Landestheater Altenburg
1792 Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and 1812 Die Zauberflöte, 1822 Weber's Freischütz, 1825 Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Weber's Oberon, 1832 Auber's Fra Diavolo and 1843, under the conduct of the composer, Lortzing's play operas Zar und Zimmermann and Der Wildschütz (the young Albert Lortzing, born in 1801, had already appeared with his parents in Altenburg for the first time in the "Old Comedy House"), and the actress Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient gave guest performances in 1842 as Norma, among others.
Thus, from 1869 to 1871, the "New Ducal Court Theatre"[6] by architect Otto Brückwald, a pupil of Gottfried Semper, was built in the style of the Neo-Renaissance with three tiers (matroneum, balcony) and prosceniums and Mittellogen as well as a round ceiling mantle, whose allegorical paintings were created by the painter Höffemeyer from Munich.
The first season began on 24 September 1871 with Heinrich Laube's Die Karlsschüler[9] In addition to Bellini, Donizetti, Mozart, Lortzing, Schiller, Kotzebue and Scribe, the repertoire also included plays by Birch-Pfeiffer.
In 1904/05 the theatre was rebuilt: New additions included a sophisticated interior with impressive ceiling paintings, golden ornaments and red upholstered seats in the large auditorium.
[11] In 1903, Georg Göhler was appointed Court Kapellmeister and ensured further first performances in the opera repertoire: Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann in 1903, Puccini's Madama Butterfly in 1910, Smetana's The Bartered Bride and Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung in 1909.
Guests included tenor Richard Tauber, Wagner baritone Walter Soomer, cellist Julius Klengel, actress Tilla Durieux, actor Paul Wegener.
In the repertoires of this period, the best-known works appearing alongside numerous world premieres are Hans Pfitzner's Der armer Heinrich, Janáček's Jenůfa, Puccini's Turandot, Mussorgski's Boris Godunov and Wagner's Parsifal.
In drama, Frau Warrens Gewerbe by George Bernard Shaw, Ingeborg by Curt Goetz, Gerhart Hauptmann's Dorothea Angermann [de] were on the programme.
[12] at the suggestion of the music teacher and writer Karl Gabler[13] They succeeded in objecting to all the government's plans to cut the theatre and thus prevented Altenburg from being damaged in this important branch of culture.
The repertoire for the 1936/37 season included the following works for the members of the Staatskapelle: in addition to Beethoven's Fidelio, Oberon, Hänsel und Gretel, Undine, Thannhäuser, as a world premiere Hanns Ludwig Kormann's Belcanto,[15] Alberts Tiefland, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Strauss' Elektra, Mozart's Così fan tutte, Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Gounod's Margarethe, Verdi's Un ballo in maschera and Puccini's Manon Lescaut, plus a closed Ring performance and Parsifal, Eine Alpensinfonie by Strauss.
In addition, guest performances by well-known artists such as actors Heinz Rühmann and Curd Jürgens, dancer Mary Wigman, soprano Maria Cebotari and singers Peter Anders and Karl Schmitt-Walter.
In 1993, a thorough renovation of the building began: within two years, the exterior façade was restored and the interior of the theatre was also adapted to modern requirements; the basic architecture, however, was retained.
Particularly noteworthy are musical theatre productions such as La Cage aux Folles, The Buddy Holly Story, Kiss Me, Kate, Grease, Yesterday as a tribute to The Beatles and with performances of Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, and Astoria by Jura Soyfer.
After the last productions of its own, Salome and The Rite of Spring, the Landestheater Altenburg merged with the stages of the city of Gera in 1995 to form the "Theater Altenburg-Gera" in the course of a restructuring initiated by the state of Thuringia.
