Theater am Kärntnertor
Encyclopedia
Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater (English: Carinthia
n Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre
in Vienna
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was Kaiserliches und Königliches Hoftheater zu Wien, the "Imperial and Royal Court Theater of Vienna".
on a site near the former Kärntnertor, on the grounds of the present Hotel Sacher
. The expenses of building the theater were borne by the City of Vienna, and was intended (as Eva Badura-Skoda
notes) to be "frequented by the Viennese population of all classes." However, at the command of the Emperor, the first performances were of Italian opera, an elite form of entertainment. In 1711 the theater was redirected to its original purpose when it was placed under the direction of Josef Stranitzky, who put on a variety of entertainments, often embodying a German version of the Italian commedia dell'arte
. The theater was managed by Stranitzky's widow after his death.
In 1728 the court artists Borosini and Selliers, who had performed intermezzi
in both German and Italian, became the Kärntnertortheater's directors. From 1742 to 1750 the theatre was leased to Selliers alone. In 1752, however, Maria Theresa
withdrew the imperial privilege, placing the theater under the direct scrutiny of the magistrates of Vienna.
The first theatre burned in 1761 and was rebuilt by the court architect Nicolò Pacassi
; two years later it reopened, again under protective privilege, as the Kaiserliches und Königliches Hoftheater zu Wien, "Imperial and Royal Court Theater of Vienna". From the early nineteenth century ballet
s were added to the repertory, as well as Italian and German opera
s. From 1811 to 1814 Ignaz Franz Castelli
served as Hoftheaterdichter, "poet of the court theater". From 1821 the Italian impresario
Domenico Barbaia
added the theatre to the string of theatres under his management, and presented Italian opera
s. Beginning in 1861 the Vienna Court Opera House (now the Vienna State Opera
) was built on the adjoining grounds; it was completed in 1869 and in 1870 the former theatre was razed, making way for the apartment building that became the Hotel Sacher
. Gerhard Bronner
's cabaret
showcase stadtTheater walfischgasse used the name Neues Theater am Kärntnertor (New Theatre at the Kärntnertor) from 1959 to 1973 before adopting its present name; it is located on the next block at 4 Walfischgasse.
and Ferdinando Paer
.
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
n Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was Kaiserliches und Königliches Hoftheater zu Wien, the "Imperial and Royal Court Theater of Vienna".
History
The theater was built in 1709 to designs by Antonio BeduzziAntonio Beduzzi
Antonio Maria Nicolao Beduzzi was an Austrian-Italian theater engineer, painter, and architect who flourished in Vienna at the turn of the 17th century....
on a site near the former Kärntnertor, on the grounds of the present Hotel Sacher
Hotel Sacher
The Hotel Sacher is a five-star hotel in the Innenstadt district of Vienna, Austria, next to the Staatsoper. It is famous for the specialty of the house, the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling. There is also an art gallery in the hotel with works from the 19th century...
. The expenses of building the theater were borne by the City of Vienna, and was intended (as Eva Badura-Skoda
Eva Badura-Skoda
Eva Badura-Skoda is a German/Austrian musicologist.Eva Halfar studied at the Vienna Conservatory and took courses in musicology, philosophy, and art history at the universities of Heidelberg, Vienna , and Innsbruck Eva Badura-Skoda (née Halfar) is a German/Austrian musicologist.Eva Halfar studied...
notes) to be "frequented by the Viennese population of all classes." However, at the command of the Emperor, the first performances were of Italian opera, an elite form of entertainment. In 1711 the theater was redirected to its original purpose when it was placed under the direction of Josef Stranitzky, who put on a variety of entertainments, often embodying a German version of the Italian commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
. The theater was managed by Stranitzky's widow after his death.
In 1728 the court artists Borosini and Selliers, who had performed intermezzi
Intermezzo
In music, an intermezzo , in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work...
in both German and Italian, became the Kärntnertortheater's directors. From 1742 to 1750 the theatre was leased to Selliers alone. In 1752, however, Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
withdrew the imperial privilege, placing the theater under the direct scrutiny of the magistrates of Vienna.
The first theatre burned in 1761 and was rebuilt by the court architect Nicolò Pacassi
Nicolò Pacassi
Nicolò Pacassi , also known as Nikolaus Pacassi, was an Austrian architect of Italian descent. He was born in Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria in a family of merchants from the Gorizia. In 1753, he was appointed court architect to Maria Theresa of Austria...
; two years later it reopened, again under protective privilege, as the Kaiserliches und Königliches Hoftheater zu Wien, "Imperial and Royal Court Theater of Vienna". From the early nineteenth century ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
s were added to the repertory, as well as Italian and German opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s. From 1811 to 1814 Ignaz Franz Castelli
Ignaz Franz Castelli
Ignaz Franz Castelli was an Austrian dramatist born in Vienna. He studied law at the university, and then entered the government service....
served as Hoftheaterdichter, "poet of the court theater". From 1821 the Italian impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
Domenico Barbaia
Domenico Barbaia
Domenico Barbaia was an Italian impresario.An energetic man, Barbaia, who was born in Milan, began his career by running a coffee shop...
added the theatre to the string of theatres under his management, and presented Italian opera
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers,...
s. Beginning in 1861 the Vienna Court Opera House (now the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
) was built on the adjoining grounds; it was completed in 1869 and in 1870 the former theatre was razed, making way for the apartment building that became the Hotel Sacher
Hotel Sacher
The Hotel Sacher is a five-star hotel in the Innenstadt district of Vienna, Austria, next to the Staatsoper. It is famous for the specialty of the house, the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling. There is also an art gallery in the hotel with works from the 19th century...
. Gerhard Bronner
Gerhard Bronner
Gerhard Bronner was an Austrian composer, writer, musician and a cabaret artist, known for his contribution to Austrian culture in the post-World War II period....
's cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
showcase stadtTheater walfischgasse used the name Neues Theater am Kärntnertor (New Theatre at the Kärntnertor) from 1959 to 1973 before adopting its present name; it is located on the next block at 4 Walfischgasse.
First performances of operas and other works
During its heyday several composers conducted the theatre orchestra, including the young Franz LachnerFranz Lachner
Franz Paul Lachner was a German composer and conductor.Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family . He studied music with Simon Sechter and Maximilian, the Abbé Stadler. He conducted at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna. In 1834, he became Kapellmeister at Mannheim...
and Ferdinando Paer
Ferdinando Paer
-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...
.
- 1753 (perhaps 1751) Der krumme TeufelDer krumme TeufelDer krumme Teufel , Hob. 29/1a, was Joseph Haydn's first opera. This German-language comic opera in the genre of Singspiel was commissioned by its librettist, leading comic actor Johann Joseph Felix Kurz...
(The Lame Devil), a comic opera by the young Joseph HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, now lost, that established his early reputation - 1774 (April 4): Thamos, King of Egypt, a play by Tobias Philipp, Baron von Gebler, with music by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
- 1787 (March 7) Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25Piano Concerto No. 25 (Mozart)The Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503, was completed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on December 4, 1786, alongside the Prague Symphony, K.504. Although two more concertos would later follow, this work is the last of the twelve great piano concertos written in Vienna between 1784 and...
in C, K. 503 - 1795 (October 14): Palmira, regina di PersiaPalmira, regina di PersiaPalmira, regina di Persia is an opera by Antonio Salieri: more specifically, it is a dramma eroicomico. The opera is in two acts and is set to a libretto by Giovanni de Gamerra....
by Antonio SalieriAntonio SalieriAntonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy.... - 1799 (January 3): FalstaffFalstaff (Salieri)Falstaff, ossia Le tre burle is a dramma giocoso in two acts by Antonio Salieri, set to a libretto by Carlo Prospero Defranceschi after William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor....
by Antonio Salieri - 1799 (February 28): Camilla by Ferdinando PaerFerdinando Paer-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...
- 1799 (July 12): Il morto vivo by Ferdinando Paer
- 1800 (June 2): Cesare in Farmacusa by Antonio SalieriAntonio SalieriAntonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
- 1800 (September 2): Ginevra degli Almieri by Ferdinando Paer
- 1800 (October 22): L'Angiolina by Antonio Salieri
- 1800 (December 18): Poche ma buone by Ferdinando Paer
- 1801 (June 6): Achille by Ferdinando Paer
- 1814 (May 23): FidelioFidelioFidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
(final version as performed today) by Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of... - 1821 (March 7): Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's song "Der ErlkönigDer ErlkönigDer Erlkönig is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlking or "Erlkönig"...
" - 1822 (December 4): Libussa by Conradin KreutzerConradin KreutzerConradin Kreutzer or Kreuzer was a German composer and conductor. His works include the opera for which he is remembered, Das Nachtlager in Granada, and Der Verschwender, both produced in 1834.Kreutzer owes his fame almost exclusively to Das Nachtlager in Granada , which kept the stage for...
- 1823 (October 25): EuryantheEuryantheEuryanthe is a German "grand, heroic, romantic" opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna on 25 October 1823...
by Carl Maria von WeberCarl Maria von WeberCarl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school.... - 1824 (May 7): Beethoven's Ninth SymphonySymphony No. 9 (Beethoven)The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
- 1829 (August 11): The Viennese début as pianist of Frédéric ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
- 1837 (March 9): Das Nachtlager in Granada (second version with recitatives) by Conradin Kreutzer
- 1842 (May 19): Linda di ChamounixLinda di ChamounixLinda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
by Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment... - 1843 (June 5): Maria di RohanMaria di RohanMaria di Rohan is a melodramma tragico, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu, which had played in Paris in 1832.- Roles :- Synopsis :The comte de...
by Gaetano Donizetti - 1844 (February 3): Die Heimkehr des Verbannten by Otto Nicolai
- 1845 (November 13): Dom SébastienDom SébastienDom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal is a French grand opera in five acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe, based on Paul Foucher's play Don Sébastien de Portugal , a historic-fiction about King Sebastian of Portugal and his ill-fated 1578 expedition to Morocco...
(revised version) by Gaetano Donizetti - 1845 (December 20): Der Tempelritter by Otto Nicolai
- 1847 (November 25): MarthaMartha (opera)Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond is a 'romantic comic' opera in four acts by Friedrich von Flotow, set to a German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese and based on a story by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges....
by Friedrich von FlotowFriedrich von FlotowFriedrich Adolf Ferdinand, Freiherr von Flotow was a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera Martha, which was popular in the 19th century.... - 1864 (February 4): Die RheinnixenDie RheinnixenDie Rheinnixen is a romantic opera in four acts by Jacques Offenbach. The original libretto by Charles-Louis-Etienne Nuitter was translated into German by Alfred von Wolzogen....
(Les Fées du Rhin) by Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....