Max Elten

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Max Elten (born June 8, 1905 in Oberdollendorf ; † September 2, 1982 in Leipzig ) was a German set designer and painter . From 1934 to 1970 he was a set designer and head of equipment at the City Opera in Leipzig .

Life

Elten, the son of a chemical clerk , graduated from the Folkwang Crafts School in Essen in 1925 and studied at the Art Academy in Königsberg , at the Technical University in Munich and at the factory teachers' seminar in Halle (Saale) until 1930 . In 1933 he passed the state examination for artistic teaching in secondary schools . In the same year he was awarded first prize in a stage design competition at the Königsberg Opera. In 1934 he began his work there as a responsible set designer and furnished various operas.

In 1934 he began a trial year in the equipment workshops of the Leipzig Opera and was appointed head of equipment there in 1936. In the 1930s Elten dealt mainly with Mozart , Wagner and Shakespeare . In 1944 he was drafted into the German Wehrmacht and fought in World War II , after the end of which he was taken prisoner by the British , from which he was released in July 1945.

Elten resumed his work at the makeshift venue for the destroyed Leipzig Opera in Leipzig-Lindenau and staged Orpheus and Eurydice in 1947 . In 1948 he was appointed chief stage designer of the Leipzig Opera by the Soviet Military Administration (SMAD) and confirmed in this position in 1952 by the Leipzig Cultural Office of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). In the 1960s Elten staged Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen again .

In 1970 Elten stopped working at the Leipzig Opera after 36 years and worked as a painter from then on.

plant

Elten's work consisted of equipment for opera , operetta , ballet , as well as for drama and children's theater . He worked with various well-known directors such as Wolfram Humperdinck , Hans Schüler , Heinz Rückert and Joachim Herz , as well as with the choreographers Erna Abendroth , Tatjana Gsovsky , Mary Wigman and Tom Schilling . Elten arranged numerous German premieres , such as 1938 Die Feen by Richard Wagner , 1943 Carmina Burana by Carl Orff , 1959 Plautus in the nunnery by Max Butting , 1948 The Nightjar and The Flood by Boris Blacher and 1969 The Greek Wedding by Robert Hanell . His pictures have been shown in various exhibitions, including 1982 in Frankenhausen , 1983 in Leipzig and 1988 in the Royal Shakespeare Company in London .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Akademie der Künste: Archive of Performing Arts: Max Elten , Berlin, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Elten, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German stage sets and painters
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberdollendorf
DATE OF DEATH 2nd September 1982
Place of death Leipzig