Ruth Berghaus

Ruth Berghaus (July 2, 1927–January 25, 1996) was a German choreographer and opera and theatre director.

Berghaus was born in Dresden and studied Expressionist dance and Dance direction with Gret Palucca there and was an advanced student at the German Academy of Arts in Berlin. From 1951 to 1964 she worked as choreographer on many stages, including the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and the Berliner Ensemble. Her work as a director began with the "Die Verurteilung des Lukullus" of Paul Dessau and Bertolt Brecht at the Deutsche Staatsoper in 1951. Brecht's work would represent a major part of Berghaus's career. She became well-known for her choreography of the slaughter scenes in Brecht's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" at the Berliner Ensemble in 1964.

In 1954, Bergaus married the composer Paul Dessau, whose works for the theater she directed. Her association with the Berliner Ensemble culminated with her directorship of that theater until 1977.

From 1980 to 1987 Berghaus worked at the Frankfurt Opera. Her notable productions there included, in 1980 "Die Zauberflöte" of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1981 Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail", 1982 "Les Troyens" of Hector Berlioz (Stage design by Hans-Dieter Schaal), "Věc Makropulos" of Janáček and Richard Wagner's "Parsifal" and 1985–87 "Der Ring des Nibelungen". In 1992 she returned to Frankfurt to direct "Der Rosenkavalier".

In 1985 in Prague, she directed Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" and in Dresden, "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke" by Siegfried Matthus. In 1986, she debuted with the Wiener Staatsoper with the choreography of Hans Werner Henze's "Orpheus". In Brussels Berghaus directed Berg's "Lulu" in 1988, and in that same year, Schubert's "Fierrabras". In Zürich, her productions included Weber's "Der Freischütz" and Wagner's "Der fliegende Holländer". Her final operatic production was Johann Strauss's "Die Fledermaus", produced in Leipzig in 1995.

In 1989 she began a theatrical series of what she called 'related texts', with a production of Büchner's "Danton's Death" and in 1991 a production of Brecht's "In the Jungle" at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.Meech (1994, 54).]

Berghaus died in 1996 in Zeuthen, Berlin due to complications from cancer. She was buried at the Dorotheenstädtischer Cemetery in Berlin-Mitte.

Works cited

* Meech, Tony. 1994. "Brecht's Early Plays." In Thomson and Sacks (1994, 43-55).
* Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks, eds. 1994. "The Cambridge Companion to Brecht". Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521414466.

Notes

External links

*
* [http://www.gf-kuehn.de/oper/bergh/berghess.htm A portrait]

Persondata
NAME=Berghaus, Ruth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German stage director of opera
DATE OF BIRTH=July 2 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH=Dresden, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=January 25, 1996
PLACE OF DEATH=Zeuthen, Berlin, Germany