The prestigious magazine Opernwelt presented the annual awards. Bernd Loebe, intendant of the Oper Frankfurt, was head of dramaturgy at the KMS in Brussel during the period of intendant Bernard Foccroule and chief conductor Antonio Pappano. In 2002 he became intendant of the opera in Frankfurt. (L.M.)
For the seventh time, the opera of Frankfurt was voted "Opera House of the Year" in this year's survey by the leading trade magazine "Opernwelt" - six times under the leadership of Bernd Loebe. With a certain instinct for a dramaturgically plausible, innovative and varied program and the choice of the right directors for a great variety of works, the house has once again proven that opera can be attractive, even if that might not be the case at first glance.
An example is the 'Rediscovery of the Year', the forgotten opera The First People by Rudi Stephan from 1914, which premiered posthumously in Frankfurt in 1920 and is now, 103 years later, being dusted off again in the same house. One of two stage works that was voted 'Premiere of the Year' with the same number of votes was also produced on the Main – the compact, poetic-sounding music theater Blühen by Vito Žuraj on a libretto by Händl Klaus. The Slovenian composer shares this title with Charles Tournemire, whose opera La Légende de Tristan was performed for the first time almost 100 years after it was written at the Ulm Theater.
There was consensus on the election of 'Choir of the Year'. This prize went, as it did last year, to the choir of the Opera of Frankfurt, which under the direction of choir conductor Tilman Michael was particularly distinguished for its excellent performances in Hercules by Georg Friedrich Händel and in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Wagner.
After Kirill Serebrennikov, Dmitri Tcherniakov, a Russian director, was honored again in 2022 in the category 'Director of the Year'. Tcherniakov received the award for his ambitious reading of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen at the Staatsopera of Berlin and especially for his profound, clear and politically sensitive penetration of Sergei Prokofjev's ambivalent Tolstoj-setting War and Peace at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, which also saw the 'Performance of the Year' selected.
The repeat winner in the 'Orchestra of the Year' category, the Bavarian State Orchestra, which is celebrating its 500th anniversary in 2023, is based on the Isar. Kirill Petrenko, the former chief conductor of this orchestra, who now holds the same position at the head of the Berliner Philharmoniker, was voted 'Conductor of the Year'. Decisive was Petrenko's delicate and highly nuanced conducting of Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Baden-Baden Festival.
There were clear votes in the 'Singer of the Year' and 'Young Singer of the Year' categories. Michael Volle was chosen for his brilliant character portrayals as Wotan in Wagner's Ring and as Hans Sachs in the Viennese Meistersinger, Konstantin Krimmel for his excellent performances in the operas of Mozart, Hosokawa and Haas and for the new recording of Schubert's song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin.
The title 'CD of the Year' is shared by the recording of Dessau's Lanzelot (audite) and Händel's Theodora; In 'Book of the Year', Jörn Peter Hiekel's volume Helmut Lachenmann and his Time and Barrie Kosky's Hello, Curtain Up! emerged as winners.
The critics judged the eight-hour performance of Olivier Messiaen's St. François d'Assise at the Opera of Stuttgart, directed by Anna-Sophia Mahler, as the 'most unusual opera experience of the year'. 'Set Designer of the Year' was Michael Levine (for Turandot in Amsterdam and Madama Butterfly in Bregenz), and 'Costume Designer of the Year' was Giuseppe Palella (for Alessandro nell'Indie at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival).
Following this report from Opernwelt, Bernd Loebe responded as follows: "The Opera of Frankfurt may call itself 'Opera House of the Year' for the seventh time and wins in four categories. This is by no means a guaranteed success; rather, it is about hard and persistent work, coupled with professional and artistic excellence. I want to thank all staff members for their tireless efforts and am delighted with these fantastic awards from the trade press this year. Choir Director Tilman Michael and his collective prove once again that music theater is much more than 'just' singing beautifully. Furthermore, there are not many opera houses that stage world premieres with such regularity; for us, reinventing and enriching operatic literature is an integral part of this - this time composer Vito Žuraj impressed particularly with Blühen. And last but not least, I am very pleased that Sebastian Weigle has made the decision."
