На фотографии Гёр (справа) соседствует с английским композитором Майклом
Типпеттом.
Frankfurt Opera orchestra came into being towards the end of the 18th
century. It received its unusual name because it was also the orchestra that
gave concerts for the "Frankfurter Museum", an institution founded by
culturally minded people in Frankfurt in 1808, when Louis Spohr was chief conductor
of the, still young, orchestra.
Many famous conductors
have been linked to the orchestra during the more than two hundred years of its
existence. Music Directors included Willem Mengelberg, Hermann Scherchen,
Clemens Krauss and, later on, Hans Rosbaud and Franz Konwitschny. In the late
19th Century guest conductors included Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Arthur
Nikisch and Hans Pfitzner. Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann performed as
soloists with the Frankfurter Opern- and Museumsorchesters.
The Frankfurter Museumsgesellschaft
still organises the renowned series of Museum Concerts. During the first half
of the 20th Century Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Hermann
Abendroth, Erich Kleiber, Bruno Walter, Georges Szell and many other big names
conducted here. Many new works, operatic and orchestral, including "Ein
Heldenleben" and "Also sprach Zarathustra", received their world
premieres in Frankfurt, played by the Frankfurter Opern- and
Museumsorchester. Paul Hindemith was leader of the Frankfurter Opern- and
Museumsorchester for a few years.
Since the second world
war Oper Frankfurt's General Music Directors have included Georg Solti,
Christoph von Dohnányi, Michael Gielen and Sylvain Cambreling, all nurturing
and making their own mark on musical life in Frankfurt and the Frankfurter Opern- and
Museumsorchester. Paolo Carignani was General Music Director from 1999-2007.
Sebastian Weigle is now General Music Director.
The Frankfurter Opern-
and Museumsorchester's huge repertoire encompasses almost all important
operatic and symphonic works from the baroque to experimental contemporary
music. Musicians from the orchestra also perform their own series of chamber
music concerts, which take place in the opera house's Holz Foyer.
