Foundation The Volksoper was built in 1898 as the
Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater (Kaiser's Jubilee Civic Theatre), originally producing only
plays. Because of the very brief construction period (10 months), the first director Adam Müller-Gutenbrunn had to start with debts of 160,000
florins. After this inauspicious startup, the
Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater had to declare bankruptcy five years later in 1903.
Music theater from 1903 to 1950s On 1 September 1903, Rainer Simons took over the house and renamed it the
Kaiserjubiläum-Stadttheater - Volksoper (public opera). His intention was to continue the production of plays but also establish series of opera and operetta. The first Viennese performances of
Tosca and
Salome were given at the Volksoper in 1907 and 1910 respectively. World-famous singers such as
Maria Jeritza,
Leo Slezak and
Richard Tauber appeared there; the conductor
Alexander Zemlinsky became the first bandmaster in 1906. In the years up to and through the
First World War the Volksoper attained a position as Vienna's second prestige opera house. In 1919,
Felix Weingartner became artistic director and principal conductor. Hugo Gruder-Guntram succeeded Weingartner as artistic director. After 1929, it focused on light opera, and under Gruder-Guntram undertook a number of summer tours to
Abbazia in 1935, Cairo and Alexandria in 1937 and throughout Italy in 1938, with guest appearances from
Richard Tauber. After the
Second World War, the Vienna Volksoper became the alternative venue to the devastated
Vienna State Opera. In 1955 the Volksoper returned to its former role of presenting opera, operetta, and musicals.
Recent history In 1987, the Volksoper was shown in the
James Bond movie
The Living Daylights, doubling for a fictional "Ľudové konzervatorium" ("People's Conservatory" - direct translation of "Volksoper" into
Slovak) in
Bratislava, as
Czechoslovakia was still under Communist rule at the time; the interior was, however, filmed at
Sofiensaal. In the movie, KGB General Koskov, who is defecting to the West, is attending a performance, and Bond and his handler Saunders cover him from an apartment across the street (in real life across Währingerstraße, the building is a confectionery store "Zum süßen Eck"). From September 1991 to June 1996, the Vienna Volksoper was under a collective leadership with the
Vienna State Opera. In 1999, the Volksoper became a 100% subsidiary of the Bundestheater-Holding. From 2007 to 2022, Robert Meyer headed the Volksoper as artistic director, together with the business manager Christoph Ladstätter. In October 2020, the company announced the appointment of Lotte de Beer as its next artistic director, the first woman ever named to the post, effective 1 September 2022, with an initial contract of 5 years. In December 2020, the company announced the appointment of
Omer Meir Wellber as its next music director, effective 1 September 2022, with an initial contract of 5 years. In September 2023, the company announced simultaneously the resignation of
Omer Meir Wellber as its music director on 31 December 2023, and the appointment of Ben Glassberg as its new music director effective 1 January 2024. In June 2024, the company announced the extension of de Beer's contract to 2032. == Facts and figures ==