The Morettische Opernhaus (also Moretti-Theater) was the most frequently performed opera house 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 larg ...

from the end of the 18th century, in the era 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 opera ...

and until the construction of the first

Königliches Hoftheater Dresden The Königliches Hoftheater (Royal Court Theatre) in Dresden, Saxony, was a theatre for opera and drama in the royal seat of the Kingdom of Saxony from 1841 and 1869, designed by Gottfried Semper. It was the predecessor of today's Semperoper, ...

History

From 1664 to 1667 a first opera house had been built in Dresden near the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

(

Opernhaus am Taschenberg The (Opera house at the Taschenberg) was a theatre in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, built from 1664 to 1667 by Wolf Caspar von Klengel. It was the first opera house of the capital of Saxony, Residenz of the Elector of Saxony. Seating up to 2000 people ...

near the Zwingers). In 1719 the

Opernhaus am Zwinger The (Opera house at the Zwinger) was a theatre in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, opened in 1719. The architect of the Zwinger, Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, was also responsible for the opera house situated next to its south-western pavilion. The build ...

followed. In the middle of the 18th century, the impresario Pietro Moretti, who was a guest in Dresden, was granted the privilege of building a "standing theatre" here. This was then built in 1754/55, initially by Julius Heinrich Schwarze and court room, mechanical engineering and theatre builder Christian Gottlieb Reuß, of half-timbering and wood on the site of the (where the north-east side of the Theaterplatz at the

Semper Opera 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 ...

is today). In 1761, after Moretti had made an interim guest appearance in

Margravial Opera House The Margravial Opera House (german: Markgräfliches Opernhaus) is a Baroque opera house in the town of Bayreuth, Germany. Built between 1745 and 1750, it is one of Europe's few surviving theatres of the period and has been extensively restored. On ...

in Bayreuth, it was rebuilt in stone. In 1780, it was designated a court theatre, but only as the small court theatre, as the existing theatre at the Zwinger was significantly larger. The Moretti Theatre had a floor plan of about 40×17 metres and had three tiers with initially 350 seats; in 1783 it was expanded to accommodate an audience of about 800. The troupes of Joseph Seconda,

Johann Gottlieb Naumann Johann Gottlieb Naumann (17 April 1741 – 23 October 1801) was a German composer, conductor, and Kapellmeister. Life Johann Gottlieb Naumann was born in Blasewitz and received his musical training from the teachers at his town school, where he ...

and later also

Ferdinando Paër Ferdinando Paer (1 July 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër. Life and career ...

Francesco Morlacchi Francesco Giuseppe Baldassare Morlacchi (14 June 1784 – 28 October 1841) was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, he was instrumental in popularizing the Ita ...

and finally Weber and

Carl Gottlieb Reissiger Carl Gottlieb Reißiger (also ''Karl Reissiger'', ''Carl Reissiger'', ''Karl Reißiger'') (31 January 1798 – 7 November 1859) was a German Kapellmeister and composer. Biography Born in Belzig, Reissiger attended the Thomasschule zu Leipzig and ...

worked in this theatre and the one on the Lincke’sches Bad. In 1829, the violin virtuoso Paganini made a guest appearance at the Moretti Opera House. After the new

was opened on 13 April 1841, after only three years of construction, Weber's ''Jubel-Ouvertüre'' and Goethe's play ''

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

'' had been inaugurated, the Morettisches Opernhaus was demolished.

Premiere

: ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'', April 1816.''Franz Loebel.'' In

Karl-Josef Kutsch Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life and work Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied me ...

Leo Riemens Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

: ''

Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...

.'' Vol. 3: ''Hirata – Möwes.'' 3rd, expanded edition. Saur, Bern among others 1999, , .

Hofkapellmeister

Important composers worked as conductors at the Dresden Court Opera of that time: *

(1741–1801) *

(1771–1839, 1802–1806) *

(1784–1841, ''italienisches Operndepartement'' 1811–1841) *

(1786–1826, ''deutsches Operndepartement'' 1817–1826) *

(1798–1859, 1826–1859)

Singers

* Friederike Funk *

Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, born Wilhelmine Schröder (6 December 180426 January 1860), was a German operatic soprano. As a singer, she combined a rare quality of tone with dramatic intensity of expression, which was as remarkable on the conce ...

References

External links

Morettisches Opernhaus (Dresden)

* Ulrich Rosseaux
''Freiräume: Unterhaltung, Vergnügen und Erholung in Dresden 1694–1830''
* H. J. Haupt

{{Coordinate, article=/, NS=51.054344, EW=13.736601, type=landmark, region=DE-SN Opera houses in Germany 1750s architecture Buildings and structures demolished in the 1840s Culture in Dresden Demolished buildings and structures in Germany