![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1982-0104-301, Volker Braun, Ruth Berghaus, Wieland Förster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1982-0104-301%2C_Volker_Braun%2C_Ruth_Berghaus%2C_Wieland_F%C3%B6rster.jpg)
Ruth Berghaus (2 July 1927 – 25 January 1996) was a German
choreographer,
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 ...
and
theatre director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
, and artistic director.
Life and career
Berghaus was 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 ...
and studied
Expressionist dance and
Dance direction with
Gret Palucca
Gret Palucca (born Margarethe Paluka; 8 January 1902 – 22 March 1993) was a German dancer and dance teacher, notable for her dance school, the Palucca School of Dance, founded in Dresden in 1925.
Life and work
Margarethe Paluka was born in Mu ...
there and was an advanced student at the German Academy of Arts in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, at least part of the time under
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 ...
– associated with the
Komische Oper
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, alo ...
East Berlin he founded – along with his two other first leading protégés,
Götz Friedrich
Götz Friedrich (4 August 1930 in Naumburg, Germany – 12 December 2000 in Berlin, Germany) was a German opera and theatre director.
He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin in (East) Berlin, where he w ...
and
Joachim Herz
Joachim Herz (15 June 1924 – 18 October 2010) was a German Opera director and manager. He learned at the Komische Oper Berlin as an assistant to Walter Felsenstein. His major stations were the Leipzig Opera where he opened the new house with Wa ...
(1924–2010). All three would mark a departure from Felsenstein's insistence on textual accuracy in favor of Brechtian interpretation, but were in part inspired by also his insistence on maintaining an even balance between the musical and dramatic aspects of an opera being staged. From 1951 to 1964, Berghaus worked as
choreographer on many stages, including the
Deutsches Theater Berlin
The Deutsches Theater is a theater in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street (Schumannstraße), the Deutsches Theater consists of two ad ...
, the
Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin
The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...
and the
Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...
. Her work as a director began with the ''
Die Verurteilung des Lukullus'' of
Paul Dessau
Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.
Biography
Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
and
Bertolt Brecht, at the Deutsche Staatsoper, in 1960. Brecht's work would represent a major part of Berghaus's career. She became well known for her choreography of the slaughter scenes in
Brecht's adaptation of
Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''
Coriolanus
''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same yea ...
'' at the Berliner Ensemble in 1964.
In 1954, Berghaus married the composer
Paul Dessau
Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.
Biography
Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
, whose works for the theater she directed. Her association with the Berliner Ensemble culminated with her directorship of that theater, starting in 1971. After two decades of an aesthetic and intellectual standstill—driven by the strict regiment of the Brecht heirs—Ruth Berghaus’ direction brought an audacious and innovative approach to the Berliner Ensemble. She supported nonconformist authors and directors, such as
Einar Schleef Einar Schleef
(17 January 1944 – 21 July 2001) was a German dramatist, director, set designer, writer, painter, photographer, and actor.
Life
Schleef was born and raised in Sangerhausen, a small town in the South East of Germany. An industria ...
and
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postdr ...
. One of her greatest achievements in that period was her own experimental staging of Brecht's first version of "
The Mother" in 1974, based on
Gorky. Objected by the Brecht heirs, Berghaus’ theatrical approach was generally questioned from that moment on. With the support of the Brecht heirs and the Central Committee of the
SED
sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs,
and is available today for most operating systems.
sed w ...
, Manfred Wekwerth—who later was recognized as an “
informal collaborator
An unofficial collaborator or IM (; both from German ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter''), or euphemistically informal collaborator (''informeller Mitarbeiter''), was an informant in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) who delivered private i ...
” of th
Stasisucceeded in disempowering Ruth Berghaus and installing himself as director i
1977
From 1980 to 1987, Berghaus worked at the
Frankfurt Opera. Her notable productions there included a 1980 ''
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 ...
'' of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
, 1981 Mozart's ''
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
' () ( K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's ''Belmont und Constanze, oder Di ...
'', 1982 ''
Les Troyens'' of
Hector Berlioz (designs by Hans-Dieter Schaal), ''
Věc Makropulos
''Věc Makropulos'' is a Czech play written by Karel Čapek. Its title—literally ''The Makropulos Thing''—has been variously rendered in English as ''The Makropulos Affair'', ''The Makropulos Case'', or ''The Makropulos Secret'' (Čapek's o ...
'' of
Janáček and
Richard Wagner's ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
'' and 1985–87 ''
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 ...
''. In 1992, she returned to Frankfurt to direct ''
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'' ...
''. Her work at the Frankfurt Opera also marked an important collaboration there with
Michael Gielen
Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...
as music director. Leading protégés of both would from a similarly strong collaboration in Hamburg in the late 1990s and first half of the past decade – in
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 ...
and
Ingo Metzmacher
Ingo Metzmacher (born 10 November 1957 in Hanover) is a German conductor and artistic director of the festival KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover.
Life
Ingo Metzmacher is the son of the cellist Rudolf Metzmacher and the research biol ...
. The indirect influence of Berghaus's unique intellectual grasp of inculcating choreography in her staging of opera can (perhaps) be also felt in productions by Harry Kupfer, including of his ''Ring'' at Bayreuth and at Staatsoper Berlin and also of
Jurgen Flimm – worthy of note his production of ''Otello'' at Staatsoper Berlin – also conducted by
Daniel Barenboim. Her most notable protégés are today reckoned to be Konwitschny and the American producer
David Alden.
In 1985, in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, she directed
Alban Berg's ''
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 ...
'' and, in Dresden, ''Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke'' by
Siegfried Matthus
Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as '' Judith'', were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded th ...
. In 1986, she debuted with the
Wiener Staatsoper
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 Si ...
with the choreography of
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...
's ''Orpheus''. In 1988 she staged
Arnold Schoenbergs "
Moses und Aaron" at
Staatsoper Berlin, as conducted by
Friedrich Goldmann
Friedrich Goldmann (27 April 1941 – 24 July 2009) was a German composer and conductor.
Life
Born on 27 April 1941 in Siegmar-Schönau (since July 1951 incorporated into Chemnitz), Goldmann's music education began in 1951 when he joined the Dr ...
. With a key modernist opera by an Austrian-American composer, staged in East Germany's leading opera house, the event has been considered a major breakthrough in overcoming the state dogma of
socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...
. In Brussels, Berghaus directed Berg's ''
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, ...
'' in 1988, and in that same year,
Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
's ''
Fierrabras
''Fierrabras'', 796, is a three-act German opera with spoken dialogue written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1823, to a libretto by Joseph Kupelwieser, the general manager of the Theater am Kärntnertor (Vienna's Court Opera Theatre). Along ...
''. In
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
, her productions included
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 ...
'' and Wagner's ''
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 ...
''. Her final operatic production was
Johann Strauss
Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...
's ''
Die Fledermaus
' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874.
Background
The original li ...
'', produced in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, in 1995. Performed and published posthumously, the only representation of Ruth Berghaus on film is Weber's ''Der Freischütz'', a Zurich revival of 1999, as conducted by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
In 1989, she began a theatrical series of what she called 'related texts', with a production of
Büchner Büchner (or Buechner) is a German language surname related to the word ''Buche'' (german: beech) and may refer to:
* Eberhard Büchner (born 1939), German tenor
* Ernst Büchner (1850–1925), German chemist after whom the Büchner flask and Büc ...
's ''
Danton's Death
''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution.
History
Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German hi ...
'' and in 1991 a production of Brecht's ''
In the Jungle'' at the
Thalia Theater in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
.
[Meech (1994, 54).]
Berghaus died in 1996, in
Zeuthen
Zeuthen is a municipality in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in Brandenburg in Germany.
Geography
It is located near the southeastern Berlin city limits on the western shore of the Dahme River and the Zeuthener See. It borders Eichwalde in the ...
near
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
due to complications from cancer. She was buried at the
Dorotheenstadt Cemetery
The Dorotheenstadt Cemetery, officially the Cemetery of the Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichswerder Parishes, is a landmarked Protestant burial ground located in the Berlin district of Mitte which dates to the late 18th century. The entrance to the ...
in
Berlin-Mitte
Mitte () (German for "middle" or "center") is a central locality () of Berlin in the eponymous district () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district.
Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Alt-Berlin centered on the ch ...
.
Works cited
* Meech, Tony. 1994. "Brecht's Early Plays." In Thomson and Sacks (1994, 43–55).
* Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks, eds. 1994. ''The Cambridge Companion to Brecht''. Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
Notes
See also
Alexander Berghaus is a nephew of Ruth Berghaus.
External links
*
A portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berghaus, Ruth
1927 births
1996 deaths
People from Dresden
Socialist Unity Party of Germany members
Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians
German opera directors
Female opera directors
German theatre directors
Dancers from Saxony
Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver