According to his own account, the young Crown Prince Friedrich spent the best four years of his life in Rheinsberg. And the writer Kurt Tucholsky immortalised the town in his “Rheinsberg A Picture Book for Lovers”. But it was Friedrich’s younger brother Heinrich – “the European in Rheinsberg” – who built the town’s theatre 200 years ago and first founded its artistic tradition which has continued to the present day.
Today the half-timbered houses designed by von Knobelsdorff and Schloss Rheinsberg itself form the ideal setting for cultural events of a very special kind. Since 1991 each summer sees the start of the Rheinsberg Chamber Opera festival, an international festival showcasing the young voices of tomorrow. Very early on Siegfried Matthus, one of the most performed of contemporary composers, recognised what is special about Rheinsberg:
“The felicitous blending of nature, music and architecture, with all the charm of young voices in a place steeped in culture and history.”
Working together with famous colleagues like Kurt Masur and Götz Friedrich, Matthus turned the Rheinsberg Festival into a key event on the international cultural calendar.
Each year now over 500 singers from the four corners of the world compete for one of 40 roles. As Siegfried Matthus comments, “Many of them come fresh from their academies and schools of music and get their first opportunity here of working professionally with famous directors and conductors.” And very often an appearance at this festival of young talents gives young singers an entry to the great houses of the world. Singers like the American soprano Nina Warren, Akie Amou from Japan and Camilla Tilling from Sweden all had their first professional engagement in Rheinsberg.
“Even cleared of its clutter, the place still reminded you of the sanatorium it had housed. The smell of carbolic hung in the air, the shower was down the corridor, and a telephone was an unheard of luxury."
The festival was first staged in 1991. Its beginnings have now gone down in history.
By now, with the help of private donors and through ticket sales, Schloss Rheinsberg has been fully renovated. Reconstruction of the Schloss theatre, where the Chamber Opera is now housed, was carried out with financial assistance from the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund and from the state of Brandenburg. You can see this was money well spent all year round. And in summer, if you are lucky, you can hear it too!
Prof. Siegfried Matthus,
Intendant der Kammeroper
Schloss Rheinsberg
