Joachim Herz (15 June 1924 – 18 October 2010) was a German
Opera director
Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, United States, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums b ...
and manager. He learned at the
Komische Oper Berlin
The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals.
The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, al ...
as an assistant to
Walter Felsenstein
Walter Felsenstein (30 May 1901 – 8 October 1975) was an Austrian theater and opera director.
He was one of the most important exponents of textual accuracy, productions in which dramatic and musical values were exquisitely researched and ba ...
. His major stations were the
Leipzig Opera
The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany.
History
Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sing ...
where he opened the new house with Wagner's ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', Komische Oper and
Semperoper
The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...
in Dresden, where he opened the restored house with Weber'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 18 ...
'' in 1985. He staged many world premieres, and worked internationally. Herz was the first director to apply Felsenstein's concepts to Wagner's ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
'', staged in Leipzig from 1973 to 1976.
Life
Born in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, Herz attended the
Kreuzschule
The ''Kreuzschule'' (German for "School of the Cross") in Dresden (also known by its Latin name, ''schola crucis'') is the oldest surviving school in Dresden and one of the oldest in Germany. As early as 1300, a schoolmaster (''Cunradus puerorum re ...
there, completing with the
Abitur in 1942.
He then studied piano, clarinet and music pedagogy at the
Hochschule für Musik Dresden.
His studies were interrupted by military service in 1944 and 1945 but completed in 1948.
He then studied opera direction there with
Heinz Arnold
Heinz Arnold (12 February 1919 – 17 April 1945) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace. He is credited with 49 aerial victories including seven victories claimed flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter.For a list of Luftwaffe Jet aces see ''L ...
, later also
musicology at the
Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
.
His first direction work was in 1950
Richard Mohaupt
Richard Mohaupt (14 September 1904 – 3 July 1957) was a German composer and Kapellmeister.
Life
Richard Mohaupt was born in Breslau, where he studied music. After his studies he worked as a répétiteur and music director in Breslau, Aach ...
's ''Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten'' at the Kleines Haus (small hall) in Dresden.
In 1951, he became a stage director at the in Radebeul.
In 1953, he moved to the
Komische Oper Berlin
The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals.
The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, al ...
where he was a student and assistant of
Walter Felsenstein
Walter Felsenstein (30 May 1901 – 8 October 1975) was an Austrian theater and opera director.
He was one of the most important exponents of textual accuracy, productions in which dramatic and musical values were exquisitely researched and ba ...
until 1956. After a brief interlude at the
Cologne Opera
The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company
From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in th ...
(1956–1957), he came to the
Leipzig Opera
The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany.
History
Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Sing ...
as opera director (''Oberspielleiter'')
and from 1959 also manager (''Direktor'').
He opened the new opera house in 1960 with Wagner's ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''.
Some of his productions toured the world.
Herz caused a particular sensation with his ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
'', completed in Leipzig in 1976. This benchmark production provided the main conceptual impetus for
Chéreau's
Bayreuth ''
Jahrhundertring
The ''Jahrhundertring'' (''Centenary Ring'') was the production of Richard Wagner's ''Ring Cycle'', ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', at the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, celebrating the centenary of both the festival and the first performance of the comp ...
''.
In 1976, Herz returned to the Komische Oper Berlin, succeeding Felsenstein.
In retrospect, this move has been considered luckless.
His sometimes gruff style of work and his lack of concern for the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
bureaucrats met with little approval. His replacement in 1981 was therefore not unexpected.
Herz was from 1981 to 1991 chief director at the
Dresden State Opera, from 1985 in the reopened
Semperoper
The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...
,
for whose opening he staged Weber'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 18 ...
''.
Herz staged productions all over the world beginning in 1959.
He worked at the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as well as at the
Teatro Colón
The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...
in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, in London and in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
.
Herz staged a total of 126 productions and new productions of over 60 operas, many of which have become classics.
He taught at the
Leipzig University
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...
from 1976, and from 1981 as head of the department of opera direction of the
Musikhochschule Dresden. He lectured internationally.
Herz died in Leipzig at the age of 86.
Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' directed by Herz
Between 1973 and 1976, Joachim Herz staged all four parts of the ''Ring'' at the Leipzig Opera House. Contrary to the performance practice of the time, which was primarily influenced by the works of
Wieland Wagner
Wieland Wagner (5 January 1917 – 17 October 1966) was a German opera director, grandson of Richard Wagner. As co-director of the Bayreuth Festival when it re-opened after World War II, he was noted for innovative new stagings of the operas, depa ...
, Herz sought the conceptual key for the tetralogy in Wagner himself, especially in his social revolutionary views, which made him a barricade fighter in the
1848er Revolution and which he expounded in numerous of his writings. In 1848, Wagner began writing the ''Ring'' poem. Herz took up this coincidence of time and content and interpreted the ''Ring'' as "a play about the class struggles of the 19th century."
[''Joachim Herz stages Richard Wagner's ''Ring des Nibelungen'' at the Leipzig Opera House.'' Part I: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre. Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. Berlin 1975]"Wagner has now alienated this class struggle tragedy of the 19th century, chosen a parable-like form for it, and as an alienating costume has put Nordic mythology over it, from which he has also drawn decisive moments of conflict in the fable's direction." (Joachim Herz)
The directing team also drew essential impulses from
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's ''Ring'' analysis ''The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on The Niblung's Ring'' (published in London in 1889). Shaw was the first to interpret Wagner's tetralogy as a reflection of the socio-economic upheavals of the 19th century.
For the first time, the Leipzig production also applied the principles of realistic music theatre, as developed by Felsenstein, to Wagner's ''Ring''. Both Herz and the conductor of the tetralogy, , and
Rudolf Heinrich, responsible for stage design and costumes, had been Felsenstein students. In the conceptual preliminary work (July to September 1972)
[''Joachim Herz directs Richard Wagner's ''Ring of the Nibelung'' at Leipzig Opera House.'' Part II: Siegfried, Twilight of the Gods. Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. Berlin 1980] Herz and Heinrich developed the thematic-staging core points and the visual worlds of their ''Ring'' interpretation. In their conception, the gold that is forged into the ring by Alberich is "first of all beautiful nature", transforms into artistically treated nature (the ring), which is also suitable as an object of exchange, and finally mutates into the "basis of a universal exchange value". "The ring is a principle: it signifies the possibility of
primitive accumulation of capital
In Marxian economics and preceding theories,Perelman, p. 25 (ch. 2) the problem of primitive accumulation (also called previous accumulation, original accumulation) of capital concerns the origin of capital, and therefore of how class distinctio ...
. It signifies a potentiation of wealth and power." (Herz)
Herz and Heinrich gave the ring the shape of a golden fist in their interpretation: ''A denaturalisation of the human hand that will look like brass knuckles.''
At the end of ''Götterdämmerung'', the ring transformed back into "a gold web, a golden gossamer, dreamlike and wafting like a veil. With it the Rhinemaidens float away in their gondolas to the laced floor."
Heinrich's pictorial worlds are characterised by a collage technique of historically authenticated details, which he alleviated with fairy-tale and abstract elements. In this way, he created a correspondence between historicity and supra-temporal myth. The castle of the gods
Valhalla
In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...
, for example, was a compilation of the Palais de la Justice in Brussels, the staircase of Vienna's
Burgtheater by
Gottfried Semper and a glass dome from Turin.
[Programmheft zu Richard Wagner: ''Die Walküre'', edited by Leipziger Theater, Spielzeit 1973/74, issue 16]
An essential question of the ''Ring'' interpretation was what actually perishes at the end of ''Götterdämmerung'': the world as such or the world of Wotan? Herz and Heinrich decided that it is the world of Wotan and his adversary Alberich (who is only the ''
alter ego'' of the father of the gods, as they deduced from the musical analysis of both leitmotifs) that is destroyed here. Consequently, Herz reinterpreted "Siegfried's Funeral March" as Wotan's abdication: the father of the gods (who actually no longer appears in this opera) strides saluting through a deserted trellis of eagle pylons. The final image of the Leipzig production showed the men and women, not further defined by Wagner, on an empty stage. "At the end, it's ''
tabula rasa
''Tabula rasa'' (; "blank slate") is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Epistemological proponents of ''tabula rasa'' disagree with the doctri ...
'': the old has been wiped out. Now a new one begins. How this new is to be constituted is not to be shown at this point. Wagner did not know." (Herz)
Premieres and casts
* ''Das Rheingold'', premiere on 7 April 1973. With Rainer Lüdeke (Wotan),
Sigrid Kehl
Sigrid Kehl (born 23 November 1932) is a German operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
Born in Berlin, Kehl first studied singing at the Thuringian State Conservatory in Erfurt. Later she continued her education at the Berlin Uni ...
(Fricka),
Karel Berman Karel Berman (14 April 1919 in Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia – 11 August 1995 in Prague, Czech Republic) was a Jewish Czech opera singer, composer and opera director.
Life
After extensive musical education, Karel Berman started his career ...
(Alberich), Günter Kurth (Loge) among others.
* ''Die Walküre'', premiere on 9 February 1974. with Günter Kurth (Siegmund), Els Bolkestein (Sieglinde),
Fritz Hübner (Hunding), Sigrid Kehl (Brünnhilde), Renate Härtel (Fricka), András Faragó (Wotan) among others.
* ''Siegfried'', premiere on 25 October 1975, with Jon Weaving (Siegfried), Guntfried Speck (Mime), Rainer Lüdeke (Der Wanderer),
Thomas M. Thomaschke (Fafner), Sigrid Kehl (Brünnhilde) among others.
* ''Götterdämmerung'', premiere on 28 March 1976. with Jon Weaving (Siegfried), Sigrid Kehl (Brünnhilde),
Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Ekkehard Wlaschiha (; 28 May 1938 – 20 February 2019) was a German operatic baritone who specialized in Wagnerian "villains", such as Alberich, Klingsor and Friedrich von Telramund. He performed at the Bayreuth Festival and at the Metropolita ...
(Gunther), Hanna Lisowska (Gutrune), Karel Berman (Alberich),
Fritz Hübner (Hagen) among others.
Criticism
* "Both Joachim Herz's production and Rudolf Heinrich's stage design and costumes faithfully adhere to Wagner's own specifications, and that is not exactly common anymore, since Wieland Wagner. Of course, they don't fall back into the hollow pathos, the clashing of weapons and swinging of swords that Wieland Wagner discarded, but they do move radically away again from that extreme stylisation that has been commonplace since 1951, and return to the "core" of Wagner's scene directions in a modern way." (...) "Any institute that can boast a production as excellent and overwhelming as this 'Rheingold' performance has worked its way up among the best in the world."
* The ''
FAZ'' attests Herz's ''Ring'' "great provocative power and consistency."
* The
Herald Tribune called ''Das Rheingold'' a "stunning performance" that also made "a little theatrical history."
* This return of the RING to the theatre, the retheatricalisation of events over which the mists of Nordic-mythical boredom had so long hung penetratingly, probably strikes the viewer first. (...) There are no dull stretches of the Nibelungen in which nothing but beautiful pathos is offered; theatre is played, and with such fervour that one imagines oneself at least in ''Salome''." Ernst Krause in ''
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 ...
'', June 1976
Further productions
* Dresden: ''Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten'' (
Richard Mohaupt
Richard Mohaupt (14 September 1904 – 3 July 1957) was a German composer and Kapellmeister.
Life
Richard Mohaupt was born in Breslau, where he studied music. After his studies he worked as a répétiteur and music director in Breslau, Aach ...
) (1950)
– Herz’ graduate performance, which he himself called "the legendary Mohaupt performance".
*
Komische Oper Berlin
The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals.
The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, al ...
** ''
Die Zauberflöte
''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 includ ...
'' (Mozart, 1954)
** ''
Manon Lescaut
''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut'' ( ) is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of ''Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité'' (''Memoirs and Adventures of a Ma ...
'' (Puccini, 1955)
** ''Der brave Soldat Schwejk'' (
Robert Kurka
Robert Frank Kurka (December 22, 1921 – December 12, 1957) was an American composer, who also taught and conducted his own works.
Biography
Kurka was born in Cicero, Illinois. He was mostly self-taught as a musician. He studied for short perio ...
)
** ''
Der junge Lord
''Der junge Lord'' (''The Young Lord'') is an opera in two acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Ingeborg Bachmann, after Wilhelm Hauff's 1827 fairy tale "Der Affe als Mensch" (The Ape as Man) from ''Der Scheik von Alessandria und sein ...
'' (Henze, 1969)
** ''
Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny'' (Weill, 1977)
** ''
Madama Butterfly'' (Puccini, 1978)
** ''Das Land Bum-Bum'' (
Georg Katzer
Georg Katzer (; 10 January 1935 – 7 May 2019) was a German composer and teacher. The last master student of Hanns Eisler, he composed music in many genres, including works for the stage. Katzer was one of the pioneers of electronic new music ...
, world premiere, 1978)
** ''
Lulu
Lulu may refer to:
Companies
* LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer
* Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer
* Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia
* Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...
'' (Berg, with , 1980)
** ''
Peter Grimes
''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...
'' (Britten, 1981)
** ''
Der fliegende Holländer
' (''The Flying Dutchman''), WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden in 1843.
Wagner cla ...
(Wagner)''
*
Oper Leipzig
The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany.
History
Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singsp ...
:
** ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' (Wagner, 1960)
** ''
Krieg und Frieden'' (Prokofiev, 1961)
** ''
Katja Kabanowa'' (Janáček)
** ''
Boris Godunov'' (Mussorgski)
** ''
Die Frau ohne Schatten
' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the V ...
'' (Richard Strauss)
** ''
Lohengrin
Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...
'' (Wagner)
** ''
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...
'' (Wagner)
** all major Mozart operas
** ''Griechische Hochzeit'' (
Robert Hanell)
** ''
Die Jungfrau von Orleans
''The Maid of Orleans'' (german: Die Jungfrau von Orleans, links=no, ) is a tragedy by Friedrich Schiller, premiered on 11 September 1801 in Leipzig. During his lifetime, it was one of Schiller's most frequently-performed pieces.
Plot
The play ...
'' (Tchaikovsky)
** ''
Die Zaubergeige'' (Egk)
** ''
Les Huguenots
() is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836.
Composition history
...
'' (Meyerbeer)
** ''
Serse
''Serse'' (; English title: ''Xerxes''; HWV 40) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia (1 ...
'' (Handel, 1973)
** ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
'' (Wagner, 1976)
** ''
Le Grand Macabre
''Le Grand Macabre'' (1974–1977, revised version 1996) is the only opera by Hungarian composer György Ligeti. The opera has two acts, and its libretto—based on the 1934 play ''La balade du grand macabre'' by Michel de Ghelderode—was wr ...
'' (Ligeti, 1992)
* Opera film ' (Wagner,
DEFA
DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence.
Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...
1964)
*
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
: ''
Die Zauberflöte
''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 includ ...
'' (Mozart)
*
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
: ''
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'' ...
'' (Richard Strauss)
*
Aalto-Theater
The Aalto Theatre (Aalto-Theater) is a performing arts venue in Essen, 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 Septembe ...
Essen: ''
Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen'' (Prokofiev)
*
Semperoper
The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...
Dresden:
** ''
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 18 ...
'' (Weber, opening in 1985)
** ''
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'' ...
'' (Strauss, 1985)
** ''
Ariadne auf Naxos
(''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...
'' (Strauss)
** ''
Salome'' (Strauss)
** ''
Wozzeck
''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at ...
'' (Berg)
** ''
Die Nase'' (Shostakovich, 1986)
** ''Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen'' (Prokofiev, 1990)
** ''
Così fan tutte'' (Mozart)
** ''Der goldene Topf'' (
Eckehard Mayer
Eckehard Mayer (born 1946) is a German composer.Eckhard RoelckeSchwetzingen: "Sansibar" von Eckehard Mayer: Oper, fernsehtauglich'' Die Zeit'' 22 April 1994, retrieved 13 May 2019
Career
Born in Hainsberg, Mayer was a member of the Dresdner K ...
)
** ''
Osud'' (Janáček)
Honours
* In 1985 Herz received the
National Prize of the GDR
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...
I. Class for Art and Literature.
* In 2005 he became an honorary member of the
Komische Oper Berlin
The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals.
The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, al ...
.
* On 9 January 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.
Trivia
Herz was the first director to set the ''Ring des Nibelungen'' as a parable of 19th century capitalism. After that, there was hardly a production without this background. Patrice Chéreau's Bayreuth ''
Jahrhundertring
The ''Jahrhundertring'' (''Centenary Ring'') was the production of Richard Wagner's ''Ring Cycle'', ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', at the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, celebrating the centenary of both the festival and the first performance of the comp ...
'' in 1976, was based entirely on Herz's innovation, which alone would have made Herz a superstar in the opera world today. Unlike Chereau's ''Ring'', Herz's interpretation was not recorded on video because this technology was not yet available in the GDR at the time. The epoch-making production is documented only in two workbooks of the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic.
[''Joachim Herz inszeniert Richard Wagners ''Ring des Nibelungen'' am Opernhaus Leipzig.'' I. Part: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre. II. Part: Siegfried, Die Götterdämmerung. Akademie der Künste der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Berlin 1975 and 1980]
Publication
*
Stephan Stompor (ed.), Walter Felsenstein, Joachim Herz: ''Musiktheater : Beiträge zur Methodik und zu Inszenierungskonzeptionen''. Leipzig : Reclam, 1976
References
Further reading
* Dieter Kranz: ''Berliner Theater. 100 Aufführungen aus drei Jahrzehnten'', Berlin 1990 – darin Gespräche mit Herz.
*
Michael Heinemann and Kristel Pappel-Herz (eds.): ''Oper mit Herz. Das Musiktheater des Joachim Herz.'' Vol 1: ''Von der Barockoper zum Musikdrama.'' Cologne 2010, .
* Michael Heinemann and Kristel Pappel-Herz (eds.): ''Oper mit Herz. Das Musiktheater des Joachim Herz''. Vol. 2: Zwischen Romantik und Realismus. Cologne 2011. .
* Michael Heinemann and Kristel Pappel-Herz (ed.): ''Oper mit Herz. Das Musiktheater des Joachim Herz''. Vol. 3: Musiktheater in der Gegenwart. With a foreword by
Peter Konwitschny
Peter Konwitschny (born 21 January 1945 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German opera and theatre director.
Biography
Peter Konwitschny grew up in Leipzig, where his father Franz Konwitschny was principal conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestr ...
. Cologne 2012. .
*
Christoph Kammertöns: ''Joachim Herz'', in ''Lexikon der Oper'', vol. 1, edited by Elisabeth Schmierer, Laaber 2002, .
* : ''Operntheater in der DDR. Zwischen neuer Ästhetik und politischen Dogmen''. Henschel 2020.
External links
*
Joachim Herz(publications)
Dohr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herz, Joachim
German opera directors
Opera managers
Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
1924 births
2010 deaths
People from Dresden