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Wiener Staatsoper

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Wiener Staatsoper is the opera house and the opera company of Vienna. The Neo-Renaissance building was constructed between 1861 and 1869 to plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, as the first major building on the Wiener Ringstrasse. It opened as the Hofoper, in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, with Mozart's Don Giovanni on 25 May 1869. The house received its present name after the founding of the First Republic in 1921. The members of the Wiener Philharmoniker are drawn from the Staatsoper orchestra.

Music and breakthrough

Gustav Mahler was director here from 1897 to 1907. He trained a new generation of singers, had economical, modern sets made and introduced the dimming of the lights during the performance. On 12 March 1945 the house caught fire in an American bombing raid, in which the auditorium, the stage and almost all the sets and costumes were lost. The front section with the foyer and staircases remained standing. In the meantime the company played at the Theater an der Wien and the Volksoper.

Influence

On 5 November 1955 the rebuilt house was reopened with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm, in the first live broadcast by the Austrian broadcaster ORF. After the war the conductor Josef Krips built up the Mozart ensemble, which sought a clearer, lighter sound that later came to be called typically Viennese. The house records its performances on albums such as Così fan tutte, Salome and Die Walküre. Every year the Staatsoper also organises the Vienna Opera Ball.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording of Così fan tutte from the Staatsoper and notice the singers blending in the ensembles. Can you hear how the voices alternate and complement one another?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists