Mannheim National Theatre
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Mannheim National Theatre is Germany's biggest theatre that records over 3,000 artistes from different surrounding theatres.
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]
History
In the 18th century Mannheim was the capital of the
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]
Performance venues
The venues of the present-day theatre consist of:
- Opera House with 1,200 seats, used primarily for opera, operetta, and ballet.
- Schauspielhaus with 800 seats, used for small presentation such as chamber music and theatre.
- Schnawwl, the youth and children's theatre.
Opera House and Schauspielhaus are two theatres under one roof. They share common foyers and other facilities.
Theatre and other festivals
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,
Music at the National Theatre
Mannheim was home to the so-called
History since 1900
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
People
Administrators and directors
- Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg (as administrator from 1779)
- Abel Seyler (as director 1779–1781)
Conductors
The leading conductors were first named Hofkapellmeister. From 1923 the title was
- Ignaz Fränzl (1779–1803)
- Johann Peter Ritter(1803–1823)
- Michael Frey (1823–1832)
- Joseph Eschborn (1832–1834)
- Franz Lachner (1834–1836)
- Vinzenz Lachner (1836–1872)
- Ernst Frank (1872–1877)
- Franz Fischer (1877–1880)
- Emil Paur (1880–1889)
- Felix Weingartner (1889–1891)
- Hugo Röhr (1892–1896)
- Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek(1896–1899)
- Willibald Kaehler (1899–1906)
- Hermann Kutzschbach(1906–1909)
- Artur Bodanzky (1909–1915)
- Wilhelm Furtwängler (1915–1920)
- Franz von Hoeßlin (1920–1922)
- Erich Kleiber (1922–1923)
- Richard Lert (1923–1928)
- Erich Orthmann (1928–1930)
- Joseph Rosenstock (1930–1933)
- Philipp Wüst (1933–1936)
- Karl Elmendorff (1936–1942)
- Eugen Bodart (1942–1944)
- Richard Laugs (1945–1947)
- Fritz Rieger (1947–1950)
- Eugen Szenkar (1950–1951)
- Herbert Albert (1951–1963)
- Horst Stein (1963–1970)
- Hans Wallat (1970–1980)
- Wolfgang Rennert (1980–1985)
- Peter Schneider (1985–1987)
- Friedemann Layer (1987–1990 und 2007–2009)
- Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez (1990–1993)
- Jun Märkl (1993–2000)
- Ádám Fischer (2000–2005)
- Frédéric Chaslin (2005–2006)
- Axel Kober (2006–2007)
- Dan Ettinger (2009–2016)
- Alexander Soddy (2016–today)
Administration and musical performances in the 21st century
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.
References
- ^ "National Theatre Mannheim – One of the Oldest in Germany". RestExpert. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
- ^ "Mannheim", The Free Dictionary, retrieved 2023-02-14
- ^ Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, vol. 9 (1874), pp. 296–297
- ^ "The Robbers | drama by Schiller | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-02-14.