Repertory of the Vienna Court Opera under Gustav Mahler
# Repertory of the Vienna Court Opera under Gustav Mahler

The Repertory of the Vienna Court Opera under Gustav Mahler is an account of the ten years during which Gustav Mahler held the office of director and when he directed the productions of more than 100 different operas, of which 33 had not previously been staged at the Hofoper and three were world premieres. Another 55 were presented in either entirely new or substantially revised productions. In all, almost 3,000 performances took place at the Hofoper during Mahler's tenure, of which Mahler conducted more than 600.

Mahler, well known as a symphonic composer, joined the Vienna Court Opera (the Hofoper) in May 1897 as a staff conductor and director-designate, pending confirmation of his appointment as director. After his confirmation in October 1897, he remained in the post until his resignation in November 1907.

Conducting duties were shared among staff conductors whose numbers included at various times Gustav Brecher, Johann Nepomuk Fuchs, Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr., Karl Luze, Hans Richter, Franz Schalk, Francesco Spetrino, Bruno Walter and Alexander Zemlinsky.

At the start of Mahler's tenure, stage designs were under the control of Anton Brioschi, the Hopfoper's official designer since 1886, and his assistant Heinrich Lefler. However, from 1903, new designs were increasingly the work of Alfred Roller, a member of the Secessionist group of artists into which circle Mahler had been introduced by his wife Alma. Roller was appointed to the Hofoper from June 1903; his innovative and experimental stage designs have been called "more remarkable than [Mahler's] additions to the repertoire".

## Operas performed, 1897–1907

### Performances of existing repertory works

The following operas were in the Hofoper repertory when Mahler assumed the directorship in 1897. Each had one or more revivals during the period of Mahler's tenure. Most of these older productions were significantly revised under Mahler; in some instances, entirely new productions of the works were mounted. The list does not included ballets or other entertainments.

| Opera title | Composer | Total performances 1897–1907 | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Africaine, L' | Meyerbeer, Giacomo | 19 | |
| Aida | Verdi, Giuseppe | 84 | New production from 11 May 1903 |
| Am Wörther See | Koschat, Thomas | 6 | |
| Ballo in Maschera, Un | Verdi, Giuseppe | 29 | Revised production from 5 March 1898 Second revision from 19 May 1906 |
| Barbiere di Siviglia | Rossini, Giaochino | 16 | Revised production from 25 December 1906 |
| Bartered Bride, The | Smetana, Bedřich | 57 | Revised production from 20 September 1899, designed Anton Brioschi |
| Carmen | Bizet, Georges | 85 | Revised production from 26 May 1900, designed Brioschi |
| Cavalleria rusticana | Mascagni, Pietro | 131 | |
| Cosi fan tutte | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | 8 | New production from 4 October 1900, designed Brioschi. Second new production from 24 November 1905, designed Alfred Roller |
| Dame blanche, La | Boieldieu, François-Adrien | 24 | Revised production from 4 October 1898 |
| Don Giovanni | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | 25 | New production from 21 December 1905, designed Roller |
| Dragons de Villars, Les | Maillart, Louis-Aimé | 13 | Revised production from 21 April 1899 |
| Entführung aus dem Serail, Die | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | 18 | New production from 29 January 1906, designed Roller |
| Ernani | Verdi, Giuseppe | 6 | New production from 2 October 1902 |
| Euryanthe | Weber, Carl Maria von | 10 | New production from 19 January 1903, designed Roller. Revised production from 19 January 1904 |
| Evangelimann, Der | Kienzl, Wilhelm | 34 | |
| Faust | Gounod, Charles | 90 | |
| Fidelio | Beethoven, Ludwig van | 45 | New production from 4 February 1904, designed Roller |
| Fille du régiment, La | Donizetti, Gaetano | 4 | Revised production from 6 September 1899 |
| Fledermaus, Die | Strauss, Johann | 91 | |
| Fliegende Holländer, Der | Wagner, Richard | 55 | Revised production from 4 December 1897, designed Brioschi |
| Fra Diavolo | Auber, Daniel | 14 | Revised production from 28 September 1899, designed Brioschi |
| Freischütz, Der | Weber, Carl Maria von | 43 | Revised production from 21 October 1898 |
| Goldene Kreuz, Das | Brüll, Ignaz | 9 | Revised production from 6 June 1902 |
| Götterdämmerung | Wagner, Richard | 44 | Revised production (uncut version) from 4 September 1898 |
| Guillaume Tell | Rossini, Gioachino | 48 | New production from 11 May 1905, designed Brioschi |
| Gute Nacht Herr Pantalon | Grisar, Albert | 2 | |
| Hamlet | Thomas, Ambroise | 2 | |
| Hans Heiling | Marschner, Heinrich | 13 | |
| Hänsel und Gretel | Humperdinck, Engelbert | 57 | |
| Heimchen am Herd, Das | Goldmark, Karl | 20 | |
| Huguenots, Les | Meyerbeer, Giacomo | 41 | New production from 29 October 1902, designed Brioschi |
| Iphigénie en Aulide | Gluck, Christoph Willibald | 6 | New production from 18 March 1907, designed Roller |
| Juive, La | Halévy, Fromental | 19 | New production from 13 October 1903, designed Brioschi |
| Königin von Saba, Die | Goldmark, Karl | 51 | Revised production from 29 April 1901, designed Brioschi |
| Legende der Heilige Elisabeth, Die | Liszt, Franz | 10 | |
| Lohengrin | Wagner, Richard | 123 | New production from 27 February 1906, designed Roller |
| Lucia di Lammermoor | Donizetti, Gaetano | 21 | Revised production from 9 October 1899 |
| Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Die | Nicolai, Otto | 28 | New production from 4 October 1901, designed Brioschi |
| Manon | Massenet, Jules | 40 | Revised production from 26 May 1905, designed Roller |
| Martha | Flotow, Friedrich von | 7 | Revised production from 4 May 1901 |
| Meistersinger von Nürnberg | Wagner, Richard | 82 | Revised production (uncut version) from 26 November 1899 |
| Mignon | Thomas, Ambroise | 83 | |
| Muette de Portici, La | Auber, Daniel | 5 | Revised production from 27 February 1907, designed Roller |
| Nachtlager in Granada, Das | Kreutzer, Conradin | 6 | |
| Norma | Bellini, Vincenzo | 11 | Revised production from 24 January 1898 |
| Nozze di Figaro, Le | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | 52 | New production from 30 March 1906, designed Roller |
| Orphée et Eurydice | Gluck, Christoph Willibald | 7 | |
| Otello | Verdi, Giuseppe | 9 | Revised production from 3 May 1907 |
| Pagliacci | Leoncavallo, Ruggero | 137 | |
| Le postillon de Longjumeau | Adam, Adolphe | 5 | Revised production from 4 February 1904 |
| Poupée de Nuremberg, La | Adam, Adolphe | 1 | Revised production from 24 April 1899 |
| Prophète, Le | Meyerbeer, Giacomo | 21 | Revised production from 5 March 1907 |
| Rheingold, Das | Wagner, Richard | 42 | New production from 23 January 1905, designed Roller |
| Rienzi | Wagner, Richard | 27 | |
| Rigoletto | Verdi, Giuseppe | 36 | Revised production from 20 May 1899 |
| Robert le diable | Meyerbeer, Giacomo | 13 | Revised production from 20 March 1898 |
| Roméo et Juliette | Charles Gounod | 14 | Revised production from 21 November 1897 |
| Siegfried | Wagner, Richard | 49 | |
| Tannhäuser | Wagner, Richard | 89 | Revised production (uncut version) from 11 May 1901 |
| Traviata, La | Verdi, Giuseppe | 10 | |
| Tristan und Isolde | Wagner, Richard | 45 | New production from 21 February 1903, designed Roller |
| Trompeter von Säkkingen, Der | Nessler, Victor | 17 | |
| Trovatore, Il | Verdi, Giuseppe | 48 | Revised production from 26 October 1900 |
| Waffenschmied, Der | Lortzing, Albert | 7 | Revised production from 4 January 1904, designed Brioschi |
| Walküre, Die | Wagner, Richard | 50 | New production from 4 February 1907 |
| Werther | Massenet, Jules | 7 | Revised production from 12 May 1906 |
| Widerspenstigen Zähmung, Der | Goetz, Hermann | 9 | New production from 3 November 1906, designed Roller |
| Wildschutz | Lortzing, Albert | 5 | Revised production from 27 January 1900 |
| Zar und Zimmermann | Lortzing, Albert | 28 | Revised production from 11 September 1897 |
| Zauberflöte, Die | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | 46 | New production from 1 June 1906, designed Roller |

### New works introduced to the Hofoper under Mahler

The following is a chronological list of the 33 new operas introduced to the Hofoper by Mahler.

| Hofoper first night | Opera title | Composer | First night conductor | Designer | Total performances 1897–1907 | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 4 October 1897 | Dalibor | Smetana, Bedřich | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 23 | |
| 19 November 1897 | Eugene Onegin | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 20 | |
| 22 January 1898 | Djamileh | Bizet, Georges | Gustav Mahler | | 19 | |
| 23 February 1898 | Bohème, La | Leoncavallo, Ruggero | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 6 | |
| 9 December 1898 | Donna Diana | Reznicek, Emil von | Gustav Mahler | | 7 | |
| 17 January 1899 | Kriegsgefangene, Die | Goldmark, Karl | Gustav Mahler | | 6 | World premiere |
| 10 February 1899 | Opernprobe, Die | Lortzing, Albert | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 25 | |
| 10 February 1899 | Speziale, Lo | Haydn, Joseph | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 7 | |
| 27 March 1899 | Der Bärenhäuter | Wagner, Siegfried | Gustav Mahler | | 20 | |
| 23 October 1899 | Dämon, Der | Rubinstein, Anton | Gustav Mahler | | 5 | |
| 22 January 1900 | Es war einmal | Zemlinsky, Alexander | Gustav Mahler | | 12 | World premiere |
| 22 March 1900 | Iolanta | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi and others | 9 | |
| 16 May 1900 | Fedora | Giordano, Umberto | Franz Schalk | | 3 | |
| 13 November 1900 | Bundschuh, Der | Reiter, Josef | Gustav Mahler | | 5 | |
| 18 March 1901 | Lobetanz | Thuille, Ludwig | Franz Schalk | Anton Brioschi | 6 | |
| 29 January 1902 | Feuersnot | Strauss, Richard | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 12 | Mahler conducted revised production from 5 June 1905 |
| 28 February 1902 | Dot Mon, Der | Forster, Josef | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 11 | World premiere |
| 4 October 1902 | Zaide | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | Bruno Walter | Anton Brioschi | 3 | |
| 9 December 1902 | Pique Dame | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 30 | |
| 24 March 1903 | Louise | Charpentier, Gustave | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 24 | |
| 11 November 1903 | Contes d'Hoffman, Les | Jacques Offenbach | Gustav Mahler | Anton Brioschi | 108 | |
| 25 November 1903 | Bohème, La | Puccini, Giacomo | Francesco Spetrino | Anton Brioschi | 61 | |
| 18 February 1904 | Corregidor, Der | Wolf, Hugo | Gustav Mahler | Alfred Roller | 7 | |
| 3 May 1904 | Falstaff | Verdi, Giuseppe | Gustav Mahler | Alfred Roller | 13 | |
| 14 November 1904 | Lakmé | Delibes, Léo | Bruno Walter | Alfred Roller | 26 | |
| 28 February 1905 | Abreise, Die | Albert, Eugen d' | Gustav Mahler | | 8 | |
| 28 February 1905 | Das war ich | Blech, Leo | Gustav Mahler | | 5 | |
| 6 May 1905 | Rose vom Liebesgarten, Die | Pfitzner, Hans | Gustav Mahler | Alfred Roller | 18 | |
| 4 October 1905 | Donne curiose, Le | Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno | Gustav Mahler | Alfred Roller | 12 | |
| 4 October 1906 | Juif polonais, Le | Erlanger, Camille | Bruno Walter | Anton Brioschi | 3 | |
| 28 November 1906 | Flauto Solo | Albert, Eugen d' | Franz Schalk | Alfred Roller | 4 | |
| 11 May 1907 | Samson et Dalila | Saint-Saëns, Camille | Bruno Walter | Alfred Roller | 7 | |
| 31 October 1907 | Madama Butterfly | Puccini, Giacomo | Francesco Spetrino | Alfred Roller | 14 | |
