The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester.

History

The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Electress consort Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, when

Giovanni Battista Maccioni Giovanni Battista Maccioni (''floruit'' 1651 – 1674) was an Italian composer, librettist, and musician. His ''L'arpa festante'' (''The Festive Harp''), first performed in 1653, inaugurated what was to become the Bavarian State Opera and is oft ...

's ''L'arpa festante'' was performed in the court theatre. In 1753, the Residence Theatre ( Cuvilliés Theatre) was opened as a major stage. While opera performances were also held in the Prinzregententheater (completed in 1901), the company's home base is the Nationaltheater München on Max-Joseph-Platz. In 1875, the Munich Opera Festival took place for the first time. Sir Peter Jonas became the general manager in 1993, the first British general manager of any major German-speaking opera house. In 2008, Nikolaus Bachler became Intendant (general manager) of the opera company, and Kirill Petrenko became

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 ...

(GMD) in 2013. In 2014, the Bavarian State Opera received the ''Opernhaus des Jahres'' (opera house of the year) award from '' Opernwelt'' magazine. In October 2015, the company announced the extensions of the contracts of Bachler and of Petrenko through August 2021. Both Bachler and Petrenko stood down from their respective posts at the close of the 2020–2021 season. In March 2018, the company announced the appointments of as its next general manager, and of Vladimir Jurowski as its next

, both effective with the 2021–2022 season.

Intendant

* Johann Nepomuk von Poißl (1824–1848) * (1848–1851) * Franz von Dingelstedt (1851–1858) * (1868–1893) * Ernst von Possart (1895–1906) * Albert von Speidel (1907–1912) * Clemens von Franckenstein (1912–1918) * (1918–1924) * Clemens von Franckenstein (1924–1934) * Hans Knappertsbusch (1934–1935) *

Oskar Walleck Born in 1890, Oskar Walleck was a native of Brno. The actor and director joined the NSDAP and the SS in 1932. In 1934/35, he came to Munich, where he was appointed ''Generalintendant'' of the ''Bayerisches Staatstheater''. As such, he also contro ...

(1935–1937) * Clemens Krauss (1937–1940) * (1945–1952) * (1952–1967) * Günther Rennert (1967–1976) * August Everding (1977–1982) * Wolfgang Sawallisch (1982–1993) * Peter Jonas (1993–2006) * Kent Nagano (2006–2008) * Nikolaus Bachler (2008–2021) * (2021–present)

Generalmusikdirektor

* Franz Lachner (1836–1867) * Hans von Bülow (1864–1869) * Franz Wüllner (1870–1877) * Hermann Levi (1872–1896) *

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

(1894–1896) *

Max Erdmannsdörfer Max Erdmannsdörfer (14 June 184814 February 1905) (sometimes seen as ''Max von Erdmannsdörfer'') was a German conductor, pianist and composer. He was born in Nuremberg. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, becoming concertmaster at Sonders ...

(1896–1898) * Bernhard Stavenhagen (1898–1902) *

Hermann Zumpe Hermann Zumpe (9 April 1850 – 4 September 1903) was a German conductor and composer. Born in Oppach, Saxony, Zumpe grew up in Taubenheim in Sohland an der Spree. He was educated at the teachers' seminary at Bautzen, was a schoolmaster a ...

(1901–1903) *

Felix Mottl right Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which ''Agnes Bernauer'' (Weima ...

(1904–1911) * Bruno Walter (1913–1922) * Hans Knappertsbusch (1922–1935) * Clemens Krauss (1937–1944) * Hans Knappertsbusch (1945) *

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

(1946–1952) * Rudolf Kempe (1952–1954) * Ferenc Fricsay (1956–1958) * Joseph Keilberth (1959–1968) * Wolfgang Sawallisch (1971–1992) * Peter Schneider (interim, 1992–1998) * Zubin Mehta (1998–2006) * Kent Nagano (2006–2013) * Kirill Petrenko (2013–2021) * Vladimir Jurowski (2021–present)

World premieres

Recordings

Bayerische Staatsoper has issued numerous recordings under record labels such as Deutsche Grammophon. In May 2021, it launched its own recording label, Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings (BSOrec). Among the company's noted recordings are the 1989 video recording of Wagners' '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'' at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, which won Best Video in the 1993 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The 1973 recording of Richard Strauss's '' Der Rosenkavalier'', conducted by Carlos Kleiber and released in 2008, was highly acclaimed and selected as Editor's Choice in the April 2009 issue of ''Gramophone'' Magazine. At International Opera Awards, the Bayerische Staatsoper won the 2018 the Opera Company Award. Their recording of Handel's Agrippina, directed by Barrie Kosky from the Royal Opera House, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Opera Awards. In 1977, a recording by the Bayerische Staatsoper was selected by NASA to be included on the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on the Voyager space craft. The record contained sounds and images which had been selected as examples of the diversity of life and culture on Earth. In the recording, soprano Edda Moser sings " Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from Mozart's opera, '' The Magic Flute'', conducted by Sawallisch.

References

External links

*
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
at the Bach Cantatas Website {{Authority control Music in Munich 1653 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 17th-century establishments in Bavaria Organizations established in the 1650s Musical groups established in the 17th century German opera companies Theatres in Munich