Oper Frankfurt


The Oper Frankfurt is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's Der ferne Klang in 1912, Fennimore und Gerda by Frederick Delius in 1919, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937. Frankfurt's international recognition began in the Gielen era, when Michael Gielen and stage directors such as Ruth Berghaus collaborated.
A historic opera house from 1880 was destroyed in World War II, and rebuild as a concert hall, the Alte Oper. The present opera house, built in 1963, is under one roof with the stage for drama. The opera orchestra is called Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. Today's venue for Baroque and contemporary opera is the Bockenheimer Depot, a former tram depot.
Oper Frankfurt has been voted 'Opera House of the Year' by Opernwelt several times since 1996, including 2020, 2022 and 2023, Oper Frankfurt is part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. It received the "Opera Company of the Year" award at the 2013 International Opera Awards.

History

Early history

Frankfurt's first opera was Johann Theile's Adam und Eva, performed in 1698 by Johann Velten's touring company. The first operas Goethe's experienced in his hometown of Frankfurt were productions by Theobald Marchand's company.

1782 – 1880

Opened in 1782, the Comoedienhaus was the first permanent venue of the Frankfurt Theater. In 1878 German violinist Willy Hess took up the leadership of the Oper Frankfurt. He resigned from that post in 1886 to take up a professorship in the Rotterdam Conservatorium voor Muziek.

1880 – 1944

The first representative opera house of the city was inaugurated in Frankfurt in 1880 at Opernplatz. Under the direction of the first Intendant and the first Kapellmeister Felix Otto Dessoff, the house was opened with Mozart's opera Don Giovanni.
During the 1920s, the opera in Frankfurt had more prominent Jewish singers than any other company in Germany, including the tenor Hermann Schramm, bass Hans Erl, baritone Richard Breitenfeld and contralto Magda Spiegel, who also toured with Frankfurt Opera performing Wagner in the Netherlands. These singers were forced to leave the opera in June 1933. Orff's Carmina Burana was premiered at Oper Frankfurt in 1937. Jewish members of the opera company among those rounded up on 9 November 1938 at the Festhalle Frankfurt, where Erl sang In diesen Heil'gen Hallen, from the Magic Flute for the deportees. Members of Frankfurt Opera were sent to Auschwitz and other camps where they perished.

1945 – 1970s

The opera house was damaged in an air raid in January 1944, and then almost completely destroyed in March. In 1952, Georg Solti became Generalmusikdirektor and Intendant of the Oper Frankfurt, where he remained in charge for nine years. A new house for opera and drama was built, completed in 1963 at the Theaterplatz.

The Gielen era

From 1977 to 1987, Frankfurt Opera was led by Michael Gielen. This decade became known as the "Gielen era", notable for the music of a conductor who was also a composer, and directors including Ruth Berghaus and Hans Neuenfels, whose productions of standard works such as Verdi's Aida and Wagner's Ring Cycle were thought-provoking. Operas which received their world premieres at the house were also performed again, including Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten.

1987 – present

The stage of the opera house was destroyed by a fire in November 1987. The opera house was rebuilt and opened in April 1991. Many famous singers started their career with the company, including Franz Völker, Edda Moser, Cheryl Studer, and Diana Damrau, and many established artists have been engaged there in recent seasons including Christian Gerhaher, whose roles here have included Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and his first Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Piotr Beczała in Massenet's Werther and Jan-Hendrik Rootering in Wagner's Parsifal.
Since 2002, Bernd Loebe has served as Intendant of the company. The company's current GMD is Thomas Guggeis, succeeding Sebastian Weigle, who held this position since 2008 until the end of the 2023–24 season. Weigle has made commercial recordings of opera with the company for the OEHMS Classics label.
Oper Frankfurt was voted "Opera House of the Year" by the magazine Opernwelt in 1996, 2003, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024. In 2023, they were distinguished also in the categories Chorus, directed by Tilman Michael, world premiere, and rediscovery. The company received the distinction again in 2024, with recognition also in the categories Chorus and Production for Wagner's Tannhäuser, conducted by Guggeis and directed by Matthew Wild. Director of the year was Lydia Steier, including for her Frankfurt production of Verdi's Aida, and singer of the year John Osborn, including for his Frankfurt portrayal of Éléazar in Halevy's La Juive.
, new buildings for the Städtische Bühnen are planned.

Artistic leadership

The first conductors had the title Kapellmeister. From 1924, the title was GMD, who often also held the administrative leadership Intendant.
World premieres at the Frankfurt Opera have included:
DateWorkComposer
16 September 1810SilvanaCarl Maria von Weber
4 April 1819Zemire und AzorLouis Spohr
20 January 1851Die OpernprobeAlbert Lortzing
26 November 1853RübezahlFriedrich von Flotow
8 December 1881Das Käthchen von HeilbronnCarl Martin Reinthaler
12 November 1902DornröschenEngelbert Humperdinck
18 August 1912Der ferne KlangFranz Schreker
15 March 1913Das Spielwerk und die PrinzessinFranz Schreker
25 April 1918Die GezeichnetenFranz Schreker
21 October 1919Fennimore und GerdaFrederick Delius
21 January 1920Der SchatzgräberFranz Schreker
1 July 1920Die ersten MenschenRudi Stephan
14 May 1921Die Prinzessin GirnaraEgon Wellesz
26 March 1922Sancta SusannaPaul Hindemith
9 July 1924Der Sprung über den SchattenErnst Krenek
8 November 1924SakahraSimon Bucharoff
25 February 1926Die zehn KüsseBernhard Sekles
14 November 1926Der GolemEugen d'Albert
25 December 1926Die LästerschulePaul von Klenau
1 February 1930Von heute auf morgenArnold Schönberg
23 March 1930Achtung, Aufnahme!!Wilhelm Grosz
25 May 1930TransatlanticGeorge Antheil
31 January 1934Prinz Eugen der edle RitterMax Pflugmacher
22 May 1935Die ZaubergeigeWerner Egk
26 May 1936Doktor Johannes FaustHermann Reutter
8 June 1937Carmina BuranaCarl Orff
13 January 1942ColumbusWerner Egk
7 September 1942OdysseusHermann Reutter
20 February 1943Die KlugeCarl Orff
1 March 1962Die AlkestiadeLouise Talma
24 September 1964Gerhard Wimberger
15 June 1986Stephen ClimaxHans Zender
14 November 1986Die Reise zum Mittelpunkt der ErdeHans-Joachim Hespos
12 December 1987Europeras 1 & 2John Cage
18 May 1989What WhereHeinz Holliger
14 June 2002Dr. Popels fiese FalleMoritz Eggert
7 October 2006CaligulaDetlev Glanert
29 June 2014Der goldene DrachePéter Eötvös
14 September 2014Sirenen – Bilder des Begehrens und des VernichtensRolf Riehm
31 May 2015An unserem Fluss Lior Navok
12 November 2017Der MieterArnulf Herrmann
27 June 2021InfernoLucia Ronchetti
23 January 2023BlühenVito Žuraj

Städtische Bühnen

Oper Frankfurt and Schauspiel Frankfurt are part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main GmbH.

Statistics

The opera house has 1,369 seats., the occupancy rate of the Oper Frankfurt in the 2022/23 season was 81%. About 11 premieres and 15 revivals were shown per season.