City Theater Passau

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The City Theater Passau
The redoubt building at the Stadttheater Passau

The theater in the Prince-Bishop's Opera House Passau , usually simply called Stadttheater Passau , is a theater in Passau with 350 seats. It is used for operas, operettas, musicals, concerts and drama. It is the seat of the music theater department and a permanent venue for the Lower Bavaria State Theater .

Emergence

In 1645, the Passau prince-bishop Leopold Wilhelm of Austria built a ballroom on the banks of the Inn . When the Jeu de Paume lost its popularity towards the middle of the 18th century, Prince-Bishop Leopold Ernst Cardinal Graf von Firmian transformed the house into a court comedy and opera house through his music director from 1771 to 1774 .

From 1783 to 1786, Prince-Bishop Joseph Cardinal Graf von Auersperg had the building fundamentally changed and made it accessible to the people as the Prince-Bishop's Opera House . The prince-bishop's court architect Johann Georg von Hagenauer installed a two-tier box house with a royal box in the rectangular enclosure of the former ballroom. The paintings on the parapets and galleries were created by Franz Petzka. They show scenes of hunting, sheep farming and gardening as well as symbols for the various genres of music. The illusion painting on the ceiling depicts a blue sky with clouds.

The redoute building , also by Hagenauer, was built at the same time and has a classicist facade with a flat relief. There is a large redout hall on the upper floor.

On November 1, 1783 Prince Bishop's Opera House was the opera Alceste by Anton Schweitzer opened. It was one of the first German residence theaters to be open to paying subjects.

Further development

Blackboard at the city theater

Due to the secularization in 1803, the previous Prince-Bishop's Opera House passed into the possession of the Elector of Bavaria and has now been renamed the Churfürstliches Theater . From 1806, after the establishment of the Kingdom of Bavaria, it was called the Royal Bavarian Theater .

In 1882 there was a threat of closure due to fire safety deficiencies when the State Ministry did not approve any funds. But on September 8, 1883, the city of Passau decided to buy the building and convert it. The Passau City Theater opened on October 28, 1883.

From 1893 to 1895 there were structural changes in the spirit of historicism under theater director Ludwig August Wesselsky. From the 1920s until 1945 the theater was also used as a cinema.

After the Second World War it was named Passauer Kammerspiele by director Peter Hausser . In 1950 it had to be closed again due to financial difficulties. On October 4, 1952, the Zweckverband Niederbayerisches Städtebundtheater was constituted , which initially consisted of the cities of Landshut, Passau and Straubing. The musical department was assigned to Passau and the spoken theater to Landshut. Other cities later joined.

present

The structural changes of the 19th century were removed again in the course of a restoration from 1959 to 1966. On November 11, 1961, it reopened as the Prince-Bishop's Opera House with Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto .

From 1970 until his death on February 17, 1996, Artistic Director Klaus Schlette shaped the game operations. Another renovation took place from 1988 to 1991. Among other things, a new prospect hoist system, a retractable orchestra pit and a large freight elevator were created. After Schlette's death, Johannes Reitmeier became his successor, and director Stefan Tilch has headed the theater since 2002 . The flood in June 2013 caused massive damage to the theater by flooding the stalls in the auditorium and the orchestra pit , but the theater could be resumed in September with temporary seating.

As part of the Landestheater Niederbayern , the Stadttheater Passau is its musical department with its own opera ensemble including soloists, choir and orchestra. The orchestra of the Stadttheater is the Niederbayerische Philharmonie under the direction of General Music Director Basil HE Coleman .

Web links

Commons : Stadttheater Passau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 34 '25.1 "  N , 13 ° 27' 53.5"  E