Berlin State Opera: Thielemann succeeds Barenboim as maestro

In January, Daniel Barenboim, who shaped Berlin's State Opera as general music director for 30 years, resigned for health reasons. After months of uncertainty, it is now clear that Wagner and Henze expert Christian Thielemann will take over the prestigious role next year.

Berlin's Senator for Culture Joe Chialo, who is also the chairman of the Berlin Opera Foundation, thereby followed the recommendation of the opera's future artistic director, Elisabeth Sobotka, who will be leading the house from September 2024.

Thielemann has been chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden since 2012. But his contract there expires in 2024. His new contract at the Berlin State Opera will initially run for five years. From 2025, some 20 concert evenings per year are planned.

However, just one opera premiere has been announced by Sobotka. The reason for this is Thielemann's previously made commitments elsewhere for the coming season.

Barenboim convinced of successor

Barenboim and Thielemann have known each other for decades. Already as a 19-year-old, Thielemann was assistant to the Argentine-Israeli composer and conductor.

In a welcoming address, the latter praised his successor as one of the outstanding conductors of the time: "I have been at the helm of these so special musical institutions for over 30 years and I am certain that under Christian Thielemann's leadership they will continue to maintain and expand their exceptional position in Berlin and international musical life," Barenboim said. He was "full of anticipation for what is to come." Sobotka called Thielemann a "logical successor" to Barenboim.

Thielemann is not lacking in ambition. He wants the orchestra to play "everything — from the Christmas Oratorio to the Happening."

Nevertheless, he doesn't want to abandon tradition either. "You can only do something new if you have both feet in the tradition," he said.

The 64-year-old and Daniel Barenboim have "a close relationship," Thielemann told the media. Barenboim's influence on his career has been crucial, saying: "I am in his debt."

Still, there have been asides in their long artistic and private relationship. The New York Times speaks of a "complicated history": when Thielemann was at the Deutsche Oper, for example, he complained about the much lower level of state support for it compared to Barenboim's Staatsoper. In addition, accusations were made that Thielemann had made antisemitic comments about Barenboim. However, Thielemann vehemently denied this.

Berlin State Opera: Once the largest opera house in Europe

The Berlin State Opera, or Staatsoper Unter den Linden, is a renowned house. The neoclassical theater was modeled on an ancient temple and was once the largest opera house in Europe.

No less a figure than Frederick the Great, a great friend of the arts and sciences, commissioned the construction of the State Opera.

Completed in 1743 by architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, the building was part of a large-scale urban development project, the Forum Fridericianum, which also included a library, a church and a palace.

The State Opera House has had an eventful history. It had to be rebuilt several times. In 1843 it burned down almost to the ground. During World War II, the building was massively damaged twice and then reconstructed.

Berlin has three state-financed opera houses

The German capital maintains three state-funded opera houses: in addition to the Staatsoper, the Deutsche Oper in former West Berlin and the smaller Komische Oper. That's more than Paris, New York and London.

All three opera houses are known for putting innovative and avant-garde productions on the program. Violence and nudity are considered pillars of this, as are performances that cross boundaries between opera, film and contemporary art.

In the days of the GDR, the Staatsoper was the leading opera house in East Germany. According to findings by historian Ralf Stabel, it was teeming with spies from the GDR secret service at the time.

In his book on the subject, Stabel wrote that many dancers spied on their colleagues to prevent the threatened escape of the best dancers to the West.

After reunification in 1990, the Staatsoper was handed over to the city of Berlin.

Starting in 2010, for several years the State Opera made a guest appearance at the Schillertheater in western Berlin. The reason was a comprehensive renovation of the building, whose time and cost schedule was massively exceeded, but at the end of which the audience was rewarded by breathtaking acoustics.

Thielemann has conducted the Staatskapelle before

Christian Thielemann should now also be looking forward to these acoustics, which he is already familiar with. He has already stepped in as conductor twice before at the Staatsoper, when Barenboim was unable to conduct the Wagner cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen," due to health reasons. At the time, the audience had celebrated Thielemann with ovations, and the orchestra was also visibly taken with him. The beginning of his first rehearsal with the Staatskapelle, as the house's orchestra is called, was a "magical moment," Thielemann says in retrospect.

After holding positions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Düsseldorf, Thielemann came to Nuremberg as general music director in 1988.

In 1997, he went to Berlin as general music director of the Deutsche Oper before holding the same post with the Munich Philharmonic, from 2004 to 2011. In addition to his post as principal conductor of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, he was artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival from 2013 to 2022. In 2022, he stood at the podium of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performed Bruckner's Eighth Symphony.

It will not be easy for Christian Thielemann to succeed Barenboim, but the stage is set for him to further add to his burgeoning reputation.

This article was originally written in German.