# Oper Frankfurt

The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's Der ferne Klang in 1912, Fennimore und Gerda by Frederick Delius in 1919, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937. Frankfurt's international recognition began in the Gielen Era, 1977 to 1987, when Michael Gielen and stage directors such as Ruth Berghaus collaborated.
A historic opera house from 1880 was destroyed in World War II, and reconstructed as a concert hall, the Alte Oper. The present opera house, built in 1963, is under one roof with the stage for drama. The opera orchestra is called Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester. Today's venue for Baroque and contemporary opera is the Bockenheimer Depot, a former tram depot.
Voted best 'Opera house of the year' by Opernwelt several times since 1996, including 2020, 2022 and 2023, Oper Frankfurt is part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. It received the "Opera Company of the Year" award at the 2013 International Opera Awards.

## History
### Early history

Frankfurt's first opera was Johann Theile's Adam und Eva, performed in 1698 by Johann Velten's touring company. The young Goethe's first operas in his home town of Frankfurt were productions by Theobald Marchand's company.

### 1782 – 1880

Opened in 1782, the Comoedienhaus was the first permanent venue of the Frankfurt Theater (drama and opera). In 1878 German violinist Willy Hess took up the leadership of the Oper Frankfurt. He resigned from that post in 1886 to take up a professorship in the Rotterdam Conservatorium voor Muziek.

### 1880 – 1944

The first representative opera house of the city was inaugurated in Frankfurt in 1880 at Opernplatz. Under the direction of the first Intendant Emil Claar [de] and the first Kapellmeister Felix Otto Dessoff, the house was opened with Mozart's opera Don Giovanni.
During the 1920s, the opera in Frankfurt had more prominent Jewish singers than any other company in Germany, including the tenor Hermann Schramm, bass Hans Erl (the first King in Schreker's Der Schatzgräber), baritone Richard Breitenfeld and contralto Magda Spiegel, who also toured with Frankfurt Opera performing Wagner in the Netherlands. These singers were forced to leave the opera in June 1933. Orff's Carmina Burana was premiered at Oper Frankfurt in 1937. Jewish members of the opera company among those rounded up at 9 November 1938 at the Festhalle Frankfurt, where Erl sang In diesen Heilgen Hallen, from the Magic Flute for the deportees. Members of Frankfurt Opera were sent to Auschwitz and other camps where they perished.

### 1945 – 1970s

The opera house was damaged in an air raid in January 1944, and then almost completely destroyed in March. In 1952, Georg Solti became Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) and Intendant of the Oper Frankfurt, where he remained in charge for nine years. A new house for opera and play was built, completed in 1963 at the Theaterplatz (now Willy-Brandt-Platz).

### The Gielen Era

From 1977 to 1987, Frankfurt Opera was led by Michael Gielen. This decade became known as the "Gielen Era", notable for the music of a conductor who was also a composer, and directors including Ruth Berghaus and Hans Neuenfels, whose productions of standard works such as Verdi's Aida and Wagner's Ring Cycle were thought-provoking. Operas which received their world premieres at the house were also performed again, including Franz Schreker's Die Gezeichneten.

### 1987 – present

The stage of the opera house was destroyed by a fire in November 1987. The opera house was rebuilt and opened in April 1991. Many famous singers started their career with the company, including Franz Völker, Edda Moser, Cheryl Studer and Diana Damrau, and many established artists have been engaged there in recent seasons including Christian Gerhaher, whose roles here have included Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and his first Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Piotr Beczała in Massenet's Werther and Jan-Hendrik Rootering in Wagner's Parsifal.
Since 2002, Bernd Loebe has served as Intendant of the company. The company's current GMD is Thomas Guggeis, succeeding Sebastian Weigle, who held this position since 2008 until the end of season 2023–24. Weigle has made commercial recordings of opera with the company for the OEHMS Classics label.
Oper Frankfurt was voted "Opera House of the Year" by the magazine Opernwelt, in 1996, 2003, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023. In 2023, they were distinguished also in the categories Chorus, directed by Tilman Michael, World premiere (for Blühen), and Rediscovery (for Die ersten Menschen). The company receiced the distinction again in 2024, with recognition also in the categories Chorus and Production (shared) for Wagner's Tannhäuser, conducted by Guggeis and directed by Matthew Wild. Director of the year was Lydia Steier, including for her Frankfurt production of Verdi's Aida, and Singer of the year John Osborn, including for his Frankfurt portrayal of Éléazar in Halevy's La Juive.
As of 2023, new buildings for the Städtische Bühnen are planned.

## Artistic leadership

The first conductors had the title Kapellmeister. From 1924 it was GMD, who often also held the administrative leadership Intendant (Int.).
* Felix Otto Dessoff (1880–1892, Kapellmeister)
* Ludwig Rottenberg (1893–1924, Kapellmeister)
* Clemens Krauss (1924–1929, GMD)
* Hans Wilhelm Steinberg (1929–1933)
* Bertil Wetzelsberger (1933–1934)
* Karl Maria Zwißler (1935–1936)
* Georg Ludwig Jochum (1937–1938)
* Franz Konwitschny (1938–1944, GMD)
* Bruno Vondenhoff (1945–1951, GMD)
* Georg Solti (1952–1961, GMD & Int.)
* Lovro von Matačić (1961–1966, GMD & Int.)
* Christoph von Dohnányi (1967–1977, GMD & Int.)
* Michael Gielen (1977–1987, GMD & Int.)
* Gary Bertini (1987–1991, GMD)
* Sylvain Cambreling (1993–1997, GMD)
* Martin Steinhoff (1997–2002, Int.)
* Paolo Carignani (1999–2008, GMD)
* Bernd Loebe (2002–present, Int.)
* Sebastian Weigle (2008–2023, GMD)
* Thomas Guggeis (2023–present, GMD)

## Premieres

World premieres at the Frankfurt Opera have included:
| Date | Work | Composer |
| 16 September 1810 | Silvana | Carl Maria von Weber |
| 4 April 1819 | Zemire und Azor | Louis Spohr |
| 20 January 1851 | Die Opernprobe | Albert Lortzing |
| 26 November 1853 | Rübezahl | Friedrich von Flotow |
| 8 Dezember 1881 | Das Käthchen von Heilbronn | Carl Martin Reinthaler |
| 12 November 1902 | Dornröschen | Engelbert Humperdinck |
| 18 August 1912 | Der ferne Klang | Franz Schreker |
| 15 March 1913 | Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin | Franz Schreker |
| 25 April 1918 | Die Gezeichneten | Franz Schreker |
| 21 October 1919 | Fennimore und Gerda | Frederick Delius |
| 21 Januar 1920 | Der Schatzgräber | Franz Schreker |
| 1 July 1920 | Die ersten Menschen | Rudi Stephan |
| 14 May 1921 | Die Prinzessin Girnara | Egon Wellesz |
| 26 March 1922 | Sancta Susanna | Paul Hindemith |
| 9 July 1924 | Der Sprung über den Schatten | Ernst Krenek |
| 8 November 1924 | Sakahra | Simon Bucharoff |
| 25 February 1926 | Die zehn Küsse | Bernhard Sekles |
| 14 November 1926 | Der Golem | Eugen d'Albert |
| 25 December 1926 | Die Lästerschule | Paul von Klenau |
| 1 February 1930 | Von heute auf morgen | Arnold Schönberg |
| 23 March 1930 | Achtung, Aufnahme!! | Wilhelm Grosz |
| 25 May 1930 | Transatlantic | George Antheil |
| 31 January 1934 | Prinz Eugen der edle Ritter | Max Pflugmacher |
| 22 May 1935 | Die Zaubergeige | Werner Egk |
| 26 May 1936 | Doktor Johannes Faust | Hermann Reutter |
| 8 June 1937 | Carmina Burana | Carl Orff |
| 13 January 1942 | Columbus | Werner Egk |
| 7 September 1942 | Odysseus | Hermann Reutter |
| 20 February 1943 | Die Kluge | Carl Orff |
| 1 March 1962 | Die Alkestiade | Louise Talma |
| 24 September 1964 | Dame Kobold [de] | Gerhard Wimberger |
| 14 November 1986 | Die Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde | Hans-Joachim Hespos |
| 15 June 1986 | Stephen Climax | Hans Zender |
| 12 December 1987 | Europeras 1 & 2 | John Cage |
| 18 May 1989 | What Where | Heinz Holliger |
| 14 June 2002 | Dr. Popels fiese Falle | Moritz Eggert |
| 7 Oktober 2006 | Caligula | Detlev Glanert |
| 29 June 2014 | Der goldene Drache | Péter Eötvös |
| 14 September 2014 | Sirenen – Bilder des Begehrens und des Vernichtens | Rolf Riehm |
| 31 May 2015 | An unserem Fluss (By our River) | Lior Navok |
| 12 November 2017 | Der Mieter | Arnulf Herrmann |
| 27 June 2021 | Inferno | Lucia Ronchetti |
| 23 January 2023 | Blühen | Vito Žuraj |

## Städtische Bühnen

Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) and Schauspiel Frankfurt (Theatre Frankfurt) are part of the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt am Main GmbH.

## Statistics

The opera house has 1.369 seats. As of April 2023, the occupancy rate of the Oper Frankfurt in the 2022/23 season was 81%. About 11 premieres and 15 revivals were shown per season.