Hardly any other international metropolis has as many operas as Berlin. All three of the capital’s major music theaters are in transition. A first perspective for the future is now clear – with redirection.
As one of the leading music theaters in the country, the Deutsche Oper Berlin is set to become younger and more diverse. This was announced by the designated director Aviel Cahn on Monday. The Swiss director, singer and theater manager is to take over the largest opera house in the capital on August 1, 2026. The Board of Trustees of the Opera Foundation had previously unanimously approved the personnel.
“I see opera very strongly as a socio-political art form,” said the 48-year-old. The opera had come out of the elf tower again. The socio-political situation of the art form interests him very much. “The diversity, the integration, the historical, the political, the social,” Cahn said. “That’s something I would definitely like to tackle very strongly in the Deutsche Oper.” The Deutsche Oper should be a contemporary house.
The doctor of law has been general director of the Grand Théâtre in Geneva for four years. His contract there actually ran until 2029. Before that, as director of the Flemish opera Opera Vlaanderen in the Belgian cities of Antwerp and Ghent, he initiated numerous projects for ten years and received several awards for productions by the house. He was also able to celebrate such successes with the Geneva Opera.
Cahn, who was born in Zurich, took piano lessons at the age of six and later studied singing. He completed his law studies in Zurich in 2002 with a doctorate on the legal position of artistic directors. His theater career took him from Zurich via Beijing, Helsinki and Bern to Belgium.
In addition to big names in the field, he has repeatedly engaged Dario Fo, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as directors or artist Marina Abramovic for the stage design. He sees access to current themes, the rejuvenation and social expansion of opera as the goals of his work. So this season of his Geneva house runs under “Migrating Worlds”.
Interim solution planned until 2025
Cahn succeeds the current director Dietmar Schwarz. The 65-year-old’s contract runs until 2025. According to the information, an interim solution is planned for the period until Cahn takes office in 2026. Schwarz took over the post in 2012 and his contract has been extended twice since then. The contracts of Sir Donald Runnicles (68), General Music Director of the house since 2009, and Thomas Fehrle, Commercial Director since 2011, run until 2027.
“With Aviel Cahn, Berlin has been able to gain an extraordinarily creative personality as the future director of the largest of its three opera houses,” said Berlin’s Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left), who is also Chairman of the Foundation Council. There were almost 30 applicants for the position in the openly advertised process. On this basis, an advisory committee drew up a shortlist and held discussions.
Hardly any other international metropolis has as many operas as Berlin. All three major houses – in addition to the Deutsche Oper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Komische Oper – are facing fundamental changes.
Houses in transition
After the resignation of conductor Daniel Barenboim for health reasons, the State Opera is without a general music director. In addition, State Opera Director Matthias Schulz is going to the Zurich Opera House for the 2025/26 season. Cahn was also being considered for the post, but wanted to remain in Geneva at the time the decision was made. At the Berlin State Opera, the current director of the Bregenz Festival, Elisabeth Sobotka, will take over the management of the house in 2024.
In the Komische Oper, the smallest of the three big houses, the top has already been rearranged. The duo of Susanne Moser and Philip Bröking has replaced the long-time artistic director Barrie Kosky, who is still available as director. The administrative expertise of Moser and Bröking should help through troubled times. The house needs to be completely renovated and expanded. The costs are estimated at 437 million euros. The Komische Oper is moving in the summer for an uncertain period of time. The Schillertheater in the west of the city will then become the venue, and decentralized projects are also planned. (dpa)