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State Opera
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Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener
Staatsoper), located in Vienna, Austria, is one of the most important opera
companies in Europe and throughout the world. Until 1920 it was named the
Vienna Court Opera (k.k. Hofoper).
Gustav Mahler is one of the many illustrious conductors who have worked in
Vienna. During his tenure, Mahler cultivated a new generation of singers,
such as Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, Selma Kurz and Leo Slezak and recruited a
stage designer who replaced the lavish historical stage décors for sparse
stage scenery corresponding to modernistic, Jugendstil tastes. Mahler also
introduced the practice of dimming the lighting in the theatre during
performances, which was initially not appreciate by the audience. However,
Mahler's reforms were maintained by his successors. |
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The company is currently headed by Seiji Ozawa. Other conductors at Vienna
have included Hans Richter, Felix Weingartner, Richard Strauss, Clemens
Krauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan,
Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado, and Riccardo Muti. Until the directorship was taken over
by von Karajan, Vienna maintained a permanent ensemble. Von Karajan
introduced the policy of engaging guest singers. The Vienna State Opera is
closely linked to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, which is an
incorporated society of its own, but whose members are recruited from the
orchestra of the Vienna State Opera.
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The original State Opera House, a
neo-romantic building severely criticised when it was built, was inaugurated
on May 25, 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni. During World War II, the stage
was destroyed by Allied bombs and the building gutted by fire on March 12,
1945. The foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways,
the vestibule and the tea room were spared.
Almost the entire décor and
props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes were destroyed.
The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the
Volksoper. The rebuilt theatre, seating more than 2200, reopened on November
5, 1955 with Beethoven's Fidelio with Karl Böhm conducting. For many decades,
the opera house has been the venue of the Vienna Opera Ball.
Text Source: Wikipedia
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