The Staatstheater Augsburg is a theatre of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, Germany. Until 1999 it was called Städtische Bühnen Augsburg, from then until the end of August 2018 it was called ''Theater Augsburg''. It offers on four stages musical theatre, plays and ballet, with its own choir and the orchestra .

History

Public theatre in Augsburg dates back to 1630, when the ''

Meistersinger A (German for "master singer") was a member of a German guild for lyric poetry, composition and unaccompanied art song of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Meistersingers were drawn from middle class males for the most part. Guilds The ' ...

'' initiated plays in the Welserstadel. The first opera was performed in 1696 or 1697, conducted by Johann Sigismund Kusser aufgeführt.Max Herre (ed.): ''Das Stadttheater Augsburg. Festschrift zum fünfzigjährigen Bestehen im Auftrage der Stadt. Herausgegeben von Dr. Max Herre'', Augsburg, 1927, Selbstverlag der Stadt Augsburg, 188 p. The ''Stadttheater'' opened in 1776 and offered a stage for guest ensembles.

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 ...

visited the theatre in October 1777. His opera '' Don Giovanni'' was performed already in 1787, the year of the premiere, ''

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 ...

'' followed on 21 January 1793. Emanuel Schikaneder was the director several times. On 1 January 1876, the Magistrat decided for a new theatre building. The first performance in the Großes Haus was Beethoven's ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, wi ...

'' on 26 November 1877. Notable musical directors were István Kertész (1958–1963) and

Bruno Weil Bruno Weil (born 24 November 1949, in Hahnstätten) is a German symphonic conductor. He is principal guest conductor of Tafelmusik, the period-instrument group based in Toronto, Music Director of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and artist ...

(1981–1989), among others. In 1999 the theatre became a municipal ''Eigenbetrieb''. Since 1 September 2018 Theatre Augsburg is a State Theatre ("Staatstheater Augsburg").

Conductors

Musical directors ( Generalmusikdirektor, GMD) have included: * Fritz Josef Schnell * 1940–1969: Anton Mooser * 1958–1963: István Kertész * 1963–1972:

Hans Zanotelli Hans Zanotelli (23 August 1927 – 12 July 1993) was a German conductor. Life Born in Cronenberg, now part of Wuppertal, Zanotelli learned to play the violin and piano as a child. He studied music at the Musikhochschule Köln from 1942 to 19 ...

* 1972–1981: Gabor Ötvös * 1981–1989:

* 1989–1994: * 1994–2002: Peter Leonard * 2002–2009: * 2009–2014:

Dirk Kaftan Dirk Kaftan (born 1971) is a German opera and concert conductor. Career Born in Marburg, West Germany, Kaftan grew up in Wittlich and Canada. At the age of 18 he began employment as a repetiteur at the Theater Trier. Kaftan then studied soun ...

* 2014–2015: * from 2015:

Trivia

The scene of the book ''Der Intendant stirbt dramatisch'' by is the Theater Augsburg. It was performed in a scenic version at the theatre in 2002, with the rock band Waxx.

References

Literature

* ''Vom Komödienstadel am Lauterlech zum wiederaufgebauten Stadttheater'' In: ''Adressbuch der Stadt Augsburg 1971'', 86. Ausgabe, Augsburger Adreßbuchverlag Konrad Arnold, pp 23–28 * Peter Garski: ''Der Intendant stirbt dramatisch''. .

External links

*
Theater Augsburg
in Augsburger Stadtlexikon {{coord, 48.3703, 10.8925, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title