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The Mannheim National Theatre (German : Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. [1]
In the 18th century Mannheim was the capital of the Electoral Palatinate and the residence city of the reigning prince-electors. When Charles Theodore also became the Duke of Bavaria in 1777, he moved to Munich and brought the theatre company of Theobald Marchand with him from Mannheim. [2] In 1778 he instructed the courtier Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg—the brother of Prince-Elector and Grand Duke Karl Theodor von Dalberg—to establish a new theatre in Mannheim. At first Dalberg contracted Abel Seyler's theatre company with performing in Mannheim on an occasional basis from 1778 to 1779. Performances included Shakespeare plays such as Hamlet and Macbeth . In the autumn of 1779 Seyler moved permanently to Mannheim with the remaining members of his theatre company. Several actors who had been affiliated with the Gotha Court Theatre under Konrad Ekhof's direction—essentially an offshoot of the Seyler Theatre Company—also joined him; Ekhof himself had died the previous year. The Mannheim National Theatre opened in October 1779 with Seyler as its first artistic director (Direktor) and Dalberg as its general administrator (Intendant). Seyler remained as director until 1781. [3]
In the past three hundred years, an important part of the history of German theatre and music history was written both in the original theatre and in Mannheim where new artistic styles were developed and refined in theatre, music and dance. Thus it reflects the tradition of many of the major names of the German arts such as Friedrich Schiller and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In terms of the history of the company, Friedrich Schiller's first major drama, The Robbers (Die Räuber) was given its inaugural performance in 1782 in presence of the playwright at the National Theatre. The response was overwhelming: "the theatre resembled a lunatic asylum, rolling eyes, clenched fists, ramming feet, hoarse proclamations in the auditorium! Strange humans fell onto each other locked together…." [4]
The venues of the present-day theatre consist of:
Opera House and Schauspielhaus are two theatres under one roof. They share common foyers and other facilities.
The Schillertage, the biannual festival of Schiller's plays that has existed since 1979, selects a group of productions for the Mannheim festival presented both on the theatre's mainstage (plus an experimental series of plays elsewhere). In the past, the main stage series has featured multiple productions of Schiller's early play, The Robbers (in addition to a production of Verdi's opera based on that play, I masnadieri ), as well as Intrigue and Love , and his later plays William Tell (1804) (the basis for Rossini's opera of the same name in 1829) and The Maid of Orleans (Die Jungfrau von Orléans), some of which became part of Tchaikovsky's opera.
Mannheim was home to the so-called Mannheim School of 18th-century classical composers. It was reputed to have one of the best court orchestras in Europe and, for more than 200 years, the Mannheim School had been recognized by musicians all over the world. Johann Stamitz and his pupil and successor Christian Cannabich made the Mannheim Court Orchestra one of the best in the world. In the 18th century this excellent court ensemble attracted many outstanding musicians. Thus numerous famous soloists came to Mannheim to work as composers as well as pedagogues.
By the early 19th century, disagreements between the Grand-Duchy of Baden and the City on Mannheim over the financing of the theatre finally resulted in a ministerial order in April 1839 that the responsibility for running the theatre be handed over to the City of Mannheim, and thus it became the first locally-administered theatre in Germany.
Following the destruction of the theatre and parts of the city of Mannheim in September 1943, ten years were to pass before an architectural competition for a new theatre was proposed. The original design, while still considered a classic of modern theatre architecture, was not used. Instead, between 1955 and 1957 a new theatre building was constructed at Goethe Place (not in the same location as the original National Theatre) utilizing the designs of the architect Gerhard Weber. The new National Theatre building was inaugurated in 1957 with simultaneous productions of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in the Opera House and (fitting for its reflection of the theatre's early history) Schiller's The Robbers in the Schauspielhaus. In 1979, the Youth and Children's Theatre ensemble (Schnawwl) was set up with its main theatre space being the converted from an old fire station on the Mannheimer Neckarstadt.
The leading conductors were first named Hofkapellmeister. From 1923 the title was Generalmusikdirektor.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the National Theatre has revived the "Mannheim Tradition" with the inauguration of the International Orchestra Academy in Mannheim. Experts in the field of historic instruments and performance and musicians from the orchestra of the National Theatre will work with young musicians and music students. They will teach the special stylistic requirements of orchestral playing in the 18th century.
From September 2000, Ádám Fischer was General Music Director of National Theater Mannheim and he completed his term in July 2005 with a performance of Götterdämmerung . During his tenure, Fischer made the theatre one of the best interpreters of Mozart in Europe. He started two major projects in Mannheim, one the Mannheim Mozart Week, the other the Mannheim School, a summer seminar for young people from all over the world.
Highlighting works by Mozart, the National Theatre focused on his music and performed many of his works including unknown pieces composed for the Mannheim Orchestra. Overall, Fischer conducted two or three new productions each year including the Mannheim Ring cycle. The four productions were produced separately in 2000, then Fischer conducted 9 cycles over 5 years.
Fischer's successor, Frédéric Chaslin, took over in 2005 and was succeeded in 2007 by Axel Kober.
Peter Winter, later Peter von Winter, was a German violinist, conductor and composer, especially of operas. He began his career as a player at the Mannheim court, and advanced to conductor. When the court moved to Munich, he followed and later became kapellmeister of the opera there. His opera Das Labyrinth, a sequel to Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, was premiered in Vienna in 1798, and his Maometto at La Scala in Milan in 1817. His work has been regarded as a bridge between Mozart and Weber in the development of German opera.
The House of Dalberg is the name of an ancient and distinguished German noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle of Dalberg or Dalburg, near Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate. They were the ruling family of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt.
The Bavarian State Orchestra is the orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Germany. It has given its own series of concerts, the Akademiekonzerte, since 1811.
Weimar Classicism was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after the city of Weimar, Germany, because the leading authors of Weimar Classicism lived there.
Johann Michael Böck or Boeck was a German actor.
Johann Ignaz Ludwig Fischer, commonly called Ludwig Fischer, was a German opera singer, a notable bass of his time.
Günther von Schwarzburg is a Singspiel in three acts by Ignaz Holzbauer set to a German libretto by Anton Klein. Loosely based on events in the life of the 14th-century German king, Günther von Schwarzburg, the opera premiered on 5 January 1777 at the Hoftheater in the Mannheim Palace.
Heinrich Christian Beck was a German actor and playwright.
Wolfgang Heribert Kämmerer von Worms Freiherr von Dalberg was a courtier and statesman of Baden, who served as Minister of State and Grand Master of the Household. He was also the first general administrator of the Mannheim National Theatre.
Friederike Sophie Seyler was a German actress, playwright and librettist. Alongside Friederike Caroline Neuber, she was widely considered Germany's greatest actress of the 18th century; Gotthold Ephraim Lessing described her in his Hamburg Dramaturgy as "incontestably one of the best actresses that German theatre has ever seen."
The Hamburg Enterprise, commonly known as the Hamburg National Theatre, was a theatre company in Hamburg, that existed 1767–1769 at the Gänsemarkt square, and that was led by Abel Seyler. It was the first attempt to establish a national theatre in Germany. It was modelled after Det Kongelige Teater, founded by Ludvig Holberg in Denmark in 1748. Its leading actor was Konrad Ekhof and the theatre employed Gotthold Ephraim Lessing as the world's first dramaturg; Lessing's influential Hamburg Dramaturgy, based on his work at the Hamburg National Theatre, defined the new field of dramaturgy and also introduced the term. The theatre premiered Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm on 30 September 1767.
Abel Seyler was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the development of German theatre and opera, and was considered "the leading patron of German theatre" in his lifetime. He supported the development of new works and experimental productions, helping to establish Hamburg as a center of theatrical innovation and to establish a publicly funded theater system in Germany. Working with some of Germany's foremost actors and playwrights of his era, he is credited with pioneering a new more realist style of acting, introducing Shakespeare to a German language audience, and with promoting the concept of a national theatre in the tradition of Ludvig Holberg, the Sturm und Drang playwrights, and serious German opera, becoming the "primary agent for change in the German opera scene" in the late 18th century. Already in his lifetime, he was described as "one of German art's most meritorious men."
The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company, was a travelling theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler. It was one of the most famous and ambitious theatrical companies of Europe in the years from 1769 to 1779, and played a crucial role in theatrical innovation, the development of a serious German opera tradition, and the Sturm und Drang movement. The Sturm und Drang period is named for a play commissioned by the Seyler company.
Phelim McDermott is an English actor and stage director. He has directed plays and operas in Britain, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Australia. McDermott was a co-founder of the Improbable theatre in 1996.
Deutsche Wanderbühne is the term for roving German-speaking, theatrical troupes or travelling operas, consisting of professional actors and musicians. They were financially independent but did not have their own fixed stage.
Otto Heinrich von Gemmingen zu Hornberg was a member of the aristocratic Gemmingen family. He was a diplomat and enlightenment writer, a Freemason and a friend of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Anna Elisabeth Toscani, née Endemann, was a German actress. She was a student of Friederike Sophie Seyler and was one of the leading actresses of the Mannheim National Theatre from 1779 to 1784. She is also notable for being the first "Amalia" in the original performance of Friedrich Schiller's The Robbers on 13 January 1782 at Mannheim.
Wolfgang Rennert was a German conductor. He focused on opera, at the Oper Frankfurt, Staatsoper Berlin, Mannheim National Theatre and the Semperoper, among others. He premiered operas, such as Louise Talma's Die Alkestiade in Frankfurt, and Rainer Kunad's Sabellicus in East Berlin. Regarded as a specialist in Mozart, Wagner and Strauss, he was a guest conductor at international opera houses including the Royal Opera House in London, the San Francisco Opera and the Dallas Opera.
Johann Peter Ritter was a German composer, conductor, chorus master, and cellist born and died in Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany). He is best known in the United States for "Sun of My Soul" and "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."
Peter Joseph Eschborn was a German composer, violinist and conductor.
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