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25-468: The Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre) is a theatre with three locations, Oper Stuttgart (Opera Stuttgart), Stuttgarter Ballett (Stuttgart Ballet), and Schauspiel Stuttgart (Stuttgart Drama Theatre), in Stuttgart , Germany. The state that its name refers to is Baden-Württemberg . Designed by the noted Munich architect Max Littmann , who won a competition to create new royal theatres,

50-500: A new Kleines Haus, designed by Hans Volkart, which opened in 1962. The Opera House (Grosses Haus), is one of only a few German opera houses to survive the bombing of World War II. Between 1982 and 1984, extensive work restored the venue to its original condition and it now seats 1,404. In 2001, the theatre buildings were renamed Opernhaus and Schauspielhaus. Walter Erich Schäfer was managing director from 1949 to 1972. As of 2015, three general directors are collectively responsible for

75-418: A per-season audience of approximately 250,000. An important centre for opera since the 17th century, Stuttgart has again become an important and influential centre since the war, particularly for contemporary works. Three operas by Carl Orff received their premieres there and the company has been associated with figures such as Wieland Wagner , Günther Rennert , Hans Werner Henze and Philip Glass . During

100-406: A permanent stage was established. In 1750, the building was remodeled as Stuttgart's opera house , named Königliches Hoftheater (Royal Court Theatre) in 1811. It burnt down in 1902, and opera was performed in a provisional Interimstheater . Today's opera house was built from 1909 to 1912 by architect Max Littmann from Munich, with two halls, Großes Haus and Kleines Haus . After the end of

125-656: A teenager and young man, Wieland knew the dictator as "Uncle Wolf". In 1938 he joined the Nazi Party on Hitler's personal insistence. From September 1944 to April 1945 he held a sinecure at the Institut für physikalische Forschung in Bayreuth, founded by his brother-in-law Bodo Lafferentz , which was a satellite of the Flossenbürg concentration camp devoted to research and development of an improved guidance system of

150-512: Is a German opera company based in Stuttgart , the capital of Baden-Württemberg , Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra. Performances of operas, ballet and plays in Stuttgart took place from the 17th century at the hall of Neues Lusthaus  [ de ] . The probably first opera production was in 1660 the singspiel Der Raub der Proserpina by Hofkapellmeister Samuel Capricornus . Four years later,

175-739: Is hard to imagine a greater contrast with traditional operatic acting. Although Wieland is best remembered for productions of his grandfather's works at Bayreuth, he was often asked to work elsewhere in Germany and Europe. For example, he produced Tannhäuser and Der fliegende Holländer in Copenhagen, the Ring in Naples , Stuttgart and Cologne , and Beethoven 's Fidelio in Stuttgart , London , Paris and Brussels . Wieland's wife Gertrud collaborated with him to develop his interpretations of

200-549: Is to stand down as GMD in Stuttgart at the close of his current contract in 2026. In November 2024, the company announced the appointment of Nicholas Carter as its next GMD, effective with the 2026-2027 season. Stuttgart CD productions: Stuttgart productions on DVD: Notes Sources Wieland Wagner Wieland Wagner was the elder of two sons of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner , grandson of composer Richard Wagner , and great-grandson of composer Franz Liszt through Wieland's paternal grandmother. In 1941, he married

225-545: The Junge Oper, dedicated to performing music theatre works for young audiences. Numerous CD and DVD productions document Zehelein's interest in modern works and new staging concepts. Under Zehelein's direction, the Stuttgart Opera was an ensemble-based opera company, with Catherine Naglestad , Tichina Vaughn , Eva-Maria Westbroek were members of his ensemble, and Jonas Kaufmann a frequent guest artist. GMDs of

250-732: The Staatstheater Stuttgart: Jossi Wieler (Oper Stuttgart), Reid Anderson ( Stuttgart Ballet ), and Armin Petras (Schauspiel Stuttgart), and the managing director Marc-Oliver Hendriks. General directors, especially artistic directors of operas or drama theatres, are called Intendant in Germany. Canadian dancer Reid Anderson became director of the ballet in the 1996/1997 season. 48°46′49″N 9°11′06″E  /  48.78028°N 9.18500°E  / 48.78028; 9.18500 Staatsoper Stuttgart The Staatsoper Stuttgart ( Stuttgart State Opera )

275-565: The V-2 rocket bomb. This enabled him to avoid being called into the Wehrmacht for the final defense of Germany. At the Institut he built models of stage sets and developed new stage lighting systems with the assistance of prisoner Hans Imhof, an electrical technician. At his denazification hearing in Bayreuth, on 10 December 1948, he was classified as a " Mitläufer " (follower), the fourth and lowest category of those not exonerated, and fined DM100 plus

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300-527: The building was constructed between 1909 and 1912 as the Königliche Hoftheater, royal theatre of the Kingdom of Württemberg with a Grosses Haus (large house) and a Kleines Haus (small house). In 1919, the theatres were renamed to Landestheater, and later Staatstheater. The house for drama theatre, Kleines Haus, was destroyed by bombing during World War II , and today, the site is occupied by

325-493: The company were Gabriele Ferro (1992-1997) and Lothar Zagrosek (1997-2006). Albrecht Puhlmann succeeded Zehelein as the company's Intendant . Manfred Honeck was Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) from 2007 to 2011. Jossi Wieler was Intendant (artistic director) of the company from 2011 until 2018, succeeding Albrecht Puhlmann. In April 2010, Wieler appointed Sylvain Cambreling as Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of

350-404: The company, effective with the 2012–2013 season. Wieler and Cambreling each stood down from their respective posts with the company in 2018. Since 2018, Viktor Schoner is Intendant of the company. Cornelius Meister became GMD of the company also in 2018. In October 2022, the company announced the extension of Meister's contract as GMD through 2026. In April 2024, Meister announced that he

375-409: The dancer and choreographer Gertrud Reissinger. They had four children: Iris (1942–2014), Wolf Siegfried (born 1943), Nike (born 1945) and Daphne (born 1946). Their son Wolf married Marie Eleanore von Lehndorff-Steinort, sister of fashion model Veruschka , whose father was involved in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler . Late in his life, Wieland had a love affair with Anja Silja , one of

400-1103: The daughter of Wieland and Gertrud, Nike Wagner. The great love of his life was the German soprano Anja Silja . Only twenty years old, she took over as Senta in 1960 in Bayreuth when Leonie Rysanek cancelled, and created a sensation. Blessed with a strong, agile, youthful and gleaming voice, and with an extraordinary talent for acting, she embodied Wieland's ideals. She sang Elsa in Lohengrin , Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser and Eva in Meistersinger at Bayreuth. Elsewhere, he cast her as Isolde , Brünnhilde , Richard Strauss 's Elektra , and Salome , and Alban Berg 's Lulu and Marie in Wozzeck . She even sang Desdemona in Verdi's Otello in Wieland's production. Among

425-643: The era of Opera Intendant Klaus Zehelein , the company has won the Opera House of the Year award by the German magazine Opernwelt more often than any other company: in 1994 (the inaugural award), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and in 2006. Pamela Rosenberg was co-opera Intendantin between 1991 and 2000, with Eytan Pessen acting as casting director from 2001 to 2006. Klaus Zehelein brought in directors Ruth Berghaus , Christof Nel , Hans Neuenfels , Peter Konwitschny and Jossi Wieler  [ de ] . He created

450-590: The monarchy in 1918, the theatres were named Württembergische Landestheater . The Kleines Haus , site of the world premiere of the first version of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, was destroyed in World War II. Staatsoper Stuttgart forms part of the Staatstheater Stuttgart , a three-branch theatre organisation for opera, play and Stuttgart Ballet . The house, which has been a listed building since 1924, currently has 1,404 seats and

475-572: The operas and devise stage movement for the solo singers and chorus. Trained in modern dance, she is credited in the Bayreuth programs with choreography for Parsifal , Tannhäuser , and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , but in fact she assisted him in all of his Bayreuth productions and many that he staged elsewhere, sometimes taking rehearsals on her own. This was not revealed until after Wieland's death, and Wolfgang Wagner claims in his memoirs that it's not true. But biographer Renate Schostack recounts many particulars of this collaboration, as does

500-717: The other celebrated singers who worked with Wieland were Hans Hotter , George London , Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , Eberhard Wächter , Thomas Stewart , Theo Adam , Josef Greindl , Jerome Hines , Wolfgang Windgassen , Ramón Vinay , Jess Thomas , Jon Vickers , Martha Mödl , Astrid Varnay , Régine Crespin , Rita Gorr , Leonie Rysanek , Regina Resnik , Birgit Nilsson , Jean Madeira , Grace Hoffman , Franz Crass , Victoria de los Ángeles , Grace Bumbry , Christa Ludwig , Martti Talvela , Carlos Alexander , Ruth Hesse , Isabel Strauß , Rosl Zapf , James King , Claude Heater , Ticho Parly , Dame Gwyneth Jones , and Fritz Wunderlich . Wieland wanted great actors, but he also wanted

525-655: The singers he had recruited for Bayreuth. In 1965, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite . He died of lung cancer in October 1966. Wieland Wagner is credited as an initiator of Regietheater through ushering in a new modern style to Wagnerian opera as a stage director and designer, substituting a symbolic for a naturalist staging and focusing on the psychology of the drama. Wieland began his directorial career before World War II , working on operas by his father and grandfather. His innovative approach did not become clear until after

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550-611: The singers to execute his plans faithfully. Conductors with whom he collaborated were Hans Knappertsbusch , Clemens Krauss , Joseph Keilberth , André Cluytens , Pierre Boulez , Herbert von Karajan , Erich Leinsdorf , Heinz Tietjen , Lorin Maazel , Wolfgang Sawallisch , Karl Böhm , Bruno Maderna , and Thomas Schippers . Wieland Wagner's life and work are discussed in Tony Palmer 's 2011 film, The Wagner Family . Winifred Wagner's close friendship with Hitler meant that, as

575-454: The use of round minimalist sets lit from above. Wieland's first post-war Siegfried represented Fafner with a nine-metre (30 ft) statue of a dragon belching fire. In his later production of the opera he instead used pairs of giant eyes, which were picked out in turn from the back-projected forest, to suggest the movements of a huge creature stretching halfway down the Bayreuth hill. Wieland's 1956 " Mastersingers without Nuremberg"

600-796: The war. His design for the 1937 Bayreuth production of Parsifal , for example, was conservative, though it did have film projections during the transformation scenes. When the Bayreuth Festival reopened after the war in 1951, Wieland and his brother Wolfgang became festival directors in place of their mother, whose association with Adolf Hitler had made her unacceptable. (Wieland's own past was, however, suppressed.) The revolutionary productions evoked extreme views both for and against. Wieland's long-lasting 1951 production of Parsifal included many features with which he later would be identified. Post-war austerity and his own interest – influenced by Adolphe Appia – in lighting effects led to

625-580: Was the symbolic culmination of his campaign to move away from naturalism in Wagner production with the medieval town represented by the cobbled shape of a street and, above the stage, a ball suggestive of a flowering tree. Wieland's minimalism extended beyond the stage furniture and props. The performer of Gunther , for example, was expected to sing leaning forward in Act 1 of Götterdämmerung until he felt his authority challenged by Hagen and sat up straight. It

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