By Martina Hafner
He was a theater man with heart and soul, from 2010 to 2018 director of the State Opera. Jürgen Flimm has now died at the age of 81
He never forgot how to laugh. Not even when the State Opera construction site almost got on his nerves. Now Jürgen Flimm, director, theater magician and longtime director of the Lindenoper died on Saturday at the age of 81 in Wischhafen-Hamelwörden, Lower Saxony.
The Salzburg Festival, which he directed from 2006 to 2010, raised a black flag as a sign of “mourning and gratitude”, the State Opera honored him as “the central protagonist of spoken and musical theatre”. Born in Giessen in 1941, he joined the State Opera in 2010 after stints in Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Salzburg.
Jürgen Flimm with his wife Susanne shortly before the reopening of the State Opera / PD 27.11.2019 / Photo: Getty Images
In addition to unforgettable productions such as Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” (2015) or Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” (2016), he had one of the most delicate artistic director jobs ever in Berlin: from 2010 to 2018 he not only had to work with the world-famous chief conductor Daniel Barenboim (80) get by.
“I’m not an excavator operator and not an architect”
He had to bring the venerable house through the endless renovation. A veritable drama in several acts: construction costs exploded from 239 to 400 million euros, repeatedly canceled opening dates, the renovation planned for three years from 2010 dragged on for seven years. “I’m not an excavator operator and not an architect,” said Flimm to the BZ on the occasion of the reopening in 2017. “Hardened from years of waiting, you got in a good mood when there was a window somewhere.”
For Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” 2016, director Flimm won over star architect Frank Gehry for the design Photo: picture alliance/Eventpress Hoensch
And: Flimm managed to lure the State Opera audience to the alternate venue in Charlottenburg. In the Schiller Theater on Bismarckstrasse, not far from the Deutsche Oper, he showed that Berlin could tolerate and celebrate two music theater temples in the immediate vicinity.
An old Luther Bible often lay on the desk in his office, but he never prayed for the success of his productions. Then he had a different ritual: Before it started, he listened in the hall. “I hear the audience whispering like piranhas who want to eat my beautiful piece. And then I spit three times on the curtain.” Because, according to Protestant Flimm: “If a performance goes wrong, it just goes wrong. I can’t ask God to take care of the many theaters as well.”
Flimm’s opening production in 2017 had the long title “Say to the moment: Stay a while! Scenes from Goethe’s Faust” Photo: Barbara Braun/drama-berlin.de
Recovered from stroke
The stress surrounding the renovation, and yes, Flimm could also get loud, finally led to a stroke in 2013. Daniel Barenboim’s wife Elena Bashkirova said resolutely at the time: “Now it’s over with being upset.”
Flimm recovered, began to enjoy the time on the alternative stage, and likes to go to the Schiller Klause around the corner: “You walked out the door, it made a plop and you sat in front of a beer, which lasted about a minute and a half,” so flicker
Jürgen Flimm is happy at the presentation of the BZ Culture Prize in the Schiller Theater in Berlin in 2017 Photo: Charles Yunck
Even after his time in Berlin, he continued to direct, came to premieres, in 2019 he went to “Samson et Dalila” after a serious riding accident with a stick. His Dutch Warmblood Pavarotti had thrown him off after startling a hen on a bench, double femoral neck fracture. His wife Susanne (64) saved him, as she did when she had a stroke, and quickly got help.
“The fact that I’m still on earth proves that God is merciful,” said Flimm to the BZ at the time. Now he might help the heavenly hosts rejoice and rejoice with director tips. Goodbye, Juergen! And thanks for everything!