Written by: Richard Whitehouse
Among German opera houses, Stuttgart Opera has a long and distinguished history. Several of Mozart’s later operas were given in the 1790s, Weber’s Abu Hassan in 1811 and Beethoven’s Fidelio in 1817. In the twentieth-century, Max von Schillings was General Director from 1908-18, producing his once-famous Mona Lisa in 1915. Richard Strauss conducted the premiere of Ariadne auf Naxos in 1912, and Fritz Busch continued the expansion of repertoire with premieres of Schreker and Hindemith during the 1920s. Between 1947 and 1969 Ferdinand Leitner presided over premieres of numerous works by Carl Orff, as well as the first German production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in 1951. The commitment to modern opera continues today with Lothar Zagrosek and Bernhard Kontarsky. Two of Nono’s operas have been revived on several occasions over the last decade, and a new production of one by Helmut Lachenmann is scheduled for this autumn.
Handsomely bound in a translucent cover, A.T Schaefer’s revealing stills from the last five years of Stuttgart Opera productions are superbly reproduced in colour, with accompanying text – in German only – providing valuable context on the range of repertoire to be seen during that time. At around £27 at current exchange rates, this is a valuable record of a rich period in Stuttgart Opera’s recent history, well worth investigating by theatre and opera aficionados alike.
- Fotographiert in der Staatsoper Stuttgart
B. Kühlen Verlag
[Hardback, 208pp, ISBN 3-87448-217-0, DM79] - Available from:
B. Kühlen Verlag,
Neuhofstrasse 48,
41061 Mönchengladbach,
Germany - www.kuehlen-verlag.de
- info@kuehlen-verlag.de