Lortzing und Leipzig – Musikleben zwischen Öffentlichkeit, Bürgerlichkeit und Privatheit

Leipzig was the city where Albert Lortzing (1801-1851) spent the longest period of his life. From November 1833 until May 1844, and again in 1849-50 he was active here as versatile actor and singer at the city theatre, and briefly as a conductor. And it was the city theatre to which, as both composer and librettist (sometimes in collaboration with Robert Blum) he submitted most of his full-length comic and romantic operas.

The aim of the conference was to illuminate this chapter of music history since the memory of Lortzing today plays only a somewhat marginal role in the musical city of Leipzig. Representative of Leipzig’s cultural institutions – the Musikhochschule, the University, the Gewandhaus, the Opera and the City Archives – and international academics and artists discuss Lortzing as an artist of his times and of the society of his times. Themes include Lortzing’s civic and political environment, his artistic activity in Leipzig, his works and their reception.