History
Present and Future / Mission
The Programming since 2000/01 Season
Wiener Kammeroper was founded by Hans Gabor (1924–1994), a conductor, who had come to Vienna from Hungary after the Second World War. As early as in 1948 he initiated the "Vienna Opera Studio" - a company without a theatre of its own. The new name of the company, "Wiener Kammeroper" (Vienna Chamber Opera), reminiscent of chamber music and society plays in an intimate setting, was first used officially in 1953.
Initially the company played in the suburbs of Vienna, specially for the “Arbeiterkammer” in Vienna, at Mozart Hall of Vienna's "Konzerthaus" concert hall for young audiences under the patronage of the "Theater der Jugend" and during the summer months at the rococo Schönbrunn Palace Theatre. Since the early years, works by contemporary composers, such as Boris Blacher's "The Deluge" (1956), have been a mainstay of the repertory along with opera buffa and classic Viennese operetta, and many a rarity was discovered, e.g. Alessandro Scarlatti's "Triumph of Honour" (1956).
The dream of a permanent home came true. The first one-year subsidy to Wiener Kammeroper granted by the Ministry of Education and the City of Vienna was the pre-requisite for funding its own theatre. The right place was found soon: located in the heart of the city, at the address Fleischmarkt 24, a former dance hall, which had also been used for theatre performances earlier, was adapted to fulfil the requirements of an operatic stage. The new theatre was inaugurated with a performance of the one-act operas "The Marriage" by Martinu, "The Gambler" ("Il marito giocatore") by Orlandini and Monteverdi's "Ariadne's Lament" as adapted by Carl Orff.
Till today, numerous original performances and Austrian premières have remained a trademark of the Wiener Kammeroper repertory. One among many artistic highlights of the past was George Tabori's legendary 1986 production of "I pagliacci" by Leoncavallo; Wiener Kammeroper was invited to present the production at the "Berlin Theatertreffen" festival a year later.
In the early 1980ies, Hans Gabor retired from conducting, exclusively acting as the artistic director and manager of his theatre – not to forget the International Belvedere Singing Competition, which he founded in 1982. Today, the competition is the largest "singers' exchange" in the world, a veritable "Wall Street of Voices".
The series "Studio K" (1983) seeks to offer a platform to contemporary composers. Chamber operas by Tom Johnson, Peter Maxwell Davies, Luciano Chailly, Philip Glass or Hans Werner Henze saw their premières in Vienna. Again, George Tabori contributed an exemplary production which also met with critical acclaim abroad. To address a young audience, classics such as "La Bohème" or "Carmen" were translated in the musical language of rock music.
In the summer of 1992 Wiener Kammeroper began producing open-air performances of Mozart operas at the Roman Ruin in the palace gardens of Schönbrunn with the title "Mozart in Schönbrunn", but in 1999 conservationists found that the monument was in jeopardy and performances on the unique open-air stage had to be discontinued.
In 1994 Hans Gabor passed away unexpectedly and Rudolf Berger continued the successful programming.
In the opera season of 1999/2000 Isabella Gabor and Holger Bleck took over the management of the Kammeroper. In keeping with the Kammeroper’s tradition, the main pillars of the Vienna Kammeroper continue to be promoting the young generation of singers with the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition and the opera productions at the Kammeroper’s location on Fleischmarkt.
Art in the sense of telling stories, musical theatre that is current, touching, makes us happy, upsets us, makes us want to discuss things, the advancement of young musicians, and last but not least an attentive audience. This, and much more, makes Wiener Kammeroper what it is – music theatre with a unique and unmistakable concept in the artistic environment of Austria and Vienna.
After all, the programming of Wiener Kammeroper is exclusively dedicated to rarities and/or Austrian premières from the of baroque opera, Opera buffa, chamber musical and contemporary musical theatre which are neither part of the repertory of the big opera houses nor played by independent groups yet reveal a quality that is truly compelling.
Continuing our successful Haydn cycle the actual season opens with the psychological chamber play “L’isola disabitata" by Joseph Haydn. Our series “Contemporary Music Theatre”continues with “The Io Passion” by Harrison Birtwistle. The British composer was perhaps able to realize in a most compelling way what has always been his creative aspiration: showing how myths are still pervasive in today’s world. Under the motto “Unerhört Neu Gehört” (”The Unheard Made Heard”) we bring back great masterpieces which wrongly never became part of the standard repertory. This season we play the short opera “Le pauvre matelot” by Darius Milhaud and the bizarre one act titled “Venus in Africa” by George Antheil. Both composers have been the talk of town in Paris of the 1920’s.
| 2000/01 | “Köchelverzeichnis 2001 - Mozart gegen Salieri”, an imaginative Singspiel with the music by W.A. Mozart and Antonio Salieri | Operetta “Die gold’ne Meisterin” by Edmund Eysler |
Musical Farce “Il cappello di paglia di Firenze” by Nino Rota |
Alt-Wiener Singspiel “Ewig schad’ um uns – Raimund, Nestroy und die Wiener” by Johann Nestroy and Ferdinand Raimund |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New programming, resting on four pillars | ||||
| “Baroque opera” | “Chamber Musical” | “Opera buffa” | “Contemporary Music Theatre” | |
| 2001/02 | 1st performance in Austria “Euridice” by Jacopo Peri |
— | 1st performance in Austria “El Barberillo de Lavapies” by F. A. Barbieri (Zarzuela) –––––––––––––––– “Il barbiere di Siviglia” by Gioacchino Rossini |
“The old maid
and the thief” and “The medium” by Gian Carlo Menotti –––––––––––––––– 1st performance in Austria “Tartuffe” by Kirke Mechem |
| 2002/03 | 1st performance in Austria “Gli amori d´Apollo e di Dafne” by Francesco Cavalli |
1st performance in Austria ”The Cole Porter Story” with Music by Cole Porter |
1st performance in Austria “Zaide” by W.A. Mozart, text version by Italo Calvino |
1st performance in Austria “A water bird talk” by Dominick Argento and “The bear” by William Walton |
| 2003/04 | Baroque Festival “Ballo.mortale” by Claudio Monteverdi –––––––––––––––– “Euridice” by Jacopo Peri –––––––––––––––– “Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne” by Francesco Cavalli |
“Company” by Stephen Sondheim | “L’infedeltà delusa” by Joseph Haydn | 1st performance in German language in Austria “Mr. Emmet takes a walk” by Peter Maxwell Davies and 1st performance in German language in Austria “Zora D.” by Isidora Zebeljan |
| 2004/05 | 1st performance in Austria “Venus & Adonis” by John Blow |
1st performance in Europe “Avenue X”, A cappella Musical by Ray Leslee |
“La finta giardiniera” by W.A. Mozart –––––––––––––––– “Rita” by Gaetano Donizetti |
1st performance in Austria “Moscow Tscherjomuschki” by Dmitri Shostakovich |
| 2005/06 | “The
Beggar´s Opera” by John Gay |
“Ain’t
Misbehavin’” by Fats Waller |
World-Première “Zauberflöte – gekürzt” (Magic flute – short version) by Mozart/Liebhart/Barylli, idea by H. Bleck |
1st performance in Austria “L’oca del Cairo” by Stephen Oliver and W.A. Mozart |
| 2006/07 | “Agrippina” by Georg F. Handel |
World-Première “A Good Man” by Ray Leslee |
1st performance in Austria “I due timidi” by Nino Rota |
World-Première
of the stage version “When she died” by Jonathan Dove and “Eight songs for a Mad King” by Peter Maxwell Davies |
| “Baroque opera” | “Chamber Musical” | “Unheard Heard Again” | “Opera today” | |
| 2007/08 | — | 1st performance in Austria “The last five years” by Jason Robert Brown |
1st performance of the version for chamber-orchestra in Austria “The cunning little vixen” by Leoš Janáček / Jonathan Dove |
1st performance of the English pocket version in Austria “Blond Eckbert” by Judith Weir |
| “Baroque opera” | “Chamber Musical” | “Unheard Heard Again” | “A rarity to commemorate Joseph Haydn’s death” | |
| 2008/09 | 1st performance in Austria “La Guirlande” by Jean-Philippe Rameau 1st stage performance worldwide “Zéphyre” by Jean-Philippe Rameau |
— | 1st performance in Austria “Owen Wingrave” by Benjamin Britten |
“Le pescatrici” – “Die Fischerinnen” by Joseph Haydn |
| “Baroque opera” | “Opéra-bouffe” | “Unheard Heard Again” | “Opera today” | |
| 2009/10 | “Il Nascimento dell’ Aurora” by Tomaso Albinoni | “L’ île de Tulipatan” & “Ba-ta-clan” by Jacques Offenbach. |
— | “Die Gespenstersonate” by Aribert Reimann |
| “Baroque opera” | “Haydn-circle” | “Unheard Heard Again” | “Opera today” | |
| 2010/11 | — | „L' isola disabitata“ by Joseph Haydn |
„Le pauvre matelot“ by Darius Milhaud 1st performance in Austria: „Venus in Africa“ by George Antheil |
„The Io Passion“ by Harrison Birtwistle |