The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt,

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and the city of Darmstadt. Its history began in 1711 with a court theatre building. From 1919 it was run as ''Landestheater Darmstadt''. The present theatre was opened in 1972 when the company was named Staatstheater.

History

The theatre dates back more than 300 years. It was originally a court theatre at the residence of the county Darmstadt. At a request by a first theatre building in Darmstadt was opened in 1711 with Christoph Graupner's opera '' Telemach''. About a century later,

Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (14 June 1753 in Prenzlau – 6 April 1830 in Darmstadt) was ''Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt'' (as ''Louis X'') and later the first ''Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine''. Louis was the son of Louis IX, Landgrave o ...

, built a court theatre open to the citizens. The architect

Georg Moller Georg Moller (21 January 1784 – 13 March 1852) was an architect and a town planner who worked in the South of Germany, mostly in the region today known as Hessen. Life and family background Moller was born in Diepholz, a descendant of an old ...

built a theatre with 2000 seats and advanced stage machinery, opened in 1819. It burnt down in 1871 and was restored in seven years. In 1919 the theatre became a '' Landestheater''. The former building was made the small stage (''Kleines Haus''). Director Gustav Hartung (1920–1924 and 1931–1933) made the theatre famous for premieres of contemporary authors. He was forced to flee by the Nazis. Actress

Lilli Palmer Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...

, then 20 years old, emigrated to Paris. Both halls of the theatre were destroyed by bombs in the night 11 to 12 September 1944. After the war a provisional stage was found in the

Orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

( de), where the company played for almost three decades. It was known for plays during the times of directors

Rudolf Sellner Rudolf Sellner, born Gustav Rudolf Sellner (25 May 1905 – 8 May 1990) was a German actor, dramaturge, stage director, and intendant.Hugo Thielen: ''Sellner, Gustav Rudolf'', in: ''Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon'', p. 332 He represented i ...

(1951–1961) and (1961–1971). The play ''Männersache'' by

Franz Xaver Kroetz Franz Xaver Kroetz (; born 25 February 1946) is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. He achieved great success beginning in the early 1970s. ''Persistent'', '' Farmyard'', and ''Request Concert'', all written in 1971, are some o ...

premiered in 1972. In 1966

Maciej Łukaszczyk Maciej Łukaszczyk (11 March 1934, Warsaw – 4 June 2014, Poznań) was a Polish pianist. Life Łukaszczyk was born in the capital city of Poland, Warsaw, in March 1934. During the German occupation of Poland during the Second World War, he and ...

arrived and worked as a

Répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the perso ...

at the Landestheater Darmstadt. In 1970 he founded the Chopin Organisation.

Staatstheater

The present building was opened in 1972, when the theatre was named ''Staatstheater''. The theatre is funded by the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. The building was designed by the Darmstadt architect Rolf Prange who had won a national competition in 1963. The great hall (''Großes Haus'') seats 956 people, the small hall (''Kleines Haus''), mostly for plays and dance, 482. A chamber theatre (''Kammerspiele'') seats 120. The ''Großes Haus'' was opened on 6 October 1972 with 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 ...

'', the ''Kleines Haus'' a day later with

Gaston Salvatore Gaston Salvatore (29 September 1941 – 11 December 2015) was a Chilean writer living in Germany and writing in the German language. Salvatore was born in Valparaíso. Among other things, he is known for his collaborations with Hans Werner Henze, ...

's ''Büchners Tod''. Reinhard Febel's opera ''Morels Erfindung'' premiered on 6 November 1994. Jan Müller-Wieland's chamber opera in one act ''Die Nachtigall und die Rose'' was first performed in 1996, ''Die Versicherung'' after a play by

Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays ''Marat/Sade'' and ''The Investigation'' and hi ...

in 1999. From 2002 to 2006 the building was restored, with new technical and safety features. It was reopened with

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European f ...

's ''Schicksal'' and '' Lélio oder die Rückkehr ins Leben'' by Hector Berlioz on 22 September 2006, and a day later Schiller's '' Don Karlos''. John Dew has been director of the theatre from 2004 till 2014. Since 2014 the intendant is Karsten Wiegand. Music director since 2018 is Daniel Cohen, opera director is Kirsten Uttendorf.

References

External links

Staatstheater Darmstadt
Official website
Staatstheater Darmstadt
theoperacritic.com
Staatstheater Darmstadt
klassik-heute.com {{authority control Theatres in Germany Opera houses in Germany Theatres completed in 1711 Music venues completed in 1711 Theatres completed in 1819 Music venues completed in 1819 Theatres completed in 1972 Music venues completed in 1972 1711 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire