Deutsche Staatsoper, Die

(the German State Opera; until 1918, die Königliche Oper, the Royal Opera), a musical theater in the German Democratic Republic, one of the oldest in Germany. It opened in Berlin in 1742.

The Deutsche Staatsoper played an important role in the development of German opera. From the end of the 18th century, in addition to Italian and French works, works by German composers, including operas by L. van Beethoven, C. M. von Weber, and L. Spohr, occupied a leading place in the repertoire. An important event in the history of the theater was the production of R. Wagner’s operas Der fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman, 1844), Tannhäuser (1856), Lohengrin (1859), and the four-part cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Niebelungs, 1881). Among the singers who performed at the theater were G. Mara, A. Niemann, P. Lucca, D. Artôt, M. Mallinger, and L. Lehmann. Conductors at the Deutsche Staatsoper included F. Weingartner, K. Muck, and R. Strauss.

The years of the fascist regime (1933–45) had a ruinous effect on the work of the Deutsche Staatsoper. The opera house was partially destroyed during World War II but was subsequently rebuilt. The Deutsche Staatsoper reopened in 1955 with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Today, the Deutsche Staatsoper continues the best traditions of German classical opera; it stages operas by composers of all lands, including operas by such Russian and Soviet composers as P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. I. Glinka, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. P. Mussorgsky, and S. S. Prokofiev. The greatest conductors, including L. Blech, W. Furtwángler, E. Kleiber, C. Krauss, O. Klemperer, H. von Karajan, F. Konwitschny, and O. Suitner, have worked at the Deutscher Staatsoper.