Middle foyer of the State Theater by Nemorino
Here is the recently renovated middle foyer, where you can have a drink and stretch your legs during the intermission at the State Theater in Mainz.The big controversy involving the State Theater this past year was whether the orchestra would survive or not. The state government had plans to disband it or merge it with an orchestra in Ludwigshafen, which would have amounted to more or less the same thing. After public protests it now seems that the orchestra will survive, but will probably be reorganized and reduced in size.
The General Music Director, Catherine Rückwardt, used to be a conductor at the Frankfurt Opera (Kapellmeisterin), and I am proud to say she was a guest one evening at one of my opera courses during that time. She is one of the few women in Germany to hold such a post, another being the young American conductor Karen Kamensek, who is General Music Director in Freiburg.