Franz Steiner (theater manager)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Franz Steiner (born November 20, 1855 in Timisoara , Austrian Empire , † February 22, 1920 in Berlin ) was an Austrian theater director.

Life

Franz Steiner was born as the son of the actor and theater director Maximilian Steiner on November 20, 1855 in Timisoara. From 1862 Franz Steiner lived in Vienna and completed his school days here. In spite of a good musical education, he first entered the service of the Kaiser Ferdinand's Northern Railway in 1876 , where he last held the position of official.

From January 1880, he and his brother Gabor managed the business of the Theater an der Wien for his seriously ill father. After his death in May of the same year, he took over the lease for the theater. His first major work was the world premiere of the operetta Das Spitzentuch der Königin by Johann Strauss . He kept the management when the house was sold to Franz von Jauner . But the high debts, which he had largely taken over from his father, made Steiner resign in 1884. From an artistic point of view, however, his direction was successful. In it experienced a number of important stage works, z. B. by Johann Strauss (son) (also in 1881 The Merry War ) and Carl Millöcker (including the begging student and Apajune, the Aquarius ), their first performance. Like his father, Franz Steiner also relied on lavish furnishings for the works listed.

With part of the severance payment he had received from Jauner, Steiner took over the Residenztheater Dresden for one year in 1884 . In 1885 he leased the Walhalla Operetta Theater in Berlin , which he directed until 1887.

He entered into a liaison with Johann Strauss' second wife, Angelika, in 1881/82 . As a result, Angelika left her husband in 1882 and moved to Steiner. In the same year she was divorced from Strauss "from bed and table". Angelika accompanied Steiner to Dresden and Berlin.

In the summer of 1887 Steiner took over the management of the Vienna Carltheater , where his brother Gabor had been director and artistic director since 1885 . This time as director also lasted just under two years, during which there was a world premiere by Franz von Suppè and Carl Michael Ziehrer . After a brief stint in France, Steiner returned his theater license.

In 1891 he became assistant director at the Thalia Theater in New York . From 1902 to 1909 he directed the “ Wintergarten ” variety theater in Berlin. From 1909 until his death in 1920 Steiner headed a Berlin theater agency.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Norbert Linke : Johann Strauss (son) - in personal reports and picture documents . Rowohlt's Monographs, Volume 304. Reinbek, Rowohlt 1982 (6th edition 2003), ISBN 3-499-50304-2 . P. 129
personal data
SURNAME Steiner, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian theater director
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Timişoara , Austrian Empire
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1920
Place of death Berlin