Theater Trier

Theater building at Augustinerhof

Entrance building and foyer, May 2017

The Trier Theater is a three-part building that has existed since 1802.

history

The theater of the city of Trier can now look back on over 200 years of history. The motto of the 2002/2003 season was therefore “200 years of Trier Theater - Napoleon 's fault”. Indeed , on the occasion of a visit to the occupied city of Trier, the future Emperor of France decreed on August 28, 1802:

"The Capuchin monastery is destined to set up a theater."

Today the Trier theater is a so-called three-branch house with 622 seats, which has its own theater ensemble as well as a ballet and music theater ensemble.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Trier plays in the orchestra pit , since 2018 under the direction of General Music Director Jochem Hochstenbach.

Since 2004, the theater's director has been Gerhard Weber, who was also responsible for the artistic direction of the Antikenfestspiele Trier until she was hired. Weber previously worked at the Landesbühne Hannover . Karl M. Sibelius succeeded him in August 2015 . After a million dollar deficit, Sibelius was deprived of economic and financial responsibility in June 2016 and was given an administrative director.

From 1998 to 2010 the Trier Theater hosted the Antikenfestspiele in Trier, which attracted thousands of visitors to the Moselle metropolis every year. Among other things, with the argument of the financial deficit recorded in 2010, the city of Trier caused the theater to end its festival involvement. As a result, the city administration was accused of partisan support for the competition event Bread & Games , which was seen in this way and also discontinued in 2012 . The venues for the antiquities festival of the theater were the Porta Nigra , the Kaiserthermen and the amphitheater .

In June 2013 the theater was opened by the German Cultural Council. V. put on the culture red list and classified as threatened with closure (category 1), but in spring 2014 the city council decided to continue.

Locations

From 1802 to 1944 the theater played in the building on Fahrstrasse. The last performance in this building took place on July 16, 1944. The Rosenkavalier was performed by Richard Strauss on this day . After that, the National Socialists ordered the closure of all theaters. On December 23, 1944, the theater building in Fahrstrasse was destroyed by an air raid by the Allies .

After the end of the war, the theater played provisionally in the Treveris Hall until 1950, and then from 1950 to 1964 in the Bischof-Korum-Haus on Rindestanzstrasse. On January 12, 1962, the foundation stone was laid for a new building at Augustinerhof , which was built until 1964 according to plans by the architect Gerhard Graubner . On September 27, 1964, the theater opened in the new building with a premiere of Beethoven's The Consecration of the House . The main stage is 20 m wide and 19 m deep including the front stage. It is surrounded by a side and a back stage with a sliding platform and a built-in revolving platform. The stage is separated from the auditorium by a curved iron curtain. The orchestra pit offers space for 65 musicians on two mobile podiums. When raised, these podiums form the front stage. The stage opening can be reduced or enlarged using a variable stage portal.

Discussions are currently (2015) ongoing about the future of the theater: Due to neglected construction maintenance, the building is in need of renovation, the originally planned components for workshops and storage were never erected, so that there are considerable (space) problems here. Initially, there were plans to replace the building with a new building elsewhere or at the current location; However, there were increasing voices that would like to preserve the building as a high-quality example of the architecture of its time, especially since a new building would probably be equipped much more modestly for cost reasons. The costs of a repair should therefore first be determined by means of expert opinions. This investigation showed that a refurbishment of the existing building is technically feasible. In order to meet the additional space requirements, the establishment of a second location elsewhere was proposed.

In September 2016, the result of an expert opinion was announced with which the costs for an extension and renovation of the existing theater building were to be determined. According to this, around 32 million euros would be required for a pure renovation of the existing building, and up to 110 million euros for renovation and expansion, depending on the extent of the expansion. Since these sums are considerably higher than previously assumed, expansion plans are unlikely to be realistic anymore.

At the beginning of 2019, the Trier city council took the decision in principle to renovate the existing theater. The theater building is to be essentially retained in its current form, although the foyer will have to be demolished and rebuilt. During the renovation phase, operations will be relocated to a new hall to be built, which will be available to TUFA after the renovation is complete.

Directors / directors of the Trier Theater

1802 (August – October): Lasoye
1802 (August – September): bathing joke
1803–1805: Claude Scharff / Desvignes
1805-1806: KW Bianchi
1806: Ludwig Dossy
1808: Joseph Piunk
1808: Ludwig Dossy
1809: Madame Chevallier
1810: Ferdinand Moog
1811: Jules Ferrand
1815–1816: Anton Thomalla
1816–1819: Board of Directors of the AG.
1819-1820: Stoll
1820–1821: Hahn and Klarenbach
1821–1822: Leissring and Horny
1822-1824: Kloss
1824-1825: Carlos
1826: Christl
1826–1828: Friedrich Sebald Ringelhardt
1829–1843: Franz Eisenhut
1843–1844: Neufeld
1845–1846: Eduard Christiany
1846–1848: Gustav Uber and Eduard Lücke
1848–1850: Gustav Uber
1850–1851: Theater closed
1851–1853: Phil. Walburg-Kramer
1853–1855: Werdermann and Pachert
1856–1857: Phil. Walburg-Kramer
1857–1859: Ludwig Kramer
1860–1861: Rosenthal
1861–1862: Heinrich-Franz Müller
1862–1863: Gaudelius
1863–1865: Theater closed
1865–1866: Wilhelm v. Lüde
1866–1869: Schönfeld
1869–1870: F. Engel
1870–1872: Carl Widmann
1872–1873: Amann
1873–1874: vineyard
1874–1878: August Meffert
1878–1879: F. Engel
1879–1881: R. Schöneck
1881–1882: C. Wegeler
1882–1883: Wilhelm Grundner
1883–1885: August Meffert
1885–1886: Alexander Hirschfeld
1886–1887: Albert Schmidt, Julius Schwerin, Anton von Weber
1887–1888: Julia Schwerin
1888-1891: Wilhelm Grundner
1881–1894: Ferdinand Steinle
1894–1895: A. Berthold
1895–1896: Alexander Hirschfeld
1896–1897: Oskar Hennenberg
1897–1901: Ferdinand Steinle
1901–1903: August Mondel, Hans Manussi (until November 1902, since he died at that time)
1903–1904: August Mondel
1904–1907: Franz Froneck
1907–1922: Heinz Tietjen
1922–1927: Hellmuth Götze
1927–1932: Ferdinand Skuhra
1932–1933: without artistic director / only guest performances
1933–1935: Fritz Kranz
1935–1939: Robert Rohde
1939–1942: Karl-Heinz Kaiser
1942–1944: Rudolf Hesse
1945–1946: Rudolf Hesse
1946–1950: Hans Roolf
1950–1952: Wolfgang Nufer
1952–1959: Rudolf Hesse
1959: Heinz Robertz
1959–1960: Albert Klempin (deputy)
1960–1968: Rudolf Meyer
1969–1975: Walter Pohl
1975–1981: Manfred Mützel
1981–1991: Rudolf Stromberg
1991–1995: Reinhard Petersen
1995–2004: Heinz Lukas-Kindermann
2004–2015: Gerhard Weber
August 1, 2015 - November 30, 2016: Karl M. Sibelius
December 1, 2016 - July 31, 2017: Ulf Frötzschner (drama director), Katharina John (opera director), Marius Klein-Klute (chief dispatcher), Waltraut Körver (dance dramaturge), Herbert Müller (administrative director), Peter Müller (technical director), Victor Puhl (general music director)
August 1, 2017 - July 31, 2018: Marius Klein-Klute (chief dispatcher), Waltraut Körver (dance dramaturge), Herbert Müller (administrative director), Peter Müller (technical director), Victor Puhl (general music director), Caroline Stolz (drama director)
from 2018 Manfred Langner

Artistic staff and collaborators

The City Theater Trier employs over 200 people. This includes:

Acting ensemble
Music theater ensemble with opera choir, extra choir and children's and youth choir
Ballet company
Philharmonic orchestra
Makeup art
Decoration department
Painting room
Carpentry
Ladies and gentlemen tailoring
technology
Sound engineering
lighting
Prop
administration
Auxiliary staff

Guest actor

The theater maintains a youth club and is supported by numerous extras and singers from the Trier extra choir .

Rediscoveries and world premieres

Musical theater

In the last few years the theater has devoted its "Unknown Opera" series to works that have largely been forgotten. Several German premieres and world premieres took place in Trier. These included:

Sarema	( Alexander Zemlinsky )	1995/1996
Merlin	( Karl Goldmark )	1996/1997
Bluebeard	( Jacques Offenbach )	1996/1997
The glass menagerie	( Antonio Bibalo )	1996/1997 world premiere
soldiers	( Manfred Gurlitt )	1997/1998
The story of the little blue mountain lake and the old eagle	( Wilfried Hiller )	1997/1998 world premiere
The Kathrin	( Erich Wolfgang Korngold )	1998/1999
Koanga	( Frederick Delius )	1999/2000 German premiere
Trilogy of summer freshness	(I. Grünauer)	1999/2000 world premiere EXPO 2000
Margot la Rouge	( Frederick Delius )	2000/2001
A report for an academy	(J. Klusák)	2000/2001 German premiere
Pinocchio	( Wilfried Hiller )	2002/2003 world premiere
Nordic ballad	( Manfred Gurlitt )	2002/2003 world premiere (production: Heinz Lukas-Kindermann )
the never ending Story	( Siegfried Matthus )	2003/2004 world premiere (production: Heinz Lukas-Kindermann )
The orange girl	(M. Lingnau / C.Gundlach)	2004/2005 world premiere
The Rhine Mermaids (Original Version )	( Jacques Offenbach )	2004/2005 (production: Bruno Berger-Gorski)
Quo Vadis	( Konstantin Wecker / G. Theobalt)	2004/2005 World premiere of the Antikenfestspiele (production: Gerhard Weber )
Fausta - power and impotence of Emperor Constantine	( Heinz Heckmann / Heiner Martini)	2007 world premiere (production: Hermann Keckeis)
Cusanus - Fragments of Infinity	( Boudewijn Buckinx / I. Bocken / P. Larsen)	2007/2008 world premiere (production: Sven Grützmacher)
The Voyage	( Philip Glass )	2011 German premiere (production: Birgit Scherzer )
Ur_	( Anna Thorvaldsdóttir )	2015/2016 world premiere (production: Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson )

play

Sinbad the Navigator	(A. Etzel-Ragusa after " 1001 Nights ")	2002/2003 world premiere
Puss in Boots	(A. Etzel-Ragusa after the Brothers Grimm)	2003/2004 world premiere
Metty and the Mettymice	( Metty Krings )	2004/2005 world premiere (production: Jürgen Lorenzen)
The bird is a raven	(P. Oppermann) after Benjamin Lebert	2004/2005 world premiere (production: Bettina Rehm)
Sheep and whales	(Ahmed Ghazali)	2004/2005 European premiere (production: Jean-Paul Maes)
Nero	( Katja Brunner , Martina Clavadetscher , Daniela Janjic , Maria Karaklajić, Laura Naumann, Darja Stocker , Olivia Wenzel)	2015/2016 world premiere (production: Julia Wissert )
Happy hour	( Lothar Kittstein )	2016/2017 world premiere (production: Alice Buddeberg )

Discography

Sarema - The Rose from the Caucasus ; Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942)

with Karin Clark, Laszlo Lukas, Norbert Kleinhenn, Andreas Scheel, Juri Zinovenko, Nick Herbosch, Florian Simson, choir and extra choir of the Trier City Theater (master: Sebastian Laverny ), Trier City Orchestra under the direction of István Dénes. Koch International 1996.

literature

Rudolf Günther, Alexander Reverchon (Ed.): The Theater of the City of Trier 1945–1995. Collected essays by Claus Zander , Kliomedia , Trier 2007, ISBN 978-3-89890-114-7 .