Berlin State Opera Berlin
Germany - Cologne - Dusseldorf - Frankfurt - Munich - Stuttgart - Hamburg - Berlin
Berlin State Opera is a prominent German opera company. The Opera House in Berlin is the permanent home of the State Opera. The original building was commissioned by Frederick II on the site and construction work began in July 1741 with what was designed to be the first part of a "Forum Fredericianum". The entire building though not completed, the Court Opera was inaugurated with a performance of Carl Heinrich Graun's Cleopatra e Cesare on December 7, 1742.
Gottfried Wilhelm Taubert instituted the tradition of regular symphonic concerts in 1842 at the Berlin State Opera. During the same year, Giacomo Meyerbeer succeeded Gaspare Spontini as General Music Director. Felix Mendelssohn also conducted symphonic concerts for a year. In 1821, the Berlin Opera gave the premiere of Weber's Der Freischütz. In 1849, it premiered Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, conducted by the composer himself.
The Berlin State Opera attracted many illustrious conductors towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century such as Felix von Weingartner, Karl Muck, Richard Strauss, and Leo Blech. After the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, the Opera was renamed "Staatsoper unter den Linden" and the "Königliche Kapelle" became "Kapelle der Staatsoper". The Linden Opera was re opened in April 1928 after having undergone an extensive renovation with a new production of Die Zauberflöte. In the same year several guest performers came here such as Feodor Chaliapin and Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and conductor Ernest Ansermet. The premiere of Darius Milhaud's Christoph Columbus was conducted by Erich Kleiber in 1930. In 1934, when symphonic pieces from Alban Berg's Lulu were being performed by Kleiber, the National Socialists provoked a scandal and he was forced into exile.
After Hitler's Nazi takeover, members of Jewish origin were dismissed from the ensemble. Also, German musicians associated with the opera went into exile which included conductors Otto Klemperer and Fritz Busch. During the Second World War the opera house was completely destroyed by bombing twice. The first reconstructions happened quickly, and the theatre was soon reopened with a performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
