in China
- Douglas Moore: Die Ballade von Baby Doe
- Bohuslav Martinu: JuliettaJuliettaJulietta is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, which is based on the play Juliette, ou La clé des songes by the French author Georges Neveux. The opera received its first performance at the National Theatre, Prague on 16 March 1938, with Ota Horaková in the title role and...
- Robert Schumann: GenovevaGenovevaGenoveva is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at the Stadttheater in Leipzig, with the composer conducting...
- Louis SpohrLouis SpohrLouis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
: FaustFaust (Spohr)Faust is an opera by the German composer Louis Spohr. The libretto, by Josef Karl Bernard, is based on the legend of Faust; it is not influenced by Goethe's Faust, though Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy had been published in 1808. Instead, Carl Bernard's libretto draws mainly on Faust plays... - Roberto Gerhard: La Duena
- Nikolai KaretnikovNikolai KaretnikovNikolai Nikolayevich Karetnikov , was a Russian composer of the so-called Underground – alternative or nonconformist group in Soviet music.-Biography:...
: Till Eulenspiegel - Judith Weir: Der Blonde Eckbert
- Ernst Toch: Der Fächer
- Ernst Krenek: Der Diktator
- Carl Maria von Weber/Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
: Die drei PintosDie drei PintosDie drei Pintos is a comic opera of which Carl Maria von Weber began composing the music, working on a libretto by Theodor Hell... - Theo LoevendieTheo LoevendieTheo Loevendie is a Dutch composer and clarinet player.Loevendie studied composition and clarinet at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam. Initially he concentrated on jazz music. As off 1968 he also wrote concert music, among which operas, concertos and chamber music...
: Esmée - Luigi Dallapiccola: Il Prigioniero
- Kurt Weill: Die BürgschaftDie BürgschaftThe Hostage is a 1798 ballad by German poet Friedrich Schiller. He took the idea out of the medieval Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, the Gesta Romanorum.- Synopsis :...
- Shulamit RanShulamit RanShulamit Ran is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony won her the Pulitzer Prize...
: Der Dybbuk - Michael Hirsch: Das Still Zimmer
CD recordings
The Bielefeld Opera has produced the following complete opera recordings (all still commercially available):- Ernst Krenek: Der Sprung über den Schatten. Thomas Brüning, Lynda Kemeny, Susan Maclean, Diana Amos, John Pflieger, Ulrich Neuweiler, Jörg DürmüllerJörg DürmüllerJörg Dürmüller is a Swiss classical tenor in concert and opera.- Biography :Dürmüller studied violin and voice at the conservatory of Winterthur and took voice master classes with Edith Mathis, Christa Ludwig and Hermann Prey....
, Bielefeld Opera Chorus, Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra, David de Villiers. cpo 999 082-2, 1990 - Louis SpohrLouis SpohrLouis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
: FaustFaust (Spohr)Faust is an opera by the German composer Louis Spohr. The libretto, by Josef Karl Bernard, is based on the legend of Faust; it is not influenced by Goethe's Faust, though Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy had been published in 1808. Instead, Carl Bernard's libretto draws mainly on Faust plays...
(1852 version). Michael Vier, Eelco von Jordis, William Pugh, Diane Jennings, Ion Bric, Claudia Taha, Bielefeld Opera Chorus, Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Moull. cpo 999 247-2, 1993 - Viktor Ullmann Der Sturz des Antichrist Ulrich Neuweiler, Richard Decker, William Oberholzer, Louis Gentile, Monte Jaffe, Lassi Partanen, Bielefeld Opera Chorus, Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra, Rainer Koch. cpo 999 321-2, 1996
- Theo LoevendieTheo LoevendieTheo Loevendie is a Dutch composer and clarinet player.Loevendie studied composition and clarinet at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam. Initially he concentrated on jazz music. As off 1968 he also wrote concert music, among which operas, concertos and chamber music...
: Esmée. Margaret Thompson, William Oberholtzer, Luca Martin, Monte Jaffe, Ulrich Neuweiler, Maja Tabatadze, Nikolaus Bergmann, Bielefeld Opera Chorus, Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Moull. Donemus CV 74/75, 1998