Nelly Sachs was a German–Swedish poet and playwright. Her experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. Her best-known play is Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels (1950); other works include the poems "Zeichen im Sand" (1962), "Verzauberung" (1970), and the collections of poetry In den Wohnungen des Todes (1947), Flucht und Verwandlung (1959), Fahrt ins Staublose (1961), and Suche nach Lebenden (1971). She was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house and also home to the Berlin State Ballet.
Walter Steffens is a German composer. He is noted for the diversity of his creative works, but has specialised in opera, such as Eli, as well as music inspired by paintings.
Literaturoper, a term coined by the German music critic Edgar Istel, describes a genre of opera that emerged during the late 19th century. When an existing play for the legitimate theatre is set to music without major changes and without the intervention of a librettist, a “Literaturoper” is the result. Although the term is German, it can be applied to any kind of opera, irrespective of style or language.
Wilhelm Schüchter was a German conductor. He was Generalmusikdirektor in Dortmund and left a legacy of opera recordings.
Theater Dortmund is a theatrical organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Dortmund, Germany. It was founded as the Stadttheater Dortmund in 1904. Supported by the German Government, the organization owns and operates several performance spaces.
Opernhaus Dortmund is the opera house of Dortmund, Germany, operated by the Theater Dortmund organisation. A new opera house opened in 1966, replacing an earlier facility which opened in 1904 and was destroyed during World War I. It was built on the former site of the Old Synagogue, which was demolished by the Nazi local government in the 1930s.
The Dortmunder Philharmoniker are a German symphony orchestra based in Dortmund. The orchestra of the Theater Dortmund performs opera in the Opernhaus Dortmund and concert in the Konzerthaus Dortmund. The orchestra was founded in 1887 and has been shaped by conductors such as Wilhelm Schüchter, Marek Janowski, Moshe Atzmon and Jac van Steen.
Opernhaus Wuppertal is a German theatre in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. It houses mostly performances of operas, but also plays, run by the municipal Wuppertaler Bühnen. The house is also the venue for dance performances by the Tanztheater Wuppertal company created by Pina Bausch.
Günther Morbach was a German classical bass in opera and concert. He performed major roles at German opera houses and on international tours.
Liselotte Hammes is a German operatic soprano and academic voice teacher. While based at the Cologne Opera, she performed internationally. One of her signature roles is Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, which she performed at the Glyndebourne Festival, among other European opera houses.
Alfred Vökt was a Swiss operatic tenor who made a career at major opera houses, mainly in Germany. He focused on supporting roles and took part in world premieres such as Henze's König Hirsch in Kassel and Hans Zender's Stephen Climax at the Oper Frankfurt in 1986. Vökt appeared at major European opera houses and festivals.
Philipp Kochheim is a German theatre director, author and scenic designer. He also wrote the libretto for the opera Kniefall von Warschau named after Willy Brandt's genuflexion in Warsaw on 7 December 1970, with music by Gerhard Rosenfeld, which premiered in 1997 in the Opernhaus Dortmund, directed by John Dew.
Die Opernprobe, also titled Die vornehmen Dilettanten, is a comic opera (Spieloper) in one act by Albert Lortzing, to a libretto which he adapted from a play by Philippe Poisson which had been translated by Johann Friedrich Jünger. The premiere was on 20 January 1851 at the Oper Frankfurt.
Hainer Hill was a German scenic designer, costume designer, painter, graphic artist and theatre photographer who was based in Berlin and worked internationally. After studying painting in Frankfurt, he worked at the Oper Frankfurt, assisting Caspar Neher. Together they moved to Brecht's Berliner Ensemble where Hill created an iconic stage for Mutter Courage and took hundreds of scene photographs now archived at the Akademie der Künste. When the Berlin Wall was erected, Hill, who lived in the West and had worked in the East, began to work freelance, including at the Royal Opera House. In 1966 he became director of scenery (Ausstattunggsleiter) at Opernhaus Dortmund, and there he created the stage for the world premiere of Eli by Walter Steffens, which was followed by 45 other productions. Hill is best remembered for his focus on light projection.
Hans Hugo Christian Hartleb was a German opera director who worked internationally, focused on contemporary opera.
Paul Hager was a German theatre and opera director.
Die Prinzessin Girnara, Op. 27, is an opera in two acts by Egon Wellesz to a libretto by Jakob Wassermann which he based on his own text. It was the composer's first opera. The world premiere was performed on 14 May 1921 simultaneously at the Oper Frankfurt and the Opernhaus Hannover. A revised version was first performed at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 1928.
Günter Wewel was a German operatic bass and television presenter. Based at the Opernhaus Dortmund for decades, he performed 80 roles in Germany and Europe. He is known for presenting the television series Kein schöner Land, with more than 150 episodes from 1989 to 2007, which portrays regions in Europe, their landscape, people and folklore, the first such show filmed at the locations.
Claus Guth is a German theatre director, focused on opera. He has directed operas at major houses and festivals, including world premieres such as works of the Munich Biennale, and Berio's Cronaca del luogo at the Salzburg Festival in 1999. Guth is particularly known for his opera productions of the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. He has received two Faust awards, for Daphne by Richard Strauss in 2010, and for Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, both at the Oper Frankfurt.
