Günther Schneider-Siemssen
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Günther Schneider-Siemssen (7 June 1926 – 2 June 2015) was a German-born Austrian
scenic design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including Play (theatre), plays and Musical theatre, musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, wher ...
er, working as the chief designer for all Austrian State Theatres and the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
, where he created 28 productions for
Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...
and 60 for
Otto Schenk Otto Schenk (12 June 1930 – 9 January 2025) was an Austrian actor, stage director for plays and opera, and theatre director. He worked internationally at major houses such as the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York Cit ...
. He was a pioneer in using lighting and projections on stage. He designed sets for major international opera houses.


Career

Born Günther Schneider in
Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
, he later adopted his second name, Siemssen, from his maternal grandfather. He spent his childhood and youth in Munich, originally wanting to become a conductor. In a job interview with
Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conducting, conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the Vienna New Year's Concert ...
he was advised against this and was instead recommended to train in set designing. He studied set design at the
Akademie der Bildenden Künste München The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...
. From 1951 to 1954, Schneider-Siemssen was the head stage designer of the
Salzburger Landestheater The Salzburg State Theatre (''Salzburger Landestheater'') is a theatre situated in Salzburg, Austria, a venue for opera, theatre, and dance, contemporary and older works, with resident companies of actors, singers and dancers. The theatre present ...
, and was simultaneously also in charge of the Salzburger Marionettentheater. From 1954, he was the head stage designer of the Theater Bremen. From 1960, he was employed at the
Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic 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 ...
under
Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...
, where their first production was '' Pelléas et Mélisande''. From 1962 to 1986 he was the chief stage designer for the , including the Opera,
Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...
and
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 ...
with the Akademietheater. From 1965, he held the position also for the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
. He created numerous style-defining stage designs. As a guest, he worked at the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
in New York City, and in opera houses of other U.S. cities and of Canada, South America, Israel and South Africa. A key feature of his designs was his use of lighting. He pioneered and developed a symbolic style of using hand-painted projections and sophisticated special effects, working with the company Pani. For a production of Offenbach's '' Hoffmann's Erzählungen'' at the Salzburger Marionettentheater in 1985, he brought
holographic Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interfe ...
technology to use on stage for the first time. He designed 28 productions for Karajan and 60 for
Otto Schenk Otto Schenk (12 June 1930 – 9 January 2025) was an Austrian actor, stage director for plays and opera, and theatre director. He worked internationally at major houses such as the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York Cit ...
, and worked also with directors such as August Everding, Götz Friedrich and
Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
. For his expressive interpretations of Wagner's stage works, he received the Anton Seidl Award from the Wagner Society of New York in 2009, for a 1986 production of Wagner's ''
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 . The compo ...
'' at the Metropolitan Opera, staged by Schenk and conducted by
James Levine James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...
, which remained in the repertoire of the house to 2009. It was presented in live broadcasts in 1990.


Personal life

Schneider-Siemssen became an Austrian citizen in 1973, living in Vienna and Seeham near
Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
. He was married and had four children. Schneider-Siemssen died in Vienna after long term sickness just prior to his 89th birthday and was buried in the
Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...
in an honorary grave (Group 40, Number 187).


Literature

* Kurt Becsi (ed.), ''Die Bühne als kosmischer Raum. Zum Bühnenbildschaffen by G. Schneider-Siemssen''. Vienna, 1976Die Bühne als kosmischer Raum : zum Bühnenbildschaffen von Günther Schneider-Siemssen
German National Library, retrieved 8 June 2014
* Josef Mayerhöfer (ed.), ''G. Schneider-Siemssen. 30 Jahre Bühnenschaffen''. 1977 und . * Günther Schneider-Siemssen: ''Die Bühne – Mein Leben.'' Vienna 1998, .


Awards

* 1987: Medal of Honour of Vienna in Gold * 1998:
Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...
* 2009: Anton Seidl Award“ from the Wagner Society of New York


References


External links

*
Württembergisches Staatstheater Stuttgart: Dekorationsmappen
Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg {{DEFAULTSORT:SchneiderSiemssen, Gunther Austrian scenic designers 1926 births 2015 deaths Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art People from Augsburg German emigrants to Austria Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery