The Thomas Mann House and musicologist Kai Hinrich Müller, a 2023 Fellow, will convene a transatlantic series of talks and concerts dedicated to the democratic potential of the opera – an art form that was also a great passion of Thomas Mann. Various events in the U.S. and Germany will explore the relationship between opera and democracy and how the opera can contribute to diverse and inclusive societies. The series is hosted by the Thomas Mann House in collaboration with partner institutions in the U.S. and Germany.

"It is precisely this idea of art and culture that drives the fight for democratic values and determines the program of the event at the TMH."
– Sophie-Charlotte Opitz (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

The Series

This series commemorates the centenary of the reopening of Berlin's legendary Krolloper in 1924, one of the leading opera houses of the interwar period and today a symbol of both the renewal of opera in the 20th century and the struggle for democratic values in times of crisis. To honor this anniversary, panel discussions with international scholars and artists will explore the multifaceted history of this important institution and delve into the complex relationship between opera and democracy today. The focus will be on the democratic potential of opera and its possible contributions to a diverse and inclusive society. Topics range from aspects of the democratization of opera, to questions of power and representation, new formats, casting and programming policies, audience expectations as well as to academic challenges and opera's ability to amplify the voices of silenced or persecuted artists. Each conversation will be accompanied by concerts, sometimes world premieres, that present excerpts from rarely performed stage works, among them works by persecuted artists discovered in archives. Further information on all events can be found below.

"The new Thomas Mann House series comes at the right time: the world is boiling and burning everywhere."
- Marco Frei (Bayerische Staatszeitung)

More about the Krolloper

They may shut down our opera house, but they cannot kill the idea, declared conductor Otto Klemperer after the closure of Berlin's iconic Krolloper, a cultural institution emblematic of the fusion of politics and art. Founded in the 19th century, it reopened in 1924 with a performance of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, initially as an offshoot of the Berlin State Opera, then as an independent entity under Otto Klemperer (1927-31), who contributed to the institution's artistic significance. The opera soon became a gathering space for the avant-garde and an “intersection of social and artistic interests,” as Thomas Mann phrased it. The Krolloper pursued the idea of an inclusive and accesible opera, which was supported by social democratic politics and in line with the democratic achievements of the Weimar Republic. With the rise of reactionary forces, it was forced to close in 1931. Its musical and artistic heyday thus came to an end, but its history did not: after the Reichstag fire, the Krolloper housed the last parliament of the Weimar Republic, which fostered it's important role for the history of democracy and culture in Germany. It was also there that the Nazis abolished the Weimar Republic in 1933. Many artists affiliated with the Krolloper, such as Otto Klemperer, were persecuted and forced into exile. Otto Klemperer eventually moved to the U.S. and became the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

More about Kai Hinrich Müller

The series is led by Thomas Mann Fellow Kai Hinrich Müller, who studied musicology, business administration and law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and received his doctorate in 2013 with a thesis on the history of the early music movement. His habilitation followed in 2022. In his research, he deals with Richard Wagner and his reception in the Bayreuth circle as well as the so-called völkische Bewegung (nationalist movement), forms of anti-Semitism in music history, musical life in the interwar and especially Nazi period, as well as transatlantic opera history with a special focus on U.S. exile. He teaches at the Cologne University of Music and Dance, directs projects in Germany and abroad, and is the academic and artistic director of the Terezín Music Academy in the former Theresienstadt ghetto and the Bauhaus Music Weekend.