Germany used to be the promised land for singers. A full time contract (known as Fest) in a German opera house was seen as the best way to learn the trade, get experience, build the repertoire and become known in the business.
With over 80 opera houses, each with a full-time company and a professional chorus, it is not difficult to see that if there was a place where an opera singer could find work, it was Germany.
It also used to be a very handy place to explore one’s potential on the European market, with France and Italy just a few miles away.
Unfortunately, the difficulties that have plagued the international economy have been even more acute in Germany. The country had to deal with the considerable burden of re-unification and integration after 1989; nowadays unemployment has gone through the roof, and Germany carries a deficit well below the 3% allowed by the European Union.
In such a situation, the first to suffer of course have been the arts, which depend on state funding rather than private sponsorship. In the last five years, following considerable
cuts in government funding, a new policy of integration has been introduced, and especially in the smaller houses, orchestras and companies have been forced to merge and tour.
There are therefore less available jobs for performers, and almost no new openings. Altenburg and Gera have merged, as have Meiningen and Eisenbach (whose chorus has been fired, while the orchestra has been reduced to 36).
The new theatre in Erfurht has been designed with a stage of the same size as the neighbouring Weimar (whose company disbanded), so that productions can be exchanged between the two theatres, with Erfuhrt concentrating more on the musical side of programming, leaving the drama to Weimar (German theatres present not only music and ballet, but also straight theatre).
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It is not only small houses that are suffering from the cuts, but also those known as A-category houses. In German theatre a rating of A, B, C or D reflected the budget of the orchestra, which of course influenced the budget of the whole theatre.
In Hamburg, one of the major theatres in Germany, funding has also been considerably reduced, forcing the decision of music director Ingo Metzmacher to leave. In Berlin there have been discussions about merging the three opera companies, or at least unifying them as one company under a single umbrella.
The cuts have not only influenced future programming, but also present productions, making the work of artistic directors very difficult. The number of performances has been reduced, and planning for future productions made almost impossible. Contracts which used to be signed years in advance are now left to the very last moment, with an increased sense of insecurity in the market.
Another factor is the status of theatre staff in Germany. The theatre depends on the town council, and therefore on the State. The employees have the status of civil servants, and recent rise in salaries for civil servants have posed higher demands on the budgets of individual houses. This has not been reflected in a parallel rise in the funding, but quite the opposite.
With more money needed to sustain the everyday working of the theatre, there is even less money to be dedicated to the artistic side, with extreme consequences. some of the smaller houses are on the verge of closing, in a situation that does not promise to get any better. Opera singers will have to find another promised land, but at present nothing seems to be appearing on the horizon.
Petra Torre
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