The Hamburg State Opera
In 1678, Hamburg's art-loving citizens pushed through the founding of a public opera house in the Senate, the first privately run opera house in Germany. The initiative of Hamburg's citizens expressed the need to see the city's changed living and economic reality articulated in its cultural institutions. The first opera house. The foundation of the opera house, a long wooden building between the corner of Jungfernstieg and Gänsemarkt and the Colonnaden, was not uncontroversial among Hamburg's Protestants: the Lutherans were in favor of it, while the Pietists considered theater too secular and sensual. However, the Hamburg "Operntheatrum" developed into one of the leading musical centers in Europe. Georg Philip Telemann was Hamburg's city music director from 1721 and composed numerous operas, while Georg Friedrich Händel was employed at the theater as a violinist and harpsichordist. His first opera "Almira" was premiered here in 1705.
However, when financial mismanagement and a lack of public interest threatened the opera's existence, the Pietists felt vindicated and the house was closed as an independent company in 1738. Until the building was finally demolished in 1763, it was mainly used as a venue for traveling comedy troupes, which is how Italian opera finally arrived in Hamburg.
A new beginning in 1765: the "Ackermann'sche Comödiantenhaus" was opened with a mixed drama and opera program. From 1767, the theater was called the "Deutsches Nationaltheater" due to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's influence. His "Hamburgische Dramaturgie" sets out the program of modern theater: "If we have compassion for kings, we have it for them as for men, and not as for kings." Lessing reads Shakespeare with Aristotle: the monarch is no longer the main character, the sole and absolute spectator, but the citizen is the future main actor in society and drama and their multi-layered protagonist. Lessing, Schiller, Goethe and German premieres of Shakespeare plays in spoken theater are shown, but soon also operas that can be seen in the light of Lessing's aspirations: "Abduction from the Seraglio", "Don Giovanni", "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Magic Flute". These are followed by Rossini's "Barber of Seville", Beethoven's "Fidelio" and Weber's "Freischütz".
In 1827, the old wooden building on Gänsemarkt is no longer needed. The new "Stadt-Theater" on Dammtorstraße with a capacity of 2,800 seats opens on May 3, 1827 with Goethe's "Egmont" and Beethoven's incidental music.
But time and again, the house is on the brink of financial ruin. The financing of the house only seemed to be secured for the long term when Bernhard Pollini, director of the house since 1873, managed to secure institutional funding for the house from the public purse. Under his direction, Gustav Mahler took over as musical director for six years in 1891. Mahler made a polemical statement that is still explosive today: "What you theater people call your tradition is your convenience and sloppiness."
The First World War is also a burden for the opera business, but despite the large number of people called up for military service, the number of performances is not reduced. In 1925, the stage house is rebuilt and is still used in this form today.
After the National Socialists took power in 1933, the Stadt-Theater was renamed the "Hamburg State Opera" in 1934. The auditorium was completely destroyed in a bombing raid in 1943, but the stage building remained largely intact. It serves as a temporary auditorium when performances resume in 1946 and is soon extended into the ruins. Within a few months, the "Foundation for the Reconstruction of the Hamburg State Opera" raises 1.5 million marks in sponsorship money and a new auditorium with 1,690 seats is built. The opera house opens with a performance of Mozart's "Magic Flute" on October 15, 1955. With the "opera stabile", an experimental stage for contemporary ballet and music theater is created in 1975, a "small house" for just under 150 spectators.
In the coming years, the Hamburg State Opera will be shaped by personalities such as Rolf Liebermann, Günther Rennert, Placido Domingo, August Everding, Götz Friedrich, Christoph von Dohnányi, Peter Ruzicka, Gerd Albrecht, Günter Krämer, Harry Kupfer, Albin Hänseroth, Ingo Metzmacher, Peter Konwitschny, Louwrens Langevoort, Simone Young, Claus Guth, David Alden.
In the following years, the Hamburg State Opera regularly presents new pieces on both stages and commissions new compositions: outstanding examples include Wolfgang Rihm's "The Conquest of Mexico" in 1992 and Helmut Lachenmann's "The Girl with the Sulfur Woods" in 1997. This tradition has continued consistently since 2015, when the dual leadership of Georges Delnon and Kent Nagano began, with works including "Weine nicht, singe" by Michael Wertmüller, "Stilles Meer" by Toshio Hosokawa, "La Passione" by Romeo Castellucci, "Senza Sangue" by Péter Eötvös, "Frankenstein" by Jan Dvorak, "BENJAMIN" by Peter Ruzicka, "I. th.Ak.A." by Samuel Penderbayne, 'Lessons in Love and Violence' by George Benjamin / Martin Crimp, 'THÉRÈSE' by Philipp Maintz, 'IchundIch' by Johannes Harneit and 'Venere e Adone' by Salvatore Sciarriono.
In times of the pandemic, the Hamburg State Opera opened the 2020/21 season with "molto agitato" - a new production under the musical direction of Kent Nagano and directed by Frank Castorf. The Hamburg State Opera also re-produced Udo Zimmermann's chamber opera "Weiße Rose" in 2020/21: to mark the 100th birthday of Sophie Scholl, the work was shown for the first time as a film and in a completely new form. Together with Patrick Bannwart and Falko Herold, David Bösch staged The White Rose as a graphic opera. The production was awarded the "special mention for extraordinary artistic achievement" prize at the 58th Golden Prague International Television Festival.
A particular highlight of the ten-year collaboration between Kent Nagano and Georges Delnon will be the staged performance of "Saint François d'Assise" by Olivier Messiaen in the Elbphilharmonie in June 2024.
In the 2024/25 season, Georges Delnon and Kent Nagano once again set strong accents. Calixto Bieito stages the complete trilogy "Trionfi" by Carl Orff, an exceptional work of 20th century music theater. Karin Beier brings Donizetti's drama about the queen "Maria Stuarda" to the Staatsoper stage for the first time, Dmitri Tcherniakov and Kent Nagano complete their Strauss trilogy with "Ariadne auf Naxos", Mozart specialist Adam Fischer conducts Mozart's youthful masterpiece "Mitridate, re di Ponto", and "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes" by Unsuk Chin, a work by one of the Most important contemporary composers, is premiered.
A series of world premieres completes the program on the main stage: "Dollhouse" by Clemens K. Thomas, "Despot" by Gordon Kampe, "The Illusions of William Mallory" by Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier and finally the youth opera "Frühlings Erwachen" by Ludger Vollmer.
Kent Nagano will be joined on the podium by Yoel Gamzou, Giampaolo Bisanti, Antonio Fogliani, Patrick Hahn and Henrik Nánási, among others.
