Memories of a theater enthusiast
Interview |
In the second half of the 20th century, he was not only the world's busiest stage designer, but also a pioneer for many of his later colleagues. He was also a highly sought-after artistic partner of renowned conductors and directors. He created around 40 stage sets for the Vienna State Opera alone - the one for Die Fledermaus can still be seen today. We are of course talking about Günther Schneider-Siemssen - the "Schneisi", as he was affectionately known in this country. He would have celebrated his 100th birthday on June 7. To mark the occasion, we are featuring a conversation with his youngest son, the composer and pianist Philipp Mazar.
Sometimes there are very specific experiences that lead someone to take up a profession, while for others it happens bit by bit and they realize their true purpose. What was it like for your father?
Philipp Mazar: My father's original dream job was actually to be a conductor. However, a visit to the theater as a child probably set the course: Specifically, it was about the overt transformation of the Frog Prince into the Prince. My father must have been incredibly fascinated by the fact that something like this was technically feasible at all, and from then on he became more and more involved with ideas for stage designs. In any case, Clemens Krauss later recognized his talent on the basis of a few designs and advised my father to pursue a career as a stage designer rather than a career as a conductor.
Which he then did.
The first step was to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. A course of study that had a profound influence on him. It was not for nothing that throughout his life he never created his designs as mere templates for theater workshops, but created real works of art, paintings that could also stand on their own. He also developed projection paintings on glass panels, which already contained the entire lighting design of a performance.
And the second step?
After engagements at various small theaters in Bavaria, two stations in particular were very important for my father: Bremen, where he had to create around 15 to 20 stage sets a year, and the Salzburg Marionette Theater, to which he remained loyal until the end of the 1990s. My father was a real workaholic who was always working on his designs, even on vacation or with the television on, constantly drawing inspiration from every situation and every environment. Over the course of his life, this resulted in an incredible oeuvre of over 2500 exhibits, set designs and drawings.
But the numerous stage sets were not just for opera performances?
No, he was always involved in everything: theater, opera, ballet, musicals, film. But opera was and always remained his specialty.
And where did the connection to Karajan come from?
That was here at the Vienna State Opera. Karajan was the director of the house and was looking for a stage designer. After one or two meetings, both sides knew that this would be a lasting collaboration. The baptism of fire was a production of Pelléas et Mélisande in 1962, which was jeopardized by an internal strike because the sets would not have been ready in time. So my father switched to a set design that - in keeping with this impressionistic work - was mainly determined by lighting moods and projections. Out of necessity, this resulted in a very special production that delighted Karajan.
So the move to the Salzburg Festival was inevitable?
Not only that. My father was also a co-founder of the Easter Festival. He actually came up with the idea for this festival, which Karajan then euphorically took up and implemented.
Karajan and your father also got on well in private.
He was even my father's best man. And even if you wouldn't have thought it of Karajan, he had such a great sense of humor that he once secretly had a colossal statue from a Salzburg Festival production of Aida placed in front of our house. When my father arrived late at night, he banged his head against it in the dark. When he finally switched on the light, he recognized the intruder - the giant pharaoh from the Festspielhaus. Alongside Karajan, Otto Schenk was a long-standing artistic companion with whom he worked perhaps even more intensively and frequently than with Karajan. From the Met to the Vienna State Opera. In general, my father was at home in all opera centers, even in Cape Town and Buenos Aires.
One of your father's nicknames was also: The Lord of the Rings.
He has created stage sets for numerous works, but nothing surpasses Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen. Many set designers are proud of the fact that they were allowed to do the tetralogy once. My father created stage sets for all four parts a total of seven times - and halfway through an eighth time for the Wagner Festival in Wels, which he was unable to complete for health reasons. In that sense, the nickname fits quite well. (laughs)