Chronicle
The concert and congress centre since 1981
Since it was reopened on August 28, 1981, the Alte Oper has been an
integral part of Frankfurt's cultural life.
The concert hall has also become a firm favourite on the international
music scene. The fact that the concert hall was rebuilt in its
late-classical style following the ravages of the Second World War can be
attributed to the civic pride and support of Frankfurt's inhabitants.
Evening after evening the mahogany panelled Großer Saal (2450 seats), famed for its excellent acoustics, and the
Mozart Saal (720 seats) host a broad spectrum of events featuring international
ensembles and soloists. These include symphony and chamber concerts, song
recitals, classical and contemporary music, jazz, rock and pop events,
light entertainment, cabaret and - in both summer and winter - en suite
events with dancing, musicals and children's programmes.
The congress centre too hosts around 50 events per year and has built
itself a reputation that extends far beyond the Rhine-Main area. Major
corporations are attracted to the sumptuous rooms and halls for holding
balls, congresses, press conferences, corporate anniversaries, product
presentations and receptions. Since 1998 catering for guests and visitors
has been provided by "Gerd Käfer & Roland Kuffler GmbH & Co. KG" which, in
addition to providing refreshments during the interludes at the various
events, also runs the "Rosso" café in the entrance foyer and, since summer
1999, the "Opéra" restaurant in the Alte Foyer.
The Alte Oper Frankfurt, managed by Dr. Stephan Pauly since March 2012 (he
is also its artistic director), is now more dependent on civic support
than ever before, given that the annual budget of the world famous concert
hall has fallen from DM 25 million in 1993 to EUR 6.8 million today. Support
from sponsors and the Gesellschaft der Freunde der Alten Oper Frankfurt in many important classical and contemporary music projects is therefore more
significant than ever.
Since the start of the 1999/2000 season, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and its partners in Frankfurt have launched each new season under the slogan “Auftakt”. This is designed to revive the concept of the “Frankfurt Feste” in a new form. Since the start of the 2001/2002 season, which also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Alte Oper, the “Auftakt” has been conceived as a festival of contemporary music. This joint project has successfully promoted time-honoured partnerships between the Alte Oper and important Frankfurt cultural institutions such as the Pro Arte - Frankfurter Konzertdirektion, Hessischer Rundfunk, Deutsche Ensemble Akademie - with Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Modern Orchestra and Junger Deutscher Philharmonie -, Holzhausenschlösschen and Frankfurter Museums-Gesellschaft and Frankfurter BachKonzerte e.V..
The festival is based around two
key themes – a composer profile and an artist profile. The composer
profile of Auftakt 2012 is devoted to Jörg Widmann. During Auftakt 2012,
the performer at the centre of our attention will be Singer Mojca Erdmann.
Auftakt 2012 is funded
by the FAZIT Stiftung, the Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung, the ING DiBa, the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain,
the Europäische Zentralbank, the Mainova, the UBS Optimus Foundation Deutschland, the Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft
and the Gesellschaft der Freunde der Alten Oper Frankfurt.
Visitors to the Alte Oper Frankfurt are able to choose from six series of subscriptions catering to all areas of music – from early baroque to classical and the avant-garde. Visitors can select, for example, between Orchesterkonzerte, “Belcanto”, Bachreihen, and Ensemble Modern. Family concerts (not covered by subscriptions), a diverse range of one-off concerts, the Deutsche Börse JAZZnights, and the Helaba Classicnights round off the highly diverse and top-quality programme.
At the Alte Oper, we are keen to welcome young listeners, too. We therefore offer a wide variety of concerts for every age group and attractive discounts (including the young person's subscription for visitors up to the age of 21).