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Klaus Zehelein (born 5 September 1940) is a German dramaturge. He was president of the Munich Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding. Zehelein is also president of the association of German theatres, Deutscher Bühnenverein. For fifteen years, from 1991 until 2006, Zehelein was Intendant of the Staatsoper Stuttgart. Critic Gerhard Rohde, summing up Zehelein's theatre work at the Stuttgart opera, says "Zehelein does not view opera as a culinary phenomenon. For him opera is an extremely complex matter, where all arts – as well as social, philosophical, historic, utopic and other aspects – unite. This complexity of opera merits being perceived, being seen, being experienced; thus all works that end up performed on stage, are rigorously analyzed beforehand. He who says this results in thinned-out, merely sophisticated opera performances, missed out substantially in the Zehelein-Era in Stuttgart."Gerhard Rohne, Oper und Tanz, April 2006, [1] – this quote is translated into somewhat simplified English.
From 1977 to 1987 he worked at the Oper Frankfurt, starting as chief dramaturge and becoming opera director.Michael Gielen describing work with Zehelein, in: Michael Gielen »Unbedingt Musik«: Erinnerungen, Insel Verlag,(2012), Axel Dielmann, Schafft Neus! ...: Richard Wagner in Frankfurt ( 2013), In Frankfurt Zehelein developed a practical but intellectually supported manner of interpreting and staging opera.Work with Zehelein as dramaturge, in: Gottfried Knapp, Hans Diether Schall's Stage sets, in Hans Dieter Schaal: Stage Architecture, Edition Axel Menges (Juni 2002), , pp. 6–10 He worked with the stage director Hans Neuenfels on Busoni's Doktor Faust and Neuenfels' production of Verdi's Aida – known as "Aida as cleaning-lady production".Clemens Risi, Shedding Light on the Audience: Hans Neuenfels and Peter Konwitschny Stage Verdi (And Verdians), Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1/2, Primal Scenes: Proceedings of a Conference Held at the University of California, Berkeley, 30 November – 2 December 2001, (2002), pp. 201–210 With director Ruth Berghaus and her designer Axel Manthey, he worked on Wagner's ParsifalOpera Quarterly, Parsifal: A Workshop Conversation with Ruth Berghaus, Michael Gielen, Klaus Zehelein, and Axel MantheySpring 2006, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p349 and Ring.Barry Millington, "The Ring according to Berghaus", The Musical Times, Vol. 128, No. 1735, (1987), pp. 491–492 Zehelein moved to Hamburg in 1989 as artistic director of the Thalia Theater before being offered the position of artistic director at the Stuttgart opera.
Zehelein brought in Pamela Rosenberg as co-opera Intendant between 1991 and 2000, retrieved July 2013 and Eytan Pessen as casting director from 2001 to 2006.Cheryl North, The Oakland Tribune, 22 October 2004, Review for Tristan and Isolde His chief dramaturge was Juliane Votteler.
Zehelein worked with stage directors Ruth Berghaus,Numerous mentions of Zehelein, in: Corinne Holtz, Ruth Berghaus. Ein Portrait, Europäische Verlagsanstalt(2005), Martin Kušej, Nicolas Brieger, Christof Nel, Neuenfels,Hans Neuenfels describing work with Zehelein, in: Hans Neuenfels, Das Bastardbuch: Autobiografische Stationen, btb Verlag (2012), Peter Konwitchny, Joachim Schlömer, Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito.
Under Zehelein's direction the Stuttgart Opera was an ensemble based opera company. The sopranos Catherine Naglestad and Eva-Maria Westbroek were members of his permanent ensemble, tenor Jonas Kaufmann a frequent guest artist. Music directors were Gabriele Ferro and Lothar Zagrosek. Nicola Luisotti conducted frequently during Zehelein's era.Television documentary. Nobert Beilharz, Una Cosa rara – Klaus Zehelein und die Stuttgarter Oper (2003)Juliane Votteler, Musiktheater heute. Klaus Zehelein. Dramaturg und Intendant, Europäische Verlagsanstalt/Rotbuch Verlag, Hamburg 2000,
In his fifteen years Zehelein explored most of the 20th century's opera standard repertoire, such as Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu, Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Schreker's Die Gezeichneten, Busoni's Doktor Faust, and Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore and Intolleranza 1960. The work was performed over numerous seasons in a total of 29 performances. Zehelein performed works of the composers Lachenmann, Jungy Pagh Pan, Hans Zender and Rolf Riehm.Susanne Fontaine, "Tutzing, 7. bis 9. Juli 2006: 'Schweigen die Sirenen? Zur Aktualität des Mythos im zeitgenössischen Musiktheater'", Die Musikforschung, 59. Jahrg., H. 4 (October–December 2006), p. 383
Zehelein argued that as Richard Wagner wrote the four music-dramas of the Ring over many years, changing dramaturgical ideas in the process, each opera could be treated as a stand-alone work. Zehelein invited four directors for his Ring, thus giving each opera dramatic independence. The resulting Stuttgarter Ring brought much discussion and recognition to the Stuttgart Opera.Larson Powell, Review, Narben des Gesamtkunstwerks: Wagners Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Klein, Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Nov. 2005), pp. 303–308Reviews in the Opera Quarterly: 1)The Stuttgart Ring, 1999–2000.Opera Quarterly; Spring/Summer2007, Vol. 23 Issue 2/3, p321; 2)Moravcsik, Andrew Everyday Totalitarianism: Reflections on the Stuttgart Ring. Opera Quarterly; Winter 2010, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p131; 3)Ashman, Mike, "The Stuttgart Ring". Opera Quarterly; Winter 2010, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p. 149; 4) Papaeti, Anna, "Stuttgart Opera's Der Ring des Nibelungen on DVD". Opera Quarterly; Winter 2010, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p. 152
Zehelein created the Forum Neues Musiktheater, an institute attached to the Stuttgart Opera. "Here new compositions were not only studied and presented," sayd the critic Gerhard Rohde, "but more important was the work-nature of the institute: a laboratory, in which young, and not so young composers develop their ideas, and together with musicians, singers, dancers, and new media realize these ideas into a scenic reality" Zehelein also founded the Junge Oper (an institute dedicated to performing opera for young audiences).Andreas Hauff, Tristan und Isolde sind jungZehn Jahre Junge Oper Stuttgart, March 2006, oper und tanz "Junge Oper Stuttgart" on reseo.org. Retrieved 28 July 2013
Numerous CD and DVD productions document Zehelein's interest in modern works and new staging concepts. Stuttgart CD productions include Nono's Intolleranza 1960(1995) and Al Gran Sole Carico D'Amore (2001), as well as Lachenmann's Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (2003); Zehelein's productions on DVD: Handel's Alcina (1999), Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus (2005), Mozart's La finta giardiniera [2006) and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen,(2003).David J. levin Richard Wagner, Fritz Lang, and the Nibelungen Princeton University Press, (1999), .
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