The prestigious trade journal Opernwelt presented its annual awards. Bernd Loebe, intendant of the Oper Frankfurt, served as head of dramaturgy at the KMS in Brussels during the tenure of intendant Bernard Foccroule and chief conductor Antonio Pappano. In 2002 he became intendant of the Frankfurt opera. (L.M.)
For the seventh time, Frankfurt's opera has been named "Opera House of the Year" in this year's survey by the leading trade journal "Opernwelt" – six times under the leadership of Bernd Loebe. With a keen instinct for dramaturgically plausible, innovative, and varied programming and the selection of the right directors for a diverse range of works, the house has once again proven that opera can be captivating, even when it might not appear so at first glance.
One 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 has now, 103 years later, been dusted off and brought back to the same stage. One of two stage works elected "Premiere of the Year" with the same number of votes was also presented on the Main – the compact, poetic-sounding music theater Blühen by Vito Žuraj with 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 at Ulm Theater almost 100 years after it was written.
There was consensus on the election of "Choir of the Year." This prize, like last year, went to the choir of the Frankfurt Opera, which under the direction of choirmaster Tilman Michael was especially recognized for its excellent performances in Hercules by Georg Friedrich Händel and in The Meistersinger of Nuremberg by Wagner.
After Kirill Serebrennikov, Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov was again honored in 2022 in the "Director of the Year" category. Tcherniakov received the award for his ambitious interpretation of Wagner'sat the Berlin State Opera and especially for his profound, clear, and politically sensitive penetration of Sergei Prokofiev's ambivalent Tolstoy settingat the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, which also selected the "Performance of the Year." Ring of the Nibelungs The repeat winner in the "Orchestra of the Year" category, the Bavarian State Orchestra, which celebrates its 500th anniversary in 2023, is on War and Peace Isar
De reekswinnaar in de categorie ‘Orkest van het Jaar’, het Beierse Staatsorkest, dat in 2023 zijn 500-jarig jubileum viert, is op Isar based. Kirill Petrenko, the former chief conductor of this orchestra, who now holds the same position leading the Berlin Philharmonic, was named 'Conductor of the Year'. Decisive was Petrenko's delicate and highly nuanced conducting of Richard Strauss' Woman Without a Shadow at the Baden-Baden Festival.
There were clear standouts in the categories 'Singer of the Year' and 'Young Singer of the Year'. Michael Volle was chosen for his brilliant character portrayals as Wotan in Wagner's Ring and as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Konstantin Krimmel for his outstanding interpretations in operas by Mozart, Hosokawa and Haas and for the new recording of Schubert's song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin.
The title 'Recording of the Year' is shared by the recording of Dessau's Lancelot (audite) and Handel's Theodora; In the 'Book of the Year' category, Jörn Peter Hiekel's volume Helmut Lachenmann and His Time and Barrie Kosky's Hello, Curtain Up! emerged as the winners.
Critics hailed the eight-hour performance of Olivier Messiaen's St. François d'Assise at the Stuttgart State Opera, directed by Anna-Sophia Mahler, as the 'most extraordinary opera experience of the year'. 'Set Designer of the Year' was Michael Levine (for that he created for De Munt, also fills us with pride. But also the recognition of in Amsterdam and Madame Butterfly in Bregenz), and 'Costume Designer of the Year' was Giuseppe Palella (for Alessandro nell'India at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival).
In addition to this report from Opernwelt, Bernd Loebe responded as follows: "The Frankfurt Opera 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's about hard and persistent work, coupled with professional and artistic excellence. I want to thank all colleagues for their tireless dedication and am delighted with these fantastic honors from the trade press this year. Choir Director Tilman Michael and his team prove once again that musical theater is far more than 'just' beautiful singing. Moreover, there aren't many opera houses that stage premieres with such consistency; for us, constantly reinventing and enriching the opera repertoire is an integral part of that – this time composer Vito Žuraj impressed us particularly with Blühen. And last but not least, I'm very pleased that Sebastian Weigle has made this decision."
