The Aalto Theatre (Aalto-Theater) is a performing arts venue in
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
, Germany, and is home to the city's opera company Aalto-Musiktheater and the ballet company Aalto Ballett. The serve as the venue's orchestra. The theatre opened on 25 September 1988 with
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's opera ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
(; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...
'' and is mainly used for opera and ballet, but also for concerts and galas.
The design by the Finnish architect
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...
was the unanimous winner in a competition in 1959, but the building was begun only in 1983, seven years after Aalto's death.
A feature of the auditorium's design is its asymmetrical layout and the
indigo
Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
blue colour of the seats.
Conductor
Wolf-Dieter Hauschild
Wolf-Dieter Hauschild (born 6 September 1937 in Greiz), is a German conductor, choirmaster, artistic director, composer, harpsichordist and university lecturer.
After working for the Berliner Rundfunk from 1971, he was principal conductor of the ...
held the positions of both
Intendant
An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
and
Generalmusikdirektor
A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...
in personal union from 1992 until 1997, followed by
Stefan Soltesz
Stefan may refer to:
* Stefan (given name)
* Stefan (surname)
* Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname
* Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname
* Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer
* Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...
from 1997 until 2013.
Soltesz led the Essener Philharmoniker to the title
Orchestra of the Year in 2003 and 2008 and the Aalto-Musiktheater to that of
Opera House of the Year
''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...
in 2008, following a survey of 50 critics by magazine ''
Opernwelt
''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...
''.
He was succeeded as Intendant by
Hein Mulders
Hein Mulders (born 9 October 1962 in Bussum) is a Dutch cultural manager and intendant of the Saalbau Essen since the beginning of the 2013/14 season.Tomáš Netopil
Tomáš Netopil (born 18 July 1975 in Přerov) is a Czech conductor. He conducted the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005 and made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2006. In 2006, he also conducted at the Salzburg Festival an ...
.
References
External links
*
Image gallery
"Gesamtkonzept Theater – Das Aalto-Theater Essen"by Eckhard Gropp
Models, architectural drawings, bibliography
Aalto Theater, Esseno
Architectuul
{{authority control
Alvar Aalto buildings
Buildings and structures in Essen
Opera houses in Germany
Ballet venues
Modernist architecture in Germany
Music venues completed in 1988
Theatres in Essen
Theatres completed in 1988