German actor, theatre director and theatre manager
Alfred Kirchner
Born (1937-05-22 ) 22 May 1937 (age 87) Education Max-Reinhardt-Schule für Schauspiel Occupations
Actor
Stage director
Opera director
Theatre manager
Academic teacher
Organizations
Alfred Kirchner (born 22 May 1937) is a German actor, theatre director (especially for opera) and theatre manager who is based in Berlin. He worked at theatres such as
Theater Bremen ,
Schauspielhaus Bochum , the
Burgtheater in Vienna and the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin, before turning to freelance work. He has staged productions in Europe and North America, including several world premieres of both drama and opera. He directed the premiere of
Martin Walser 's Ein Kinderspiel in Stuttgart in 1971, the U.S. premiere of Henze's
We Come to the River at the
Santa Fe Opera in 1984, and the premiere of Hans Zender's
Stephen Climax at the
Oper Frankfurt in 1986. In 1994, he staged Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen at the
Bayreuth Festival .
Life
Kirchner was born in
Göppingen , the son of a Schriftleiter .
[1] He was trained as an actor at the
Max-Reinhardt-Schule für Schauspiel [
de ] in Berlin.
[2] He first worked as an actor and assistant stage director (Regieassistent ) at the
Theater Kiel . At the
Theater Bremen from 1964 to 1971, he first assisted
Peter Zadek and
Peter Palitzsch .
[1]
[3] Kirchner is married; the couple have two daughters and live in Berlin and Stuttgart.
Career
Kirchner's first theatre staging was Hall/Waterhouse's Lügen-Billy in Bremen in 1965.
[1] He worked at the
Schauspielhaus Bochum with Hans Schalla. From 1972 to 1979, he led the drama section of the
Staatstheater Stuttgart as Oberspielleiter. From 1974, he was a member of the board of directors there, together with
Claus Peymann [
de ] . He staged as a guest at international theatres, opera houses and festivals, including New York City, the
Wiener Festwochen , the
Holland Festival in Amsterdam and the
Mülheimer Theatertage . In 1979, he and other members of the Stuttgart theatre moved with Peymann to Bochum. When Peymann moved again to the
Burgtheater in Vienna in 1986, Kirchner followed.
[4] From 1989/90, he tried with Vera Sturm,
Alexander Lang and Volkmar Clauß (called the Viererbande ) to rescue the
Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin [
de ] , which closed in 1993.
[3]
Kirchner then worked as a freelance opera director, including the
Oper Frankfurt ,
Leipzig Opera ,
Vienna State Opera and
Hamburg State Opera . He participated at
Berliner Theatertreffen several times. He also staged operas internationally, in Zürich, Barcelona, Oslo, Moscow, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Toulouse, Oviedo, Dallas, Santiago de Chile and often at the
Santa Fe Opera , including the U.S. premieres of Henze's
We Come to the River and
Venus and Adonis .
[2] In 1994, he staged Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen at the
Bayreuth Festival .
[5]
Kirchner collaborated with conductors such as
Michael Gielen ,
Claudio Abbado ,
Nikolaus Harnoncourt ,
James Levine ,
Gerd Albrecht ,
Paolo Carignani ,
Graeme Jenkins ,
Dennis Russell Davies and
Bertrand de Billy . Besides classical repertoire in drama and opera, he focused on contemporary works. He staged world premieres of playwrights such as
Martin Walser ,
Peter Turrini ,
Heiner Müller ,
Herbert Achternbusch ,
Dario Fo ,
Maxim Gorki and
Gerlind Reinshagen and composers such as
Helmut Lachenmann ,
Hans Zender and
Udo Zimmermann .
[2]
[6]
Kirchner taught at the
University of Georgia , the
Musikhochschule Hamburg ,
Hamburg University , and the
Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" .
[2]
Productions
Ein Kinderspiel [
de ] by
Martin Walser , Stuttgart 1971, world premiere
[7]
Die kahle Sängerin , Stuttgart 1974
[8]
Das Sauspiel by Walser, with music by
Mikis Theodorakis ,
Schauspielhaus Hamburg 1976, world premiere
[9]
Sonntagskinder by
Gerlind Reinshagen , Stuttgart 1976, world premiere
[6]
Der Entaklemmer by
Thaddäus Troll after Molière's
L'Avare , Stuttgart 1976, world premiere
[10]
Jenůfa , conductor
Michael Gielen ,
Oper Frankfurt 1979
[2]
Die Soldaten , Gielen, Oper Frankfurt 1980
[2]
Die wundersame Schustersfrau by Udo Zimmermann,
Schwetzingen Festival 1982, world premiere
[11]
Die Heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe , Bochum 1980, Amsterdam 1981
[12]
Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder , Bochum 1981
[13]
Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh by
Thomas Bernhard , Bochum 1981, world premiere at the
Ludwigsburg Festival
[11]
Johann Georg Elser by
Peter-Paul Zahl , Bochum 1982, world premiere
[11]
Ein Maskenball , Oper Frankfurt 1982
[2]
Nachtwache by
Lars Norén , Bochum 1982, German premiere
[3]
Wolokolamsker Chaussee I by
Heiner Müller , Bochum 1983, West German premiere
[14]
We Come to the River by Henze, conductor
Dennis Russell Davies ,
Santa Fe Opera 1984, U.S. premiere
[2]
[15]
Eugen Onegin , Oper Frankfurt 1984
[2]
Stephen Climax by Hans Zender, Oper Frankfurt 1986, world premiere
[16]
An der Donau by
Herbert Achternbusch ,
Akademietheater 1987, world premiere
[17]
Die Minderleister by
Peter Turrini , Akademietheater 1987, world premiere, also at the
Mülheimer Theatertage
[18]
Don Giovanni , conductor
Nikolaus Harnoncourt , Amsterdam 1988
[2]
Khovanshchina , conductor
Claudio Abbado ,
Vienna State Opera 1989
[2]
Faust , Berlin 1990
[19]
Idomeneo ,
Hamburg State Opera 1990
[20]
Der Ring des Nibelungen , conductor
James Levine ,
Bayreuth Festival 1994 to 1998
[5]
Der Freischütz , Vienna 1995
[20]
Die Nase by Shostakovich,
Oper Leipzig 1997
[20]
Tosca , Oper Frankfurt 1998
[2]
Die Zauberflöte , Oper Frankfurt 1998
[2]
Manon Lescaut , Oper Frankfurt 1999
[2]
Venus and Adonis by Henze, Santa Fe Opera 2000, U.S. premiere
[2]
Tristan und Isolde , conductor
Simon Rattle , Amsterdam 2001
[2]
Tristan und Isolde , conductor De Billy, Barcelona 2002
[21]
Das Wundertheater [
de ] by Henze after
Miguel de Cervantes ,
Montepulciano 2006, for the composer's 80th birthday
[22]
Lohengrin , conductor
Graeme Jenkins ,
Dallas Opera 2007
[23]
Tristan und Isolde , conductor Ingo Metzmacher, Amsterdam 2008
[2]
Don Giovanni , Magdeburg and Oviedo 2009
[24]
[25]
Tosca ,
Volksoper Vienna 2009
[26]
Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor , Vienna 2010 and Tokyo 2012
[27]
Hermann und Dorothea , Burgtheater 2016, also Berliner Ensemble and
Ruhrfestspiele 2017
[4]
Publications
Alfred Kirchner: Der Mann von Pölarölara . Autobiografische Splitter. Vienna: Hollitzer 2019
ISBN
978-3-99012-627-1 .
References
^
a
b
c
"Alfred Kirchner" (in German). Munzinger. Retrieved 11 May 2019 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
"Alfred Kirchner, Director" .
Oper Frankfurt . 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019 .
^
a
b
c Heine, Matthias (22 May 2007).
"Glückwunsch / Alfred Kirchner 70" .
Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2019 .
^
a
b Haas, Margit (22 May 2017).
"Geburtstag Der Weltbürger aus Göppingen: Berühmter Regisseur wird 80" . Süd-West-Presse (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2019 .
^
a
b
"Alfred Kirchner" (in German).
Bayreuth Festival . Retrieved 11 May 2019 .
^
a
b
"Alfred Kirchner" (in German). Theater der Zeit. Retrieved 17 May 2019 .
^
Martin Walser / Ein Kinderspiel
Suhrkamp
^ Benjamin Henrichs:
Arbeit am Spaß
Die Zeit , 25 March 1975
^
Mikis Theodorakis (Komponist) / Walser, Martin (Autor) / Das Sauspiel theatertexte.de]
^
Der Entaklemmer. Luststück in fünf Aufzügen, das ist auf schwäbisch L'Avare oder Der Geizige. / Troll, Thaddäus: abebooks.de
^
a
b
c
Traumausflug / Gerlind Reinshagen: "Rovinato"
Die Zeit , 26 February 1982, 978-0-52-159774-6
^
Die Heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe archiv.mimecentrum.de
^ Peter Thomson, Viv Gardner:
Brecht: Mother Courage and Her Children
Cambridge University Press , 11 December 1997
^
Wolokolamsker Chaussee (I – V) henschel-schauspiel.de
^
Holland, Bernard (3 August 1984).
"Opera: Henze's "RIVER" Performed in Santa Fe" .
The New York Times . Retrieved 11 May 2019 .
^ Heinz Josef Herbort:
Musiktheater: "Stephen Climax" von Hans Zender in Frankfurt: Dichter, Huren, Mönche (in German)
Die Zeit , 4 July 1986
^
Herbert Achternbusch / An der Donau Suhrkamp
^
Die Minderleister / von Peter Turrini muelheim-ruhr.de
^
Neues Deutschland über Kirchners Faust
^
a
b
c
Alfred Kirchner Oper Leipzig
^
Kirchner enttäuscht in Barcelona, keine Vision (Wagneropera.net)
^ Francis Carlin:
Intentions noble as the wine
Financial Times , 19 July 2006
^
Lohengrin wagnerdisco.net
^
Mozart, Don Giovanni musicweb-international.com, 22 November 2009
^
'Don Giovanni' en el Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo codalario.com
^
mica-Interview Interview mit Alfred Kirchner musicaustria.at, 10 October 2008
^
Sir John mit dem hilfreichen Häschen: Otto Nicolais „Lustige Weiber von Windsor“ an der Volksoper Wien
Neue Musikzeitung , 23 December 2010
External links
International National People