The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special festival to showcase his own works, in particular his monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal.
The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals.
Ortrun Wenkel is a German operatic contralto. She notably portrayed the role of Erda in the Bayreuth Jahrhundertring in 1976 and was awarded a Grammy Award as a Principal Soloist in 1983.
Reiner Goldberg was a German operatic heldentenor who made an international career performing and recording. He appeared at the Berlin State Opera from 1972, and was a member of the ensemble from 1981. Goldberg achieved attention when he sang the role of Wagner's Parsifal for a 1982 opera film directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. He then became known for performing the tenor roles of Wagner's stage works in leading opera houses in Europe and worldwide, such as the Bayreuth Festival where he appeared from 1986 as Tannhäuser, Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Siegfried in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, and Erik in Der fliegende Holländer. He performed at the Metropolitan Opera as Siegfried, conducted by James Levine and alongside Hildegard Behrens as Brünnhilde, resulting in a recording that won a Grammy Award.
Opernwelt is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and historical subjects from the world of opera and classical music. It reviews recordings and books and publishes monthly schedules of German and international opera houses. The magazine's website offers full text search for past issues. A year book is published every October.
Raid is a 1947 German crime film directed by Werner Klingler and starring Paul Bildt, Agathe Poschmann, and Claus Holm. It was made as a cautionary tale about the black market in postwar Berlin.
The Blue Swords is a 1949 East German historical drama film directed by Wolfgang Schleif and starring Hans Quest, Ilse Steppat and Alexander Engel. It sold more than 3,299,432 tickets. The film portrays the life of Johann Friedrich Böttger. The title refers to the symbol of Meissen, a pair of crossed swords. Böttger's story had previously been turned into a 1935 film The King's Prisoner, released during the Nazi era.
Tatjana Gsovsky was an internationally known ballet dancer and choreographer who was ballet mistress of the Berlin State Opera, Teatro Colón, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Oper Frankfurt. An influential teacher, she is remembered for first choreographies of works by contemporary composers including Boris Blacher, Werner Egk, Hans Werner Henze, Giselher Klebe, Luigi Nono and Carl Orff.
Sweetheart of the Gods is a 1960 West German biographical film directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Ruth Leuwerik, Peter van Eyck, and Harry Meyen. The film portrays the life of Renate Müller, a German film actress who died in 1937 in mysterious circumstances. A variety of rumours about Müller's death had developed, but the filmmakers chose to portray it as suicide following Nazi pressure over her relationship with a Jewish diplomat. Following legal objections from Müller's family, the ending was toned down to make her final fate more vague.
And the Heavens Above Us is a 1947 German drama film directed by Josef von Báky and starring Hans Albers, Paul Edwin Roth and Lotte Koch. It was part of the post-war series of rubble films.
Target in the Clouds is a 1939 German drama film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner and starring Albert Matterstock, Leny Marenbach and Brigitte Horney. It was based on a novel by Hans Rabl. The film portrays the struggles of the fictional German aviation pioneer Walter von Suhr, an officer in the pre-First World War German army who saw the potential for military aircraft.
We Make Music is a 1942 German musical comedy film directed by Helmut Käutner, starring Ilse Werner, Viktor de Kowa and Edith Oß. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Max Mellin and Gerhard Ladner.
Robert Koch is a 1939 Nazi propaganda film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Emil Jannings, Werner Krauss and Viktoria von Ballasko. The film was a biopic of the German pioneering microbiologist Robert Koch (1843–1910). It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin and premiered at the city's Ufa-Palast am Zoo. The film was made by the Tobis Film company, and was also distributed in the United States by the largest German studio UFA.
The Last Waltz is a 1934 German operetta film directed by Georg Jacoby, and starring Ernst Dumcke, Max Gülstorff, and Iván Petrovich. It is based on the 1920 operetta The Last Waltz by Oscar Straus. It was remade in English in 1936.
Tell the Truth is a 1946 German comedy film directed by Helmut Weiss and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Mady Rahl, and Ingeborg von Kusserow. The film had a troubled production, and was originally filming in the final days of the Nazi era with Heinz Rühmann and his wife Hertha Feiler in the lead roles. Production was halted when Soviet forces took control of the Tempelhof Studios during the Battle of Berlin. The film was then remade in the British sector of Berlin with different leads but using substantial amounts of footage already shot during the previous production.
Fire in the Opera House is a 1930 German drama film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Alexa Engström, Gustav Fröhlich and Gustaf Gründgens. A separate French-language version La barcarolle d'amour was also produced. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Franz Schroedter.
Not Without Gisela is a 1951 West German musical comedy film directed by Hans Deppe and starring Peter Mosbacher, Eva Ingeborg Scholz and Hilde Sessak. It was shot at the Spandau Studios in West Berlin and on location around the city. The film's sets were designed by the art director Emil Hasler.
Ruth Hesse was a German opera singer. A dramatic mezzo-soprano, she was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1995, where she took part in the world premiere of Henze's Der junge Lord. She was first invited to the Bayreuth Festival in 1960, where she performed until 1979.
Tijl Faveyts is a Belgian operatic bass. A current member of the Komische Oper Berlin, he has performed leading roles such as Mozart's Sarastro and Hunding in Wagner's Die Walküre and Gurnemanz Parsifal at major opera houses, concert halls and festivals, and made recordings.
Hilde Scheppan was a German operatic soprano and academic teacher. She was engaged for 20 years at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and made guest appearances at the Bayreuth Festival from 1937 to 1958. She performed roles in Wagner's stage works in productions by Heinz Tietjen both in Berlin and Bayreuth. After World War II, she first continued work in Berlin, but then moved to the Staatsoper Stuttgart. She taught as a professor of voice at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg and the Musikhochschule München.
