Stadttheater Minden

Coordinates: 52°17′15″N 8°55′08″E / 52.28750°N 8.91889°E / 52.28750; 8.91889
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Stadttheater Minden
Map
General information
Architectural styleBaroque Revival
LocationMinden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Coordinates52°17′15″N 8°55′08″E / 52.28750°N 8.91889°E / 52.28750; 8.91889
Construction started1906 (1906)
Opened1 October 1908
Design and construction
Architect(s)
  • August Kersten
  • Paul Kanold
Website
stadttheater-minden.de

Stadttheater Minden is a municipal theatre in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The theatre has no ensemble, but stages some productions of its own. It became known for a Wagner project culminating in Der Ring in Minden.

History[edit]

The building was erected from 1906 to 1908 in Baroque Revival style, on a design by the architects August Kersten (Minden) and Paul Kanold [de] (Berlin). It seats 568 people. The theatre was opened on 1 October 1908 with a performance of Goethe's play Iphigenie auf Tauris.[1]

The theatre has no ensemble, but stages some productions of its own.[2] It is also used by guest ensembles and touring theatre groups, and serves as a concert hall for symphony concert series of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, and for other events.

In September 1998, to mark the 1200th anniversary of the town, the chamber opera Friedrich und Katte by Wolfgang Knuth (born 1959) was composed and premiered at the theatre.[3]

In 1999, a project to show operas by Richard Wagner was begun by the Richard-Wagner-Verband Minden, the theatre and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie.[4] The first work presented was in 2002 Der fliegende Holländer, followed by Tannhäuser in 2005, staged by Keith Warner and conducted by Frank Beermann.[2] Lohengrin was performed in 2009.[5] The project of 2012 was Tristan und Isolde, staged by Matthias von Stegmann; Beermann conducted, with the title roles performed by Andreas Schager and Dara Hobbs.[6] A production of Der Ring des Nibelungen opened in 2015 with Das Rheingold, followed a year later by Die Walküre.[5] The Wagner project has received international recognition.[6]

In 2014 the theatre began a professional project for young people (Jugendtheaterprojekt) with Romeo und Julia – Out With Love based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the Shakespeare-year 2014.[7] In a joint venture with the school Kurt-Tucholsky-Gesamtschule, the intendant Andrea Krauledat and the theatre pedagogue Viola Schneider staged the production, performed in the theatre hall.[8] The following season, the project was continued by Schiller's Die Räuber in collaboration with the Ratsgymnasium Minden, again directed by Krauledat and Schneider,[9] and Moritz Rinke's Die Nibelungen, in collaboration with the youth club t3.[10]

Wagner project[edit]

Beginning in 2002, stage works by Wagner were produced at the theatre, initiated by Jutta Hering-Winckler, president of the local Richard Wagner Society. The orchestra was the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, conducted by Frank Beermann.[5] The performances were reviewed internationally.[6][11] Reviews by Eleonore Büning in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) compared the productions favourably with those of the Bayreuth Festival[12] and noted that singers make their way to Bayreuth from Minden.[13]

Minden Wagner project
Date Title Stage director Singers Press
2002 Der fliegende Holländer Holger Müller-Brandes DF[14] NW[15]
2005 Tannhäuser Keith Warner John Pierce (Tannhäuser)
Anne Schwanewilms (Elisabeth)
DF[14]
2009 Lohengrin John Dew John Pierce (Lohengrin)
Anna Gabler [de] (Elsa)
ON[16]
2012 Tristan und Isolde Matthias von Stegmann Andreas Schager and Dara Hobbs FAZ[12]

Der Ring in Minden[edit]

From 2015, the same team staged a yearly production of the four parts of Der Ring des Nibelungen, presenting the complete cycle twice in 2019.

Der Ring in Minden
Date Title Stage director Singers Press
2015 Das Rheingold Gerd Heinz Heiko Trinsinger (Alberich), Renatus Mészár (Wotan), Kathrin Göring (Fricka), Julia Bauer (Freia), Thomas Mohr (Loge), Tijl Faveyts (Fasolt) OMM[17]
2016 Die Walküre Gerd Heinz Mohr (Siegmund), Hobbs (Brünnhilde), Faveyts (Hunding), Mészár (Wotan), Göring (Fricka, Waltraute), FAZ[13]
2017 Siegfried Gerd Heinz Jeff Martin (Mime), Mohr (Siegfried), Mészár (Wanderer), Janina Baechle (Erda), Hobbs (Brünnhilde) Merker[18]
2018 Götterdämmerung Gerd Heinz Mohr (Siegfried), Hobbs (Brünnhilde), Mészár (Gunter), Andreas Hörl (Hagen), Göring (Waltraute) NMZ[19]
2019 Der Ring des Nibelungen Gerd Heinz [19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stadttheater Minden" (in German). livekritik.de. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b Ross, Alexander (11 November 2005). "Stadttheater Minden / Wagners Wille in Westfalen". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  3. ^ Mörchen, Raoul (8 October 1998). "Zur Uraufführung der Kammeroper"Friedrich und Katte" von Wolfgang Knuth am Theater in Minden / Die Wunde der Hohenzollern". Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. ^ Udo Stephan Köhne: Jubiläumsmagazin des Stadttheater Minden 2008/2009
  5. ^ a b c "Der Ring in Minden" (in German). ring-in-minden.de. 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Pfabigan, Sieglinde (16 September 2012). "Minden: Tristan und Isolde". Der Neue Merker (in German). Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Out With Love – Romeo und Julia OWL". Onlinemagazin "Kultur macht Schule" (in German). 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Stadttheater Minden: "Romeo und Julia – Out with Love" hat Premiere". Mindener Rundschau (in German). 1 November 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Die Räuber von Schiller- Kooperationsprojekt mit dem Stadttheater Minden" (in German). Ratsgymnasium. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  10. ^ Koch, Ursula (5 September 2015). "Jugendclub spielt Rinkes "Nibelungen" im Rheingold-Bühnenbild". Mindener Tagblatt (in German). Retrieved 24 August 2017. (subscription)
  11. ^ Fryer, Paul, ed. (2014). "Opera in the Media Age: Essays on Art, Technology and Popular Culture". McFarland. pp. 49–53. ISBN 9781476616209. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  12. ^ a b Büning, Eleonore (11 August 2012). "Richard Wagner in Minden / Hier weht Bayreuths Fahne auf dem Dach". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  13. ^ a b Büning, Eleonore (11 August 2012). ""Walküre" in Minden Wagner-Fans, bitte hier lang!". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  14. ^ a b Bohn, Ullrich (24 October 2005). "Wagners "Tannhäuser" in der Provinz". Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Stern der Woche für Bertram Schulte / Leiter des Mindener Stadttheaters". Neue Westfälische (in German). 11 September 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  16. ^ Stuke, Franz R. (24 September 2009). "Kammerspiel – voll orchestriert". Opernnetz (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  17. ^ Molke, Thomas (9 September 2015). "Das Rheingold" (in German). Online Musik Magazin. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  18. ^ Brockmann, Sigi (8 September 2017). "Stadttheater Minden / "Siegfried" – weiter rundet sich der "Ring"". Der Neue Merker (in German). Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  19. ^ a b Müller, Franz R. (8 September 2009). "Wagner-Wunder in der Provinz – "Götterdämmerung" in Minden". Neue Musikzeitung (in German). Retrieved 11 October 2018.

External links[edit]