HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Götz Friedrich (4 August 1930 in
Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
– 12 December 2000 in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
) was a German opera 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 ...
. He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the
Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, near Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, along with the Be ...
in (East) Berlin, where he went on to direct his early productions. He first came to international prominence with a controversial 1972 production of Wagner's ''Tannhäuser'' at
Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...
. He defected to the West whilst working on a production of '' Jenůfa'' in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
later the same year. From 1972 to 1981 he was principal director at the Hamburg State Opera. Between 1977 and 1981, he was also director of productions at the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
at
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where he staged the first British performances of the three-act completion of Berg's ''Lulu''. In 1981 he took up the post of general director of the
Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...
where he stayed until his death in 2000, staging productions across the whole of the operatic repertoire. He was particularly known for his productions of Wagner. He staged his first production of the ''Ring'' at Covent Garden (1973–76, conducted by Colin Davis). The designs by Josef Svoboda centred on a revolving hydraulic platform. In the 1980s he directed a new production for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin (the so-called 'Time Tunnel' ''Ring''). Covent Garden later imported this production to replace a planned production by Yuri Lyubimov, which had been abandoned after ''
Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...
''.
Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...
conducted complete cycles of the second Friedrich ''Ring'', in 1992. The production was also staged in Washington and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. In 1976 he directed the world première of Josef Tal's ''Die Versuchung'' (''The Temptation'') in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. He directed the world premières of
Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...
's ''
Un re in ascolto ''Un re in ascolto'' (''A King Listens'') is an opera by Luciano Berio, who also wrote the Italian language, Italian libretto. It is based on a short story from the collection ''Under the Jaguar Sun'' by Italo Calvino, but incorporates excerpts fro ...
'', Ingvar Lidholm's "Ett Drömspel" and Henze's ''Raft of the Medusa''. He was the initiator of '' The American Berlin Opera Foundation'' (ABOF, now named '' The Opera Foundation''), located in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Among his productions available on DVD are a 1974 film of ''Salome'' (with
Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a Canadian operatic soprano and actress of Greeks, Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu (opera), Lulu''. She is formally retired. Early life an ...
) and a 1981 film of ''Elektra'' (with Leonie Rysanek and Astrid Varnay), both conducted by Karl Böhm; a 1979 '' Falstaff'' (with Gabriel Bacquier) and a 1992 ''
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 ...
'' (with Cheryl Studer and Thomas Moser), both conducted by Sir
Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...
; and a 1982 Bayreuth production of '' Lohengrin'' (with Peter Hofmann and Karan Armstrong), conducted by Woldemar Nelsson. His "controversial" 1972 Bayreuth production of ''Tannhäuser'' (with Dame Gwyneth Jones as Elisabeth and Venus) is also available on DVD, as are his Berlin productions of ''Die tote Stadt'' (with Armstrong, 1983) and ''Tristan und Isolde'' (with René Kollo and Jones, 1993).


Personal life

Friedrich was married to Ruth Maria Kubitschek, with whom he had a son, Alexander. From his marriage to soprano Karan Armstrong, he had another son, Johannes.


Works


Film

* 1962: '' Rotkäppchen'' * 1974: ''
Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'' * 1981: '' Elektra'' (
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
) * 1984: ''
Orpheus in the Underworld ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux, Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act "op ...
''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich, Gotz 1930 births 2000 deaths People from Naumburg (Saale) People from the Province of Saxony German theatre directors German opera directors German film directors German fantasy film directors University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Litteris et Artibus recipients Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf