The Theater an der Wien (The Theatre on the Wien River) is a historic theatre in Vienna, originally designed in the Empire style. It was created by the Viennese theatrical impresario Emanuel Schikaneder, who is best known as Mozart's librettist and collaborator on the opera Die Zauberflöte (1791). The theatre opened on 13 June 1801 with a prologue written by Schikaneder, followed by a performance of the opera "Alexander" by Alexander Teyber. Although "Wien" is German for "Vienna", the "Wien" in the name of the theater is actually the name of the Wien River (Wienfluss), which once flowed by the theater site; "an der Wien" means "on the banks of the Wien". Today the river is covered over in this location, and the spot houses the Naschmarkt, an open-air market.
Schikaneder had been granted an imperial licence in 1786 to build a new theatre, but it was only in 1798 that he felt ready to act on this authorization. The building was designed by the architect Franz Jäger and construction was completed in 1801. It has been described as "the most lavishly equipped and one of the largest theatres of its age."[1].
Only a part of the original building is preserved: the "Papageno gate" is a memorial to Schikaneder, who is depicted playing the role of Papageno in The Magic Flute, a role he wrote for himself to perform. He is shown with his three children, playing the Three Boys in the same opera.
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Premieres at the theatre
As a prominent theatre in an artistically vital city, the Theater an der Wien has been the location for the premieres of many works of theatre and music that endure to this day, among them:
- 1805 (November 20) Ludwig van Beethoven's opera Fidelio. Beethoven actually lived in rooms inside the theater, at Schikaneder's invitation, during part of the period of composition.
Memorial tablet next to Papageno gate remembering Beethoven - Other Beethoven premieres:
- 1803 (April 5) Second Symphony
- 1805 (April 7) Third Symphony
- 1806 (December 23) Violin Concerto
- 1808 (December 22) Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, Choral Fantasy, and the Piano Concerto No. 4. (For the full program see Symphony No. 5)
- 1817 Die Ahnfrau by Franz Grillparzer
- 1823 Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus), a play by Wilhelmine von Chézy--according to one source, "dreadful beyond imagination" and utterly forgotten today, except for the incidental music by Franz Schubert
- 1844 Der Zerrissene by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy
- 1874 (April 5) Die Fledermaus by the younger Johann Strauss
- 1882 Der Bettelstudent by Karl Millöcker
- 1898 (January 5) Der Opernball by Richard Heuberger
- 1905 (December 30) The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár
- 1908 (November 14) The Chocolate Soldier by Oscar Straus
- 1909 (November 12) Der Graf von Luxemburg by Franz Lehár
Years of decline and post-War revival
The theatre experienced a golden age during the flourishing of Viennese operetta, and from 1945 to 1955, it was one of the temporary homes of the Vienna State Opera, whose own building had been destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II.
In 1955, the Theater an der Wien was closed for safety reasons. It languished unused for several years, and by the early 1960s, the threat had emerged that it would be converted to a parking garage (this was the same era of "urban renewal" that in America nearly destroyed Carnegie Hall). Fortunately, in 1962 the theater found a new and successful role for itself as a venue for contemporary musical theater. Many English-language musicals have had their German premieres there. In 1992, the musical Elisabeth (about Franz Joseph I of Austria's wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria aka Sissi), premiered there. The musical Cats played for seven years.
Revival as a full time opera house
In the Mozart bicentennial year, the Theater an der Wien presented a series of major Mozart operas and it has since become a full-time venue for opera and other forms of classical music under the direction of Roland Geyer. The first opera to be given was Mozart's Idomeneo. Geyer is quoted as saying that he wishes to "present cutting edge directors and interesting productions" [2], and his three main areas of focus will be on Baroque opera, contemporary opera, and Mozart.
References
External links
- Official Website (in German)
- The theater's English-language Web page
- Andreas Praefcke's "Carthalia" site, entry for "Theater an der Wien". Pictures of both exterior and interior in the form of postcards, as well as a long list of premieres. The image labeled "Millöckergasse entrance" shows the Papageno gate with the memorial to Schikaneder.
