![Wien - Volksoper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Wien_-_Volksoper.JPG)
The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual season which runs from September through June.
History
Foundation
![Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater-Verein 1898](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Kaiserjubil%C3%A4um-Stadttheater-Verein_1898.jpg)
The Volksoper was built in 1898 as the ''Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater'' (Kaiser's Jubilee Civic Theatre), originally producing only
plays
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
. Because of the very brief construction period (10 months) the first director Adam Müller-Gutenbrunn had to start with debts of 160,000
florins
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
. After this inauspicious startup the ''Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater'' had to declare bankruptcy five years later in 1903.
Music theater from 1903 to 1950s
On 1 September 1903, Rainer Simons took over the house and renamed it the ''Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater - Volksoper'' (public opera). His intention was to continue the production of plays but also establish series of opera and operetta. The first Viennese performances of ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'' and ''
Salome'' were given at the Volksoper in 1907 and 1910 respectively. World-famous singers such as
Maria Jeritza
Maria Jeritza (born Marie Jedličková; 6 October 1887 – 10 July 1982) was a dramatic soprano, long associated with the Vienna State Opera (1912–1934 and 1950-1953) and the Metropolitan Opera (1921–1932 and 1951). Her rapid rise to fame, ...
,
Leo Slezak
Leo Slezak (; 18 August 1873 – 1 June 1946) was a Moravian dramatic tenor. He was associated in particular with Austrian opera as well as the title role in Verdi's ''Otello''. He is the father of actors Walter Slezak and Margarete Slezak and ...
and
Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor.
Early life
Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...
appeared there; the conductor
Alexander Zemlinsky
Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher.
Biography
Early life
Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton ...
became the first bandmaster in 1906.
In the years up to and through the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the Volksoper attained a position as Vienna's second prestige opera house. In 1919,
Felix Weingartner
Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.
Life and career
Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...
became artistic director and principal conductor. Hugo Gruder-Guntram succeeded Weingartner as artistic director. After 1929, it focused on light opera, and under Gruder-Guntram undertook a number of summer tours to
Abbazia
Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic buildings re ...
in 1935, Cairo and Alexandria in 1937 and throughout Italy in 1938, with guest appearances from
Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor.
Early life
Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...
. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Vienna Volksoper became the alternative venue to the devastated
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 S ...
. In 1955 the Volksoper returned to its former role of presenting opera, operetta, and musicals.
Recent history
In 1987, the Volksoper was shown in the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
movie
The Living Daylights
''The Living Daylights'' is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's ...
, doubling for a fictional "Ľudové konzervatorium" ("People's Conservatory" - direct translation of "Volksoper" into
Slovak) in
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
, as
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
was still under Communist rule at the time; the interior was however filmed at
Sofiensaal
The Sofiensaal is a concert hall and recording venue located in Vienna, Austria. It is situated on Marxergasse, in the city's third district of Landstraße. The building burned down on 16 August 2001, but it was rebuilt and opened once again in ...
. In the movie, KGB General Koskov, who is defecting to the West, is attending a performance, and Bond and his handler Saunders cover him from an apartment across the street (in real life across Währingerstraße, the building is a confectionery store "Zum süßen Eck").
From September 1991 to June 1996, the Vienna Volksoper was under a collective leadership with the
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 S ...
. In 1999, the Volksoper became a 100% subsidiary of the Bundestheater-Holding.
Since 1 September 2007, Robert Meyer has headed the Volksoper as artistic director together with the business manager Christoph Ladstätter. Meyer is scheduled to conclude his tenure in 2022. In October 2020, the company announced the appointment of Lotte de Beer as its next artistic director, the first woman ever named to the post, effective 1 September 2022, with an initial contract of 5 years. In December 2020, the company announced the appointment of
Omer Meir Wellber
Omer Meir Wellber (Hebrew: עומר מאיר ולבר; born 28 October 1981, Beersheba) is an Israeli conductor and composer.
Biography
Wellber began musical studies at age 5, on accordion and piano. He became a composition student of Tania Tale ...
as its next music director, effective 1 September 2022, with an initial contract of 5 years.
Facts and figures
Seating
![sitzplan volksoper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Sitzplan_volksoper.jpg)
On three different levels there are 1261 seats and 72 standing room places as well as two places for wheelchairs.
Number of performances by year
Technical data
The orchestra pit is equipped with two electrically driven stage lifts, with a loading capacity of 500 kg/m
2. It is adjustable in height from 0 to 2.65 meters below stage level.
The red velvet house curtain is hydraulically drawn and liftable. The gather velocity is 0.15 to 3.0 m/s, the lift velocity can be up to 2.0 m/s.
The stage is 17.2 meters wide and 19 meters deep and has a mechanic load capacity of 500 kg/m
2. In the middle of the stage is a turnable and liftable circular platform, around which is a turnable ring platform with an external diameter of 15 meters. There are also 3 hand-operated person trap mechanisms.
Organisational structure
Since 1999 the Volksoper Vienna is a 100% subsidiary of the Bundestheater Holding AG (Federal theater holding AG) along with the
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 S ...
and the
Burgtheater
The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...
(
en: (Imperial) Court Theatre). The Bundestheater Holding AG is owned by the Republic of Austria.
The Holding also holds 51.1% of the Theaterservice Gmbh, which offers services in design and administrational matters. The remaining 48.9% are shared equally among the three theater houses (16.3% each).
Artistic directors
* Adam Müller-Guttenbrunn (1898–1903)
* Rainer Simons (1903–1917)
* Raoul Mader (1917–1919)
* Felix Weingartner (1919–1924)
* August Markowsky, Fritz Stiedry (1924)
* Hugo Gruder-Guntram, Leo Blech (1925)
* Hermann Frischler (1925–1928)
* Jakob Feldhammer, Otto Preminger (1929–1931)
* Leo Kraus (1931–1933)
* Karl Lustig-Prean, Jean Ernest (1934–1935)
* Alexander Kowalewsky (1935–1938)
* Anton Baumann (1938–1941)
* Oskar Joelli (1941–1944)
* Hermann Juch (1946–1955)
* Franz Salmhofer (1955–1963)
* Albert Moser (1963–1973)
* Karl Dönch (1973–1986)
* Eberhard Waechter (1987–1992)
* Ioan Holender (1992–1996)
* Klaus Bachler (1996–1999)
* Dominique Mentha (1999–2003)
* Rudolf Berger (2003–2007)
* Robert Meyer (2007–2022)
* Lotte de Beer (2022–present)
See also
*
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 S ...
*
Burgtheater
The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...
References
External links
Official website in English
Profile from Wien.infowebsite Bundestheater HoldingWebsite der Bundestheater Holding, in English
{{Authority control
Music venues completed in 1898
Opera houses in Austria
Cultural venues in Vienna
Austrian opera companies
Buildings and structures in Alsergrund
1898 establishments in Austria
Theatres completed in 1898