Elisabeth Sobotka

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Elisabeth Sobotka (born 7 October 1965) is an Austrian woman opera director and since January 2015, director of the Bregenzer Festspiele.

Life[edit]

Born in Vienna, Sobotka studied musicology at the University of Vienna and graduated in 1990 with a thesis on the conductor Franco Faccio.[1] Afterwards, she worked in the artistic management offices of the Salzburger Festspiele and the Musikalische Jugend Österreichs (Jeunesse) in Vienna.[2] In 1992, Louwrens Langevoort [de] brought her to Leipzig, where she worked for two and a half years with Udo Zimmermann. From 1994, she was chief coordinator of the Wiener Staatsoper for eight years. In autumn 2002, she was engaged by Daniel Barenboim and Peter Mussbach [de] as opera director of the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden.[2]

From 2009 to 2014, Sobotka was artistic director of the Graz Opera.[2] Her directorship was generally regarded as very successful, as she was able to engage not only aspiring singers and conductors, but also a number of renowned directors, like Johannes Erath and Stefan Herheim, who staged Carmen, Rusalka, Manon Lescaut and Serse in Graz. During Sobotka's directorship, Erath worked on a Lohengrin and a staging of Korngold's Die tote Stadt. Lohengrin was also shown at the Oslo Opera.[3]

On 1 January 2015 she succeeded David Pountney as artistic director of the Bregenz Festival.[4][5] In her first year as Bregenz artistic director, she presented Turandot and The Tales of Hoffmann as a major festival opera in the Festspielhaus.[6] It was staged by Marco Arturo Marelli and Stefan Herheim, conducted by Paolo Carignani and Johannes Debus.[7] At the end of 2019 her contract was extended until September 2024.[8]

Sobotka was Vice-Chairwoman of the University Council of the Mozarteum University Salzburg,[9] and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Executive Master in Arts Administration (EMAA) of the University of Zurich.[9]

Further reading[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Elisabeth Sobotka: Franco Faccio – seine Stellung in der italienischen Operngeschichte. Diploma thesis. University of Vienna 1990.
  2. ^ a b c Petsch, Barbara (9 September 2016). "Elisabeth Sobotka: Viel Musikalität, Glück Teamgeist und Cleverness". Die Presse (in German). Vienna. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  3. ^ Frankfurt, Oper (1 November 2020). "Produktionsteams". Oper Frankfurt. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Sinkovicz: Elisabeth Sobotka: Bregenz hat eine neue Intendantin. In Die Presse, 17 July 2012, retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Bregenzer Festspiele – Elisabeth Sobotka neue Intendantin ab 2015". Willkommen bei medianotes (in German). Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Die neue Bregenzer Intendantin Elisabeth Sobotka setzt auf Turandot". Neckar-Chronik (in German). Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. ^ Programme brochure of the Bregenz Festival 2015, pages 12 and 24
  8. ^ "Bregenzer Festspiele verlängern Vertrag von Sobotka bis 2024". DerStandard.at (in German). 13 December 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Personen". Mozarteum (in German). Retrieved 1 November 2020.