| Opernhaus Wuppertal | |
|---|---|
 The theatre in 2013 | |
 Interactive map of Opernhaus Wuppertal | |
| Former names | Stadttheater Barmen |
| General information | |
| Location | Wuppertal,North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Coordinates | 51°16′02″N7°11′35″E / 51.26722°N 7.19306°E /51.26722; 7.19306 |
| Construction started | 1905 (1905) |
| Renovated |
|
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Carl Moritz |
| Website | |
| wuppertaler-buehnen | |
Opernhaus Wuppertal (Wuppertal Opera House) is a German theatre inWuppertal,North Rhine-Westphalia. It houses mostly performances of operas, but also plays, run by the municipalWuppertaler Bühnen. The house is also the venue for dance performances by theTanztheater Wuppertal company created byPina Bausch.
The house was built in 1905 on a design byCarl Moritz as theStadttheater Barmen ("Barmen Municipal Theatre"). It was partially rebuilt after being severely damaged during World War II and again restored over the period 2006–2009. The theatre is located in the center of Wuppertal-Barmen, served by theWuppertal Suspension Railway andWuppertal-Barmen station.
The original building was theStadttheater Barmen ("Barmen Municipal Theatre"), an all-purpose theatre for opera and plays built in 1905[1] beforeBarmen was merged into Wuppertal. It was designed by the architectCarl Moritz in a style drawing onneo-Baroque andJugendstil. It was completed in 1907.[2] The theatre was severely damaged during aWorld War II air raid on the night of 30 May 1943, which destroyed the hall completely and also damaged the stage area.[3] It was rebuilt from 1954 to 1956, but with restricted Jugendstil elements which the leader of the project termed "schwerverdauliche Formensprache" (a language of forms hard to digest).[2] The house reopened on 14 October 1956, one of the first war-damaged theatres in Germany to resume operations, with a gala performance ofPaul Hindemith'sMathis der Maler.[2]
The theatre was extended in the 1970s and renovated from 2006[4] to 2009.[2] Since 1989, the building has been protected as an architectural monument.[5]
World premieres have includedYvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund byBoris Blacher, after the play byWitold Gombrowicz, which debuted on 15 September 1973.[6]Die fünf Minuten des Isaak Babel (The five minutes ofIsaac Babel) byVolker David Kirchner, subtitledA Scenic Requiem, premiered on 19 April 1980, conducted byHanns-Martin Schneidt and staged byFriedrich Meyer-Oertel. The first complete performance ofKyberiade, an opera byKrzysztof Meyer based onThe Cyberiad stories byStanisław Lem, was staged on 11 May 1986.[7] Kirchner'sErinys,Threnos in two parts after theOresteia by Aeschylos was first performed on 15 April 1990. A commissioned opera,Gormenghast byIrmin Schmidt on a libretto byDuncan Fallowell, was first performed on 15 November 1998.[8]
The Opernhaus Wuppertal is known for revivals of operas that are not part of the standard repertoire, or have not been for a very long time. Monteverdi'sIl ritorno d'Ulisse in patria was performed in 1959 in a version byErnst Krenek.[9] E. T. A. Hoffmann'sUndine was revived in 1970.[10] In 1981 Meyer-Oertel staged Wagner earlyDie Feen,[11] and in 1994 Schubert'sFierrabras, conducted byPeter Gülke. In the 21st century, Haydn'sL'incontro improvviso was performed in a German translation under the titleUnverhofft in Kairo on 8 January 2011,[12] and Wolfgang Fortner'sBluthochzeit was revived in 2013.[13]
Fritz Lehmann wasGeneralmusikdirektor (GMD) from 1938 to 1947,[14]János Kulka from 1964 to 1975,[15]Hanns-Martin Schneidt from 1975 to 1985. Peter Gülke from 1986 to 1996, and George Hanson from 1998 to 2004.[16]Julia Jones wasGeneralmusikdirektorin of the company from 2016 to 2021,[17] the first female conductor ever to be GMD of the company. In July 2020, the company announced the appointment ofPatrick Hahn as its next GMD, effective with the 2021–2022 season.[18] In December 2022, the company announced the extension of Hahn's initial 3-year contract for an additional two years, through the 2025–2026 season.[19]
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt began his career as arepetiteur in 1923.Horst Stein was repetiteur from 1947 to 1951. Other conductors have includedImre Pallo (1964–1968).
Andreas Meyer-Hanno was director of opera director from 1959 to 1964,[20] and Friedrich Meyer-Oertel from 1979 to 1996.
Ingrid Bjoner, who had made her stage debut in 1957 as Donna Anna in Mozart'sDon Giovanni with theNorwegian National Opera, performed the part the same year in Wuppertal.[21]Ticho Parly performed in 1962 the part of Mephisto in Busoni'sDoktor Faust and the title role in Britten'sPeter Grimes.[22]Peter Hofmann sang his first Siegmund in Wagner'sDie Walküre in 1974, the role which he repeated inPatrice Chéreau's historic centennial production ofDer Ring des Nibelungen at the 1976Bayreuth Festival.[23]
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The opera house is the home base for the dance company Tanztheater Wuppertal, founded byPina Bausch.[24] Performances have included 1975'sFrühlingsopfer (The Rite of Spring) on a stage covered with soil, a production which has been revived many times;Café Müller, 1978, in which "dancers stumble around the stage crashing into tables and chairs";Kontakthof, 1978, performed by an ensemble aged between 58 and 77; and 2005'sNelken.[25]
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