The Bielefeld Opera is the venue of Städtische Bühnen Bielefeld (Municipal stages Bielefeld) in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

, Germany. It is a ''Dreisparten Haus'' (three-department house), offering plays, music (

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

), and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

. 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 (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, 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 Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

building was inaugurated with a performance of

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

's ''

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 1810 ...

'' on 3 April 1904. The financial crisis in the 1920s led to discussions about reducing the number of employees or amalgamating with neighboring theaters in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

and

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

. When the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

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 26 October 1944. It proved difficult to restart normal theater life immediately after the war as the

British administration British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forbade drama performances. Nevertheless, the opera house reopened on 1 December 1945 with a performance of Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

''. During the renovation of the building in 1960, it was decided not to renew the Art Nouveau 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 19 September 2006, with a performance of Mozart's ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premi ...

''.

''Opernwunder''

Between 1975 and 1998, under Director Heiner Bruns and

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults au ...

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 is a Canadian professional conductor. He was principal conductor of the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Education Geoffrey Moull was born in London, Ontario, Canada and ...

as conductors, helped Bielefeld Opera attract attention of the national German and British press; critics from ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'', the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', and New York (''

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 engender the appreciation of opera and also suppor ...

'') became regular visitors.

Programming philosophy

In addition to operas like '' Lohengrin'', ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...

'', ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, 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'' ...

'' and ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

'', several dramaturgical ''

leitmotif A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglic ...

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 (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

) 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 Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He be ...

's '' Julietta'', Karol 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 Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's '' Genoveva'', Louis Spohr's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

'' and Carl Maria von Weber's ''

Die drei Pintos ' ( Anh 5, ''The Three Pintos'') is a comic opera of which Carl Maria von Weber began composing the music, working on a libretto by Theodor Hell. The work was completed about 65 years after Weber's death by Gustav Mahler. It premiered on 20 Januar ...

'' for the operatic stage. Some operas from abroad received their European premieres in Bielefeld, such as

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

' '' Nixon in China'' and Shulamit Ran's ''Der Dybbuk''. The Bielefeld Opera also produced a number of world premieres, including

Nikolai Karetnikov Nikolai Nikolayevich Karetnikov (russian: Николáй Николáeвич Карéтников; 28 June 1930 in Moscow – 9 October 1994 in Moscow) was a Russian composer of the so-called Underground – alternative or nonconformist group in S ...

's ''Till Eulenspiegel'' and ''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 Rudi Stephan (29 July 1887 – 29 September 1915) was a German composer of great promise who was considered one of the leading talents among his generation. He was killed in action during World War I. Life Stephan was born at Worms, Grand Duc ...

: '' Die erste Menschen'' *Franz Schreker: '' Irrelohe'' *Franz Schreker: '' Der Schmied von Gent'' *Franz Schreker: '' Der singende Teufel'' *Erich Wolfgang Korngold: '' Das Wunder der Heliane'' * Karol Rathaus: ''Fremde Erde'' * André Grétry: '' Zemire und Azor'' * Thea Musgrave: '' Maria Stuart'' * George Antheil: '' Transatlantik'' * Erwin Dressel: ''Armer Columbus'' *

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

: '' A Quiet Place'' *

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

: ''

Fennimore and Gerda (subtitled ''Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures'', RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as ''Fennimore and Ge ...

'' *

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera '' Robert le ...

: '' Der Prophet'' * Ernst Krenek: '' Der Sprung über den Schatten'' *Ernst Krenek: ''Die Zwingburg'' *Ernst Krenek: ''

Der Diktator ''Der Diktator'' (''The Dictator'') is a tragic opera in one act with words and music by Ernst Krenek, his Opus number, Op. 49 and the first of three one-acters (with ''Das geheime Königreich'' and ''Schwergewicht, oder Die Ehre der Nation'') whi ...

'' * Rudolf Mors: ''Der Kreidekreis'' (1983, premiere) *

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera ''La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

: '' Die Jüdin'' *

: '' Nixon in China'' * Douglas Moore: '' Die Ballade von Baby Doe'' *

: '' Julietta'' *

: '' Genoveva'' * Louis Spohr: ''

'' * Roberto Gerhard: '' The Duenna'' *

: ''

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is a ...

'' (1993, premiere) * Judith Weir: ''

Der blonde Eckbert Der blonde Eckbert is a Romantic fairy tale written by Ludwig Tieck at the end of the eighteenth century. It first appeared in 1797 in a collected volume of folktales published by Tieck under the publisher Friedrich Nicolai in Berlin. For some ...

'' * Ernst Toch: ''Der Fächer'' *

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

: ''

'' *

Theo Loevendie Johan Theodorus Loevendie (born 17 September 1930 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch composer and clarinet player. Loevendie studied composition and clarinet at the music academy (Conservatorium) of Amsterdam. Initially he concentrated on jazz music. A ...

: ''Esmée'' (about

Esmée van Eeghen Esmée Adrienne van Eeghen (7 July 1918 - 7 September 1944) was a Dutch resistance fighter in World War II. Van Eeghen is controversial because she fell in love with a German officer, but in spite of this played a significant role in the resist ...

) *

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (February 3, 1904 – February 19, 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical serialism, twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d'Istria (at the time part of Austria-Hungary, current ...

: '' Il prigioniero'' *

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

: ''

Die Bürgschaft "The Pledge" (German: "Die Bürgschaft", ) is a ballad published by the German poet Friedrich Schiller in his 1799 ''Musen-Almanach''. He took the idea out of the ancient legend of Damon and Pythias issuing from the Latin ''Fabulae'' by Gaius Jul ...

'' * Shulamit Ran: ''Der Dybbuk'' *Michael Hirsch: ''Das stille Zimmer''

CD recordings

The Bielefeld Opera has produced the following complete opera recordings: *Ernst Krenek: ''Der Sprung über den Schatten''. Thomas Brüning, Lynda Kemeny, Susan Maclean, Diana Amos, John Pflieger, Ulrich Neuweiler,

Jörg Dürmüller Jörg Dürmüller (born 28 August 1959 in Bern) 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 an ...

, Bielefeld Opera Chorus, Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra, David de Villiers. cpo 999 082-2, 1990 *Louis Spohr: ''Faust'' (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 Loevendie: ''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''Theater in Bielefeld 1975–1998''. Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Redaktion Heidi Wiese, Heiner Bruns, Alexander Gruber, Fritz Stockmeier 1998.

References

External links

* * (in German) {{authority control, state=collapsed German opera companies Buildings and structures in Bielefeld Theatres in Germany Art Nouveau architecture in Germany 1904 establishments in Germany Theatres completed in 1904 Opera houses in Germany Music venues completed in 1904 Art Nouveau theatres