How do you create a double wow effect?

By kidnapping the "Meistersinger" chorale and the subsequent march motif into a spatial sound that even die-hard Wagner fans don't often get to hear.

Letting Wagner sound not from the ditch but from the stage when the opera and museum orchestra is right in the middle is one thing.

And when the choir from the ranks sings "Wake up, the day is coming," it may not be correct for the time of day, but it is correct for the mood.

Eva Maria Magel

Senior cultural editor of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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In the end, almost night was turned into day.

The last guests left early in the morning, as Wagner would have expected.

After all, the reputation that the opera gala is the social event of the year has to be defended even more when it had to be canceled twice in a row due to corona.

With the enamel of Puccini

The approximately 770 guests who celebrated the 22nd Opera Gala in a very happy mood were obviously all the more eager to celebrate, to chat and to wear the evening gowns, which had not found a real reason in Frankfurt for so long.

The Romanian tenor Stefan Pop, whom some already compared to the young Pavarotti during the gala concert after he had sung Puccini's "Nessun dorma" with great enthusiasm, was visibly enthusiastic about what the Frankfurters had to offer.

Flown in especially as a star, he sang without a fee like everyone else that evening.

And after the traditional dinner on the revolving stage above the guests' tables, he didn't hesitate to sing "Funiculi, Funicula" again later, floating in a flower-decorated swing, while, also high above the guests' heads, choir director Tilman Michael entertained the guests instructed to sing along.

After all, the melody has been heard before, as the grand finale of all the great voices in the opera house.

Enriched by a surprise guest:

The soprano Asmik Grigorian, who is rehearsing for “The Enchantress”, which premieres on December 4, spontaneously joined as a further soloist.

Because you get along well, said opera director Bernd Loebe, and praised her as "number one", not without a dig at Anna Netrebko's career.

At least 750,000 euros

In his usual blunt manner, he had previously announced that four years ago there had been 1000 guests and that there was also "room for improvement" in terms of income.

The million may not have been cracked, but with the at least 750,000 euros in revenue that the gala evening brought in, you can start one or the other.

The opera has always been dependent on extra money, perhaps even more than usual in hard times of the energy crisis and further increases in costs Head of the culture department Ina Hartwig (SPD) sat at dinner, as a glimmer of hope for state funds.

Rhein hadn't skimped on the praise for the opera, which recently became "Opera House of the Year" for the sixth time.

Which in turn also has something to do with the support of donors and sponsors: Jürgen Fitschen has resigned after 14 years as chairman of the opera section in the patrons' association, and the business expert Norbert Winkeljohann has already familiarized himself as his successor.

What can also be concluded from his remark

In view of the world class of the opera, "the city of Frankfurt will not shirk its responsibility".

The fact that treasurer Bastian Bergerhoff (Die Grünen) was among the guests was optimistic.

"Everything is under control"

The fact that an internationally sought-after soloist like ensemble member Kihwan Sim, who animated the audience to clap along as Escamillo with his torero pose, has already extended his contract until 2028 is "a great step forward for the city," said Loebe.

Because when artists commit themselves for so long, they do so with the conviction “that by then we will have everything under control”.

Otherwise, however, there was not a single mention of the new construction of the municipal theater and very little of the current crises.

The football fan Loebe wished the German national team the best form of the opera house, and anyone who may not have guessed it knows since this opera gala: only if the Frankfurt Eintracht plays excellently, the house blessing at Loebe is just hanging.

Perhaps that is where his well-known optimism came from.

The ball is round, as is the revolving stage, and after the opera gala is before the opera gala.