Claus Leininger

Claus Leininger (17 January 1931 – 22 February 2005) was a German stage director in theatre and opera, and an intendant (general manager). He shaped the artistic profile of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, nicknamed the Ruhr-Scala during his tenure, and the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden.

Claus Leininger
Musiktheater im Revier, called the Ruhr-Scala when Leininger was General Manager
Born(1931-01-17)17 January 1931
Mannheim, Germany
Died22 February 2005(2005-02-22) (aged 74)
Wiesbaden, Germany
Occupation
  • Theatre director
  • Opera director
  • Theatre general manager
Organization

Career

Born in Mannheim, Leininger studied acting and stage directing from 1950 to 1952. He was then engaged at the Nationaltheater Mannheim as an actor and Regieassistent (assistant director).[1] He worked at the Deutsches Theater Göttingen from 1956, then at the Theater Freiburg until 1967.

From 1967 to 1974, he was Oberspielleiter des Schauspiels, leading the play section of the Städtische Bühnen Essen, with Erich Schumacher as Intendant. He held the same position at the Nationaltheater Mannheim until 1977. He was appointed Generalintendant (General Manager) of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen on the recommendation of conductor Uwe Mund, and held the post until 1986.[2] At the beginning of his tenure, he called the singer Carla Henius to form and direct the musik-theater-werkstatt (Music Theatre Workshop), which was devoted to the presentation of new operas. Leininger's time at the Musiktheater im Revier was described as an era and as the period of the company's highest artistic accomplishment.[2] He built ensembles at both houses, opera and play, finding young talents who often moved on in their careers. He commissioned young stage directors, such as Järvefeldt, Jaroslav Chundela, Dietrich Hilsdorf, Göran Järvefelt and Christian Pöppelreiter, and set designers such as Johannes Leiacker, and focused on teamwork. He won Bernd Schindowski for a ballet that was also directed at children and young people. Occasionally, notable singers were invited as guests to make performances more attractive, including Grace Bumbry, Helen Donath, Mirella Freni, Johanna Meier, Birgit Nilsson, Katia Ricciarelli, Leonie Rysanek, Theo Adam, Giacomo Aragall, Peter Dvorsky, Manfred Jung, Kurt Moll, Karl Ridderbusch, and Ingvar Wixell.[2] Alluding to the noted Italian opera house La Scala, the theater was nicknamed the Ruhr-Scala during Leininger's tenure,[3] reflecting the upgrading of cultural offerings in what was essentially an industrial region along the Ruhr river.

When Leininger moved to the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden as Generalintendant in 1986, Henius followed and directed an institution for new operas there.[4] He was Generalintendant until 1994.

Television
  • Draußen vor der Tür by Wolfgang Borchert, with Helmut Rost (TV direction), Klaus Abramowsky, Jens-Uwe Pape, Wolff Lindner, Rudolf Cornelius, Michael Enk, Rainer Pigulla, Christa Bernhardt, Werner Brunn, Wolfgang Hofmann, Ilse Anton, Eva Garg, Peter Hohberger, among others. Music by Alfons Nowacki. Production: Städtische Bühnen Essen, ZDF.[5][6]
gollark: Apparently I don't have the power to edit *my* roles, or anyone else's, it must be one of the weird roles providing that.
gollark: Actively punishing and imprisoning people for being in a bad situation they can't really leave easily is among the stupider things to do, yes.
gollark: I don't really like how the default seems to be "no, you cannot have the thing" in many people's minds.
gollark: There *are* more options than those.
gollark: I mean, you can do it, it would just probably be a bad idea.

References
  1. Redaktionsbüro Harenberg (November 1979), "Leininger, Klaus", Knaurs Prominentenlexikon 1980. Die persönlichen Daten der Prominenz aus Politik, Wirtschaft, Kultur und Gesellschaft: Mit über 400 Fotos (in German), München/Zürich: Droemer Knaur, pp. 266 f, ISBN 3-426-07604-7
  2. Rose, Peter. "Special: 50 Jahre Musiktheater im Revier". opernnetz.de (in German). Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. Zimmermann, Christoph (29 June 2014). "Gelsenkirchen: Pique Dame". onlinemerker.com (in German). Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  4. Henius, Carla (1987). "Die tägliche Dreckarbeit". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  5. "Draussen vor der Tür : ein Stück". WorldCat. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  6. Draußen vor der Tür (1970) / 1h 35min TV Movie 3 May 1970 on IMDb
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