Krolloper in Berlin in 1930 |
2024 is the centenary of the reopening of the Krolloper in Berlin. It reopened in 1924 with a performance of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, as an offshoot of the Berlin State Opera, but under Otto Klemperer from 1927-1931 the Krolloper took on independent artistic significance, becoming a gathering space for the avant-garde as well as promoting the idea of inclusive and accessible opera. It was forced to close in 1931 and after the Reichstag fire in 1933 served as the seat of the last parliament – it was there that the Weimar Republic came to an end. Many Krolloper artists, including Otto Klemperer, were persecuted and forced into exile.
The Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles, the former residence of the Mann family in American exile and today an important German American cultural forum, is cooperating with renowned opera houses in Germany and partners in the USA to bring together international academics and artists for an exciting dialogue about opera and democracy, past and present.
Opera & Democracy: Transatlantic Conversations & Concerts begins on 20 January 2024 at the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles with an event that mixes conversations with artists and academics, considering the commitment of opera professionals to democratic societies, and a concert featuring Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's 1930 opera Der Jasager and music by Richard Wagner, Lily Reiff, Edmond Dédé.
The series is directed by Dr. Kai Hinrich Müller, a 2023 Thomas Mann Fellow. Future events take place at the Bavarian State Opera, Dresden Music Festival, Bauhaus Archive - Berlin, Hamburg State Opera and in New York and Providence Rhode Island.
Full details from the Thomas Mann House website.
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