 Rossini: La scala di seta , in 2023 | |
| Formation | 1982 |
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| Location |
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| Leader | Rainer Pudenz |
| Website | www |
The Kammeroper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Chamber Opera) is an unattached opera ensemble in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, founded in 1982 by its director Rainer Pudenz. The company plays at various venues. The regular conductor is Daniel Stratievsky.
After working as an assistant director at theatres in Freiburg, Stuttgart and Essen, Pudenz founded the Kammeroper in 1982, first directing Telemann's Pimpinone which he directed at a Frankfurt school. [1] The hallmarks of Kammeroper productions are the use of satirical-comical devices and "unconventional, uninhibited music theatre far removed from stiff stage dogma" In order to break down threshold fears and make it possible to experience opera as a Gesamtkunstwerk of language and music, Kammeroper Frankfurt performs all operas in German in the tradition of Walter Felsenstein, which has since become a unique selling point in the local opera landscape. [2] The performances are meant to open up to the audience "an artful-sensual experience, an immediate access and pleasurable experiences with these musical works of art." [3] The Kammeroper has put on more than 80 productions since its foundation, including world premieres, as of 2010. [1] In 2019, Julija Domaševa was the first woman to conduct there, in Rossini's L'equivoco stravagante .
One focus of the productions at the Kammeroper is on opera buffa as influenced by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Bizet. Occasionally, light-hearted fare such as singspiel and operettas by Offenbach and Lehár has been presented. More recently, the repertoire was extended by dramatic operas such as Verdi's Rigoletto , [1] classical-modern works such as Stravinski's L'Histoire du soldat , and, in the spirit of discovery, commissioned compositions by the composer-in-residence Andrea Cavalleri. [1] The Kammeroper has premiered four of his works, including La strada della vita (based on the Fellini film La strada ) and a newly composed version of Winterreise . [1] As a rule, two to three productions appear each year, including a major production in the summer.
As an independent opera house, the Kammeroper has no permanent ensemble, [1] but a core of singers who have performed regularly, such as sopranos Ingrid El Sigai , Dzuna Kalnina and Petra Woisetschläger, and the bass Bernd Kaiser. From the very beginning, costume designer Magarete Berghoff has also been part of the core of the chamber opera. [1] Her pop-surreal designs have had a decisive influence on the style of the productions and their public perception. Many young artists began their career at the Kammeroper and moved on to houses such as the Vienna State Opera, the Graz Opera House and the Komische Oper Berlin. [4] The large summer productions involve an average of around 60 to 70 performers. The more intimate winter/spring productions come to the stage with 10–15 performers.
The Frankfurt Chamber Opera has no fixed venue, even though the major summer productions are firmly established as open-air performances in Frankfurt's Palmengarten. Since its founding, the Kammeroper has sought venues that make use of the genius loci for the opera in question. These have included, for example, the hall of the Finkenhof, the Naxoshalle , the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm , the Unitarische Weihehalle and the Cantate Hall. In total, their productions have been shown at over 20 different venues in Frankfurt. In addition, the Kammeroper has given guest performances in Germany and abroad, including at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio, the Walkenried Abbey, the Heidelberg Castle ruines, the Stiftsruine Bad Hersfeld , the Teatro della Compagnia and the National Museum Barghello in Florence. [1] the Theater am Ebertplatz in Oberhausen and the Schloss Wilhelmsbad in Hanau. [5]
It has been planned for some time to build a permanent home for the Kammeroper in the Sachsenhäuser Fabrik, with a foundation set up for this purpose. [6] [7]
The Kammeroper Frankfurt collaborates with other institutions such as in 2013 with Theater Willy Praml for the project "Passion.Easter" at the Naxoshalle. In the process, Willy Praml's Jesus d'amour was merged with Poulenc's monodrama La voix humaine and a string quartet by Cavallari, composed especially for this production. [8] Another focus of the cooperative activities is to inspire children and young people for opera, performing at schools. A 2011 cooperation with the Kinderzeit-Schule in Schwalbach and a 2015/16 cooperation with the Albrecht Strohschein School in Oberursel both focused on Mozart's Die Zauberflöte .
The Oper Frankfurt is a German opera company based in Frankfurt.
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Bernd Loebe is a German music journalist and opera manager. After working as a journalist with a focus on opera and voice for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Neue Musikzeitung, Opernwelt and Hessischer Rundfunk, he was artistic director of the opera house of Brussels, La Monnaie, from 1990, and has been Intendant of the Oper Frankfurt since 2002, where he encouraged a capable ensemble, international guest artists, and the production of rarely performed operas. He received the 2018 International Opera Award in the category Leadership in Opera.
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Daniel Stratievsky is an Soviet-born Israeli conductor based in Germany. Working freelance, he has been the regular conductor of the Kammeroper Frankfurt, a company for chamber opera. He is the grandson of the Soviet painter Lev Razumovsky.
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Heather Phillips is an American operatic coloratura soprano. She began her career at the Santa Fe Opera where she created there the role of Katie in Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain in 2015. She made her European debut at the Oper Frankfurt in 2022 in the title role of Rossini's Bianca e Falliero.
Anthony Robin Schneider is an operatic bass from Austria and New Zealand, based in Germany at the Oper Frankfurt. He has appeared in leading roles internationally, such as Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Santa Fe Opera, Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Houston Grand Opera, and Fafner in Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl.
Juanita Lascarro is a Colombian soprano in opera and concert, and a voice teacher. She began her career in Europe in the title role of Daphne by Richard Strauss at several houses. Based at Oper Frankfurt, she has performed leading roles at major opera houses. She performed the title role of Martinů's Julietta, which was recorded. In 2022, she appeared as both Calypso and Penelope in a new production of Dallapiccola's Ulisse.
Kihwan Sim is a South Korean operatic bass-baritone based at Oper Frankfurt, where he has performed leading roles such as the title role of Mozart's Figaro and Orest in Elektra by Richard Strauss. He has appeared as a guest internationally, including at the Metropolitan Opera.
Cecelia Hall is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. A native of North Carolina, Hall trained as a singer at DePaul University and the Juilliard School before becoming a member of the young artist programs at the Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She made her European debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2014 and became a resident artist at Oper Frankfurt in 2016; a position she remains in as of 2024. She continues to perform as a guest artist in operas and concerts with other organizations internationally. She has performed leading roles in the mezzo-soprano repertoire including title roles, both women such as Purcell's Dido, Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires, and men including Cavalli's Eliogabalo, Handel's Ariodante, Serse and Teseo, Mozart's Ascanio in Alba and Humperdinck's Hänsel.
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