
Andreas K. W. Meyer

Andreas K. W. Meyer (born 2 June 1958) is a German dramaturge and journalist.
Life.
Meyer was born in Bielefeld. After his Abitur passed at the in his native city and private composition studies with Rudolf Mors, he studied musicology from 1981 (with Klaus Hortschansky, among others), art history and German studies at the University of Münster. In 1987, he began working as a freelance critic, among others for the "Frankfurter Rundschau" and various radio stations, primarily for the WDR and the Bayerischer Rundfunk. In radio features, he dealt in particular with the work of Carl Orff and Allan Pettersson, but also wrote in this field about, for example, Gottfried von Einem and Jón Leifs.
From 1993 to 2003 he worked as music dramaturge at the Opernhaus Kiel, initially under the direction of general director Peter Dannenberg, from 1995 as chief music dramaturge, and from 2002 as chief music dramaturge and deputy opera director under opera director Kirsten Harms. From September 2004 to June 2012, he was chief dramaturge at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. At the start of the 2013/2014 season, he took over as opera director at the Theater Bonn.
His particular focus as a dramaturge is the revival of unjustly forgotten works of opera literature, primarily from the early 20th century, which helped the opera Kiel gain considerable national interest during Kirsten Harms' directorship. A cycle of lesser-known works by Franz Schreker and the reinterpretation of Gian Francesco Malipiero's "I capricci di Callot", Franco Alfano's "Cyrano de Bergerac" or Richard Strauss' "Die Liebe der Danae" are exemplary. - His discoveries for the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Alberto Franchetti's "Germania" and Alexander von Zemlinsky's "Der Traumgörge") initially met with less unanimous approval, with the start of the 2007/2008 season, in which "Cassandra" by Vittorio Gnecchi and Walter Braunfels' "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna" (as a scenic premiere) were put up for discussion, appreciation has increased among audiences and press alike. The "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna" was named "Rediscovery of the Year" in the critics' poll of the magazine "Opernwelt" in 2008.
In addition to Kirsten Harms, with whom Meyer worked on a large number of productions, Katja Czellnik, Marco Arturo Marelli and Johannes Schaaf should be mentioned as important directors in his work since 1995.
In 2000, he presented his first production on an opera stage (with stage design by Anna Kirschstein) with the linking of Frederick Delius' "Fennimore and Gerda" and Béla Bartók's "Bluebeard's Castle".
For Wilfried Hiller, he wrote the libretto of the opera "The Rider on the White Horse" after Theodor Storm.
Publications.
Essays in various publications, including:
Several contributions to the Bayerische Staatsoper yearbook, the Allan Pettersson yearbook and the Bertelsmann Concert Guide.