Christoph Altstaedt
When were you first enchanted by (musical) theatre in your life? And through what?
Unfortunately, I came into contact with musical theatre and ballet very late. At home we listened to symphonic literature, instrumental music, chamber music and song, but not opera. This world only opened up to me when I started working as a répétiteur at the Gärtnerplatz in Munich. But it was love at first sight. I love being in the pit and working with singers and dancers.
Why do people sing and why not talk?
Thank God they do both. And in all possible forms: Whispering, speaking, declaiming, chanting, opera singing, fado, rap, overtone singing - the possibilities of expressing oneself are almost limitless.
What role can/should musical theatre play in today's society?
I would like musical theatre to take up more current social issues again. Operetta used to be a highly political genre: a musical, political commentary of the times (Offenbach vs. Napoleon III). The form could also be varied more often to attract new audiences. It doesn't always have to be a four-hour evening. Literature is full of one-act masterpieces, such as Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle or Menotti's Telephone. Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale was conceived for a travelling stage, Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera is originally for seven musicians. So there would be plenty of opportunities to leave the opera house and go out into society.
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Born in
Heidelberg (Germany)
Education
Trained as a pianist and conductor in Detmold, Hanover and Berlin ("Hanns Eisler") with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Prof. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Prof. Alexander Vitlin. Scholarship holder of the "Forum Dirigieren" of the German Music Council and the German Study Foundation. Scholarship holder at Tanglewood and the Lucerne Festival. Medical studies at the Charité Berlin.
Five to ten important Engagements
Repetiteur and Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Munich and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein; guest conductor at the Zurich Opera, the Basel Theatre, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Finnish National Opera Helsinki, the Salzburg, Savonlinna and Glyndebourne Festivals.
Concerts with the Royal Philharmonic London and Philharmonia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, RSO Stuttgart, Ensemble Resonanz, Oslo Philharmonic or Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Intensive collaboration with the Ballett am Rhein under Martin Schläpfer.
2004 to 2011: Director of the Junges Klangforum Mitte Europa (orchestra composed of music students from the three countries Poland, Czech Republic and Germany), which he founded.
Formative collaboration with these artists
Pierre Boulez, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Jorma Panula, Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis
Debut at Volksoper Wien
Ein Deutsches Requiem (Season 2021/22)
Significant Awards & Prizes
Founded the Young Sound Forum Central Europe during his studies, which was awarded the Praemium Imperiale of the Japan Art Association and the Marion Dönhoff Prize for International Understanding and Reconciliation of the ZEIT Foundation, among others.
Website
* Use of photograph only for the purpose of current reporting on the Volksoper Wien.
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