Leipzig Opera


The Leipzig Opera is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz in Leipzig, Germany.

History

Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspiel performances beginning in the year 1693. The director of many of those early operas at the original was Telemann.
The Leipzig Opera does not have its own opera orchestra – the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performs as its orchestra. This relationship began in 1766 with performances of the Singspiel Die verwandelten Weiber by Johann Adam Hiller.

Opera House, 1868

The previous theater was inaugurated on 28 January 1868 with Jubilee Overture by Carl Maria von Weber and the overture for Iphigénie en Aulide by Gluck and Goethe's play Iphigenia in Tauris. From 1886 to 1888, Gustav Mahler was the second conductor; Arthur Nikisch was his superior. During an air raid in the night of 3 December 1943, part of the bombing of Leipzig in World War II, the theater was destroyed, as were all Leipzig's theatres.

Opera House, 1960

Construction of the modern opera house began in 1956. The theater was inaugurated on 8 October 1960 with a performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Since 2009, Ulf Schirmer is the Generalmusikdirektor ; he was elected artistic director in 2011 for a five-year term.

General music directors

Among the people with the title Generalmusikdirektor were
Several operas received their premiere in Leipzig, including: