Opera Japonica/Archives/Letter from Berlin, May & June 2000

Karen Stuckenschmidt's Letter from Berlin

May 2000

At the annual conference of the German Stage Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein, Berlin Staatsoper, 26-28 May), the general conclusion was that cultural discourse in Germany (and especially Berlin) was now so completely overwhelmed by financial and political concerns, that a discussion about artistic content could barely take place.

Lamentable as this is (and suprising as it may seem to outsiders) this is so fundamentally true that even this report on the opera scene of Berlin would be hypocritical if it related information about performances and ignored the background problems which fixate the minds of everybody concerned with public culture here.

Given the fact that none of Berlin's three operahouses staged a premiere in May, this first 'letter' is going to omit opera productions altogether (this is not going to become a rule!), in order to introduce the 'setting, the stage, the decor, and the players' - and the general atmosphere of the opera scene in Berlin.

Opera in Germany is almost entirely publicly financed (a fact envied by so many people abroad) with the money coming, not from the federal government but either from the 'land' (state) where each operahouse is located, or from its city, or both. Berlin's three opera houses, the Deutsche Oper, the Staatsoper unter den Linden and the Komische Oper, are financed by the Land of Berlin (which, exceptionally, coincides with the city), with some extra subsidies from the Federal Republic based on the 'contract for the culture of the capital'.

The last few years have been, financially and politically, detrimental to the cultural scene: the Land of Berlin had to accept to a huge increase in responsibility for 'cultural heritage' following German reunification (including the heritage of the former German Democratic Republic, and of the prewar state of Prussia) and individual subsidies were reduced in the course of a wider distribution of the money - to the great distress of the operahouses. Moreover following reunification, all the 'special subsidies' granted, for the previous 40 years, to West Berlin for its exposed status in the middle of the GDR were withdrawn. Despite the 'contract for the culture of the capital', which for a couple of years now has provided extra finance from the German government (this season, 100 million DM or about 50 million US dollars), the situation is desperate.

The opera administrators and artistic directors are angry. Daniel Barenboim, artistic director of the Staatsoper, has been negociating the extension of his contract. There has been no result so far. The details are not known, but reaching an financial agreement both for himself as well as for his house has evidently been difficult. Conditions backstage at the Staatsoper have become so bad that in May the staging of the opera 'The Condemnation of Lukullus' by Paul Dessau (a revival of the production premiered in 1992) had to be abandoned. The public relations office of the opera offered ticket refunds to those who ddin't wish to attend the concert performance, hardly an attractive alternative to what should have been a staged performance by Ruth Berghaus, one of the most famous German contemporary stage directors.

Equally distressed are Götz Friedrich, the Artistic Director of the Deutsche Oper, and Harry Kupfer, the Artistic Director of the Komische Oper. While the latter is soon to leave his long-held post and be replaced by the renowned stage director Andreas Homoki, Götz Friedrich is also facing his last season to come.

The artistic directors of the operahouses, the city politicians in charge of cultural affairs, and of course the media, experienced a sudden rush of adrenalin in the middle of May following a rumour from New York that the celebrated Alberto Vilar, businessman and 'saviour' of European opera institutions like the Salzburg Festival and the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, might be interested in helping out the desperate operahouses of Berlin. There was great excitement, turbulance and speculation.

Götz Friedrich seems to have immediately invited Vilar to Berlin, but the others held back and even rebuked Götz Friedrich for his 'solo' effort, claiming that it was the responsibility of Herr Stoelzl , the new cultural senator (cultural 'minister' of the Land of Berlin), to approach Vilar. While observers were still marvelling at the immediate dissent the sudden prospect of private money could evoke, the excitement soon fizzled out when Vilar indicated that he was not interested after all. So much for May's tragi-comedy!

However the question of distribution of money is a serious one, and was taken up in a public discussion between Herr Stoelzl and Dr Leonhard, Chairwoman of the Cultural Committee of the federal government. The subject of the discussion was the current deficit of 70 million DM (about 35 million US dollars) in the cultural budget of the city/Land of Berlin. It seems to be (finally!) agreed that no more money can be saved at the operahouses themselves. It was discussed whether Berlin needs/deserves/can afford three operahouses. The possibility of closing down one of them was mentioned - but which one?

Another suggestion made this month was for the federal government to take over responsibility for the Staatsoper (as some people pointed out it would not be inappropriate for the federal government to support the 'State opera' ). Indeed the federal government has started to consider shifting financial support from general subsidies for Berlin's cultural budget to direct support of individual institutions. However, the government seems to favor special 'raisins in the cake' (in the words of critics) such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

The role of Berlin as German capital and focus of international attention, carries some weight for the argument that operating three opera-houses is not too much. However given that German federalism determines that cultural matters are normally the responsibility of its single states, a clear-cut consensus has to be found nation-wide to grant national money to cultural institutions, and that is far from being evident. For example the Bavarian cultural minister, Herr Zehetmeyer, has just declared on a visit to Berlin that there is no such thing as a common national culture in Germany, though this of course is a extreme point of view. Obviously there is still a long way to go before Berlin's cultural status matches that of other European capitals.

Against this background, the three opera houses keep struggling. Some critics point out that they could do a great deal more to make each one of their institutions more individual and distinctive and better defined to the public - a topic to be followed up later.

June 2000

More talks about money

Discussions about the financing of cultural institutions in Berlin have been continuing between the Kulturstaatsminister (State Secretary for Culture) of the Federal Government, Michael Naumann, and the Kultursenator (Cultural Minister) of Berlin, Christoph Stölzl.

The final result of the introduction of exclusive federal financing for select institutions - in contrast to the established form of financing by the Land of Berlin supplemented with subsidies from the federal government - seems to be the direct financing of seven (or five) 'candidates' (such as the Jewish Museum) that won't include the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra or the Staatsoper unter den Linden (Berlin State Opera).

So Daniel Barenboim will have to continue bargaining the extension of his contract for the period after 2002. On the one hand, he is obviously interested in remaining Music Director of the renowned Staatsoper, on the other hand, he insists on a budget increase of 10 million DM (around 5 million dollars) for the orchestra and for the engagement of guest singers. That seems to be an impossible demand given the financial situation in Berlin; and some voices are openly discussing a post-Barenboim era at the Staatsoper. It is possible that the Staatsoper will be closed down for urgent repairs for one or two seasons starting in 2002, and alternative venues for the interim period are already being considered.

Unexpectedly the Federal Government has made substantial financial concessions to the Mayor of Berlin in return for his crucial support for German tax reform plans. These concessions include a 20 million DM increase in subsidies for Berlin's cultural institutions, just as the amount was to be fixed at 100 million DM for the Hauptstadtkulturvertrag (Contract for the Culture of the Capital) for the next financial year. Right now there is great excitement and speculation about where the money is going to go.

Discussions are continuing about how the three opera-houses will coexist in future. Ulrich Eckhardt, retiring director of the Berliner Festspiele (Berlin Festival) has called for more rational and economic administration of the three institutions through the creation of a foundation establishing a legal framework for all three opera-houses, with both Berlin and the Federal Government remaining financially involved.

The last few weeks have brought some interesting premieres and important events:

Staatsoper unter den Linden

On the 9th of June, Mozart's Don Giovanni was premiered, directed by Thomas Langhoff, with set design by Herbert Kapplmüller and costumes by Yoshio Yabara. Conducted by Daniel Barenboim, it had an all-star cast: Eldar Aliev (Don Giovanni), Emily Magee (Donna Anna), Gunnar Gudjörnsson (Don Ottavio), Robert Holl (Commendatore), Cecilia Bartoli (Donna Elvira), René Pape (Leporello) and Dorothea Röschmann (Zerlina). Naturally with this cast it was enthusiastically applauded.

The 35-year-old René Pape, who has been a member of this ensemble since 1988 and has also appeared to great acclaim in London, Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo, was honoured with the title of 'Berliner Kammersänger' . His powerful Leporello was a joy to hear. Less happy was the production: Thomas Langhoff, General and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Theater, made the singers chase around a broad, deep stage often without due reason. Design and costumes were homogenous and warm-coloured, providing some kind of historic atmosphere, but too many of the director's 'ideas' with regard to the action/plot were odd and disconcerting.

Another major public event was the very last opera performance of the world-famous tenor Peter Schreier, now 65 years old. He has been a steady member of the Staatsoper for nearly 40 years. His farewell to the stage was on 8 June when he sang Tamino in Mozart's Zauberflöte (stage direction by the late August Everding). On 8 June it was conducted by Philippe Jordan, on the other evenings by Peter Schreier himself! He will continue his career as an oratorio and lieder singer, and as a conductor.

Komische Oper

The Komische Oper has an amazing repertory - amazing above all in its quantity. It has been the opera-house with the largest number of different productions each month, in Berlin if not in Germany as a whole. In June there were 12 different operas, and in July, the last month of the season, it staged no less than 13 different productions, while the other two houses each closed with two productions.

As far as the quality goes, one cannot help associating the Komische Oper with assembly-line work (or at least 'mass production' by the ensemble members!), despite the humorous and realistic productions of Harry Kupfer and Andreas Homoki (the present and future artistic directors).

The month of July saw no less than eight Harry Kupfer productions: Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Mozart's Entführung aus dem Serail, Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Offenbach's Le contes d'Hoffmann, Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro; and three Homoki productions: Lehar's Lustige Witwe, Verdi's Falstaff, Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges; and only two productions by other stage directors.

All operas at the Komische Oper are sung in German, a fundamental distinction from the other two opera-houses, and staged with respect to, and in theoretical continuation of, the ideas of its founder Walter Felsenstein, regarding opera (in his own words) as 'realistic music theatre', to be performed by 'singing people' as 'real figures'.

Overcoming my own prejudices against opera in translation, the German version of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte (conductor Tetsuro Ban, director Harry Kupfer) for example, is indeed very convincing. The opera is staged, designed and sung as realistic theatre, focussing on the plot, the drama and the text, to highly entertaining results! The same applies to Orphée aux enfers by Jacques Offenbach (again conducted by Tetsuro Ban and staged by Harry Kupfer). The ensemble again sang and acted convincingly, on a realistic stage, with colorful costumes, reminiscent of the Varietés in the 1950s or 60s. Orphée was performed by the countertenor Axel Köhler, who demonstrated his ability as a singing actor very well.

Deutsche Oper

The Deutsche Oper flourishes at present under its star-duo of Götz Friedrich (artistic director) and Christian Thielemann (music director). Several operas have been produced by this brilliant pair. In June and July, they presented Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, other stagings by Friedrich were Tchaikovsky's Yevgeny Onegin and Verdi's Aida - all of them to great acclaim.

An especially noteworthy event was the closing evening of the season with the '6th Symphony Concert' of the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, conducted by Christian Thielemann. It featured the quite unknown melodrama Das Hexenlied by the forgotten composer Max von Schillings, who in the early years of the 20th century was considered one of the artistic successors of Richard Wagner, and two tone poems by Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung and Don Juan.

The text of Das Hexenlied was recited by a living legend, the soprano Martha Mödl, now nearly 90 years old, the Kundry of the 1951 Bayreuth Festival. Incredibly charismatic she replied to questions in a discussion with Christian Thielemann two days before the concert, telling her fascinated audience about her music experiences with Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan. Her appearance in the concert was a historic moment and rewarded with standing ovations.

Christian Thielemann, two generations younger than Mödl, and just anticipating his first engagement in Bayreuth, conducted the tone poems in such a vigorous and dynamic way, that again the public would not stop applauding - a memorable evening, indeed!

July 2000

During the Berlin summer holidays (both political and theatrical) things are normally quiet, with various music festivals going on in and around Berlin, musical attractions for tourists etc. Yet despite the closure of three operahouses until September, the drama concerning their future goes on, 'hinter den Kulissen' ('behind the decorations').

Kultursenator Stölzl, just before leaving for his holidays, surprised everybody with an unexpected plan for a general restructuring of the operahouse administration, under which the three houses were to be linked in a common organization, headed by one general director. The purpose of this is of course to save more money - about 10 million DM according to the Senate - by cutting personnel with overlapping responsibilities, even though the opera-houses claim that no further cuts are possible after the thorough-going cost cutting of the past few years.

There has been speculation arose about who might be a candidate for this 'general directorship'. Daniel Barenboim? But he is still insisting on additional subsidies for the Staatsoper as a pre-condition for the extension of his contract beyond 2002. Another possibility is Gerard Mortier, still in charge of the Salzburg Festival. He was recently named as a candidate for the Berlin Festival job only to be dropped for another candidate, Joachim Sartorius, until now General Secretary of the Goethe Institute.

If one of them got the job, what would then happen to the designated artistic directors of the Komische Oper and the Deutsche Oper, Andreas Homoki, and Udo Zimmermann? Homoki has now been waiting 13 months for his contract. Zimmermann has signed his already, but according to rumours he may not start his work and be paid off instead. It seems that the contract of Fabio Luisi, the new music director designate of the Deutsche Oper, has been put on ice because Christian Thielemann, (who had refused to continue his successful musical directorship under Zimmermann) might stay under the new arrangements and become general music director of the new organization. According to reports from Bayreuth (where he has just had a triumphant debut with Die Meistersinger and has been given the new Ring production in Bayreuth in 2006) Thielemann seems to be interested in the idea - providing he doesn't have to work under Zimmermann.

Zimmermann himself reacted positively to the idea of the possibility of Mortier's general directorship, calling him an artistic friend and noting prospects for a constructive collaboration. Looking to his new role in Berlin from 2001 on, he was optimistic and announced that he was going to submit a new report about additional fund raising to Kultursenator Stölzl in September.

The Senate (the government of Berlin), has been preparing the draft budget for the new financial year, which will be submitted to the city parliament in September. To everyone's surprise, the cultural budget will be cut 5% as will those of the other departments. This means a shortfall of more than 3 million DM for both the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper unter den Linden, and 2.8 million DM for the Komische Oper. According to inside sources, real chaos may ensue if these cuts are really implemented. As part of the general budget discussions, several diet members and even the party leader of the Social Democrats have now become involved. To make things worse, three days after this, a general rise in the salaries of performing artists (including those of opera musicians and singers) was announced by the Deutscher Bühnenverein (German Stage Association). This had been expected since it was linked to general public sector wage agreements.

It remains to be seen what are going to be the solution for the ongoing financial crisis. Restructuring? New private sources of money, as claimed by Zimmermann? (According to him, there are 20 to 30 potential Alberto Vilars in Berlin!) New options to be explored in a 'cultural conference' of everyone involved, as called for by the Green Party? The next act begins in September with the new political and cultural season. Fierce battles may follow, with further unpredictable developments. On with the music!