Alfred Reucker

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Hermann Alfred Reucker (born March 30, 1868 in Ründeroth ; † December 14, 1958 in Dresden ) was a German stage manager , actor , director and general manager .

Life

Youth and first engagements

According to his father, a hotelier, Reucker should become a lawyer. When he was still at school, he decided to go to the theater. He was first found in Vienna, where, among other things, he completed private acting training. In 1885 he made his debut as an actor at the Sulkowskitheater at the same location. In the same year he worked at the summer theater Sopot (today Sopot ) as an actor, singer, stage manager and office assistant. Further stations are:

  • 1885–1895 the City Theater Danzig as stage manager, actor and from 1893 also as director, where he got to know the theater with all branches, as well
  • 1895–1901, on the recommendation of the actress Agnes Sorma, the Royal German State Theater in Prague under the artistic director Angelo Neumann as actor and senior director / senior director. Here there were many opportunities for his development and he was able to get to know important actors, singers and conductors. Angelo Neumann became his leading figure. Reucker took many ideas from him, especially his Wagner conceptions.

Zurich era: 1901 to 1921

In 1901 Angelo Neumann recommended him as director of the United Theaters in Zurich ( Stadttheater and Pfauentheater ) as artistic director. The so-called “Reucker era” in Zurich was characterized, among other things, by an excellent ensemble composition, a varied repertoire design (including premieres and premieres) and a hitherto unknown upgrade of the direction and equipment. When he took office, he renounced acting on the stage.

He made Zurich a springboard for up-and-coming artists such as Alexander Moissi , Gertrud Eysoldt , Elisabeth Bergner and Paul Hartmann . His zeal for work and his obsession combined with strict rehearsals earned Reucker the nickname "Rehearsalfred", known in the theater world, through his then Kapellmeister Max Conrad .

In 1903 he married the singer Bertha Trebess in Zurich.

On the occasion of the inauguration of the new main building of the University of Zurich on April 18, 1914, Reucker was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy on the basis of his services to the Zurich theaters.

"Who, with a never-ending passion for work and a deep feeling for true dramatic art, has made the two Zurich theaters a recognized foster home and school of drama and opera."

With his production of Shakespeare's “ As You Like It ” and subsequent guest appearances in southern Germany and Vienna, Reucker drew attention to himself and his leading actress Elisabeth Bergner in 1917 and recommended himself for far-reaching tasks. In designing the stage space, Reucker found a solution that enabled a quick change of scene, combining the Shakespeare and the illusion stage .

A decision by the board of directors of the Pfauentheater to lease it for the 1921/1922 season for financial reasons was decisive for Reucker’s resignation.

Dresden era: 1921 to 1933

Former Alfred Reucker House - Spitzwegstraße 60, Dresden, Leubnitz-Neuostra district , 2015; The inscription is on the wooden beam between the ground floor and the first floor.

1921 Appointment as general manager of the Saxon State Theater in Dresden as successor to Nikolaus Graf von Seebach . Reucker was clear that he was expected to "bring the extremely unpleasant conditions at the Saxon state theaters back to their old position."

Reucker's direction of Ferruccio Busoni's opera Doctor Faust should be emphasized . The first performance on May 21, 1925 could be considered an international music event. All participants, including Fritz Busch as general music director and the director, received unqualified praise. Thus, Hans Schnoor write in 1927: "See you from Dresden to in the world of German opera theater and can not find something in the same way a pursuit aware of new Spíelplancharakteristik would prove [...] it is the same everywhere: almost a poor imitation of the Dresden game plan . ” And Reucker's colleague Richard Weichert in Frankfurt attests that “ he (Reucker) has the best German ensemble and a technically superb stage. ” His productions of Wagner's Parsifal on February 14, 1930 and Bizet's Carmen in 1931 are also important.

In 1932/33 Reucker also tried to revive the Hellerau Festival Hall as a musical performance venue. On the occasion of the Neustädter Woche 1932, the Iphigenia in Aulis by Christoph Willibald Gluck , directed by Alexander Schum and the musical direction of Fritz Busch, was performed with great success.

His work in Dresden from 1921 to 1933 thus encompassed an important epoch of Dresden theater life. In the musical field, it was the further development of the Dresden Richard Strauss care, the Hellerau Festival and the engagement of the brilliant conductor Fritz Busch that gave the Dresden Opera its profile. In drama it was on the one hand his personal friendship with Gerhart Hauptmann, on the other hand the care of the young dramatists Ernst Toller and Friedrich Wolf .

The time after 1933

Grave of Alfred Reucker, his mother and his wife next to the house. The inscriptions read: Emma Reucker 1843–1926, Bertha 1872–1949, Alfred 1868–1958. Immediately to the right of the tombstone is Reucker's bust of Edmund Moeller .

On March 8, 1933, after Hitler came to power, Reucker was ousted from office together with dramaturge Dr. Karl Wollf . General music director Fritz Busch had to vacate his place the evening before. Even Reucker's impeachment was tempered into retirement in autumn 1933. The continuation of a performance in the festival hall in Dresden-Hellerau thus failed.

By the end of the war in May 1945 he withdrew completely into private life and during this time no longer entered the Dresden stage. He lived as a writer, mainly working on a manuscript in which he put down memories from 50 years of theater life. He also worked many hours in his garden. In 1945 he was to be appointed general manager again. Because of his weakened health, he could not answer the call, but still helped with the reconstruction of the Dresden State Theaters with advice and action.

From 1946 to 1948, he invited theater people and people interested in culture from all areas to reading evenings every week in his house with an extensive picture gallery in Dresden-Leubnitz , Spitzwegstraße 60. He was honorary chairman of the Dresden City district leadership of the Deutsche Volksbühne.

He died on December 14, 1958 in his adopted home Dresden and was quietly buried in his garden. He is indisputably one of the great artistic directors of German theater.

World premieres under the direction of Alfred Reucker

Awards

literature

  • Paul Suter: Reucker, Alfred. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Paul Suter : Alfred Reucker . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 2, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1483 f.
  • Hans Böhm: In memoriam Alfred Reucker . In: Musica . Born 13.Bärenreiter, Basel February 1959, p. 133-134 .
  • Hansjörg Schneider : Hope between ruins - Dresden theater after 1945 . Hellerau-Verlag Dresden, Hellerau 1999, ISBN 3-910184-66-9 , p. 18th f .
  • Hansjörg Schneider: Dresdner Theater 1933–1945 "Play was the pleasure and play the danger" . Henschel, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89487-456-2 , pp. 74, 84, 112, 115, 155 f .
  • Hansjörg Schneider: Erich Ponto - An actor's life . Henschel-Verlag, 2000, p. 40, 65, 70 .
  • Hansjörg Schneider: The time after - contributions to post-war theater in Dresden and the surrounding area . Self-published, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-935194-24-2 , p. 20.99 .
  • Hansjörg Schneider: Time is out of joint - Dresden's drama in the twenties . Publishing and Publishing House, 2007, ISBN 978-3-9810690-2-0 , p. 10, 15, 29, 32, 33, 35, 52, 58, 61, 62-67, 74, 81, 83 .
  • Paul Suter: Alfred Reucker . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 3, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1483 f.
  • Seventy-five years in the service of the stage - From the previously unpublished memoirs of Prof. Dr. hc Alfred Reuckers . In: The Union / Dresden District . March 19, 1959.
  • The way from Zurich to Dresden - From the previously unpublished memoirs of Prof. Dr. hc Alfred Reuckers (II) . In: The Union / Dresden District . May 21, 1959.
  • Three decades of theater life in Dresden - from the previously unpublished memoirs of Prof. Dr. hc Alfred Reuckers (III) . In: The Union / Dresden District . 5th July 1959.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sulkowskitheater in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna (text is based on the standard work by Felix Czeike )
  2. ↑ Guido Frei: The Zurich City Theater under the direction of Alfred Reucker 1901–1921 . Innsbruck, 1951 (dissertation Zurich).
  3. ↑ Hansjörg Schneider: Time is out of joint - Dresden's drama in the twenties . Publishing and Publishing House, 2007, ISBN 978-3-9810690-2-0 , p. 63 .
  4. ↑ tab for Alfred Reucker in university archives of the University of Zurich with the signature: UAZ AF.1.415 .
  5. ^ Rector's speech and annual report - April 1914 to the end of March 1915 . Printing and publishing by Art. Institut Orell Füssli, Zurich, p.  35 ( uzh.ch [PDF; accessed on December 16, 2015]).
  6. ^ History of the University of Zurich . ( uzh.ch [accessed on December 16, 2015]).
  7. ↑ The building was built between 1909 and 1913 as a bakery and pastry shop. Reucker took it over in 1929 after he had previously lived in Dresden-Johannstadt, Fürstenstrasse 60 (today Fetscherstrasse ). According to Reucker's thoughts, after his death his house should become a place of rest for mimes similar to the Künstlerhaus Dresden-Loschwitz . Instead it was the guest house of the Dresden State Theater until the turn of 1989, after which it was privatized and had to be completely renovated. The house and part of the property are under monument protection (see list of cultural monuments in Leubnitz-Neuostra ).
    Coordinates of the Reucker-house: 51 ° 0 '56.38 "  N , 13 ° 45' 59.59"  O
  8. ^ A b Hansjörg Schneider: Time is out of joint - Dresden's drama in the twenties . Publishing and Publishing House, 2007, ISBN 978-3-9810690-2-0 , p. 66 .
  9. ↑ Wilfried Schulz (Ed.): Staatsschauspiel Dresden - 100 Years of the Schauspielhaus . Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-943881-01-1 , pp. 151 .
  10. ↑ Alfred Reucker: My way. Alfred Reucker archive in the Darstellende Kunst archive of the Academy of Arts, accessed on July 1, 2015 (48 adhesive tapes with documents from his artistic career from 1885 to 1933).
  11. ↑ According to the will, the movable furniture, especially the pictures from Reucker's gallery, was inherited by his housekeeper Melanie Nacke, who had the right to live until her death. After their death, the location of the pictures is lost.
  12. ^ Alfred Löscher: Alfred Reucker 85 years . In: Dresdner Preview . April 1953, p. 36 ff .
  13. ↑ Portraits General Director Dr. Alfred Reucker (director) and composer Paul Graener. Photograph by Ursula Richter February 1927 on the occasion of the world premiere of his opera “Hanneles Himmelfahrt” in the Dresden State Opera  in the German Digital Library , accessed on July 2, 2015
  14. ^ Ernst Krause: Richard Strauss . VEB Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1970, p. 347 .
  15. ↑ a b Dresden State Theater. Retrieved May 9, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Reucker, Alfred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reucker, Hermann Alfred (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German stage manager, actor, director and general manager
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Ründeroth
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1958
Place of death Dresden