February 18th, 2013 Bernd Loebe being interviewed by Rolf van Dick

Bernd Loebe was born in Frankfurt in 1952 and studied law at the Goethe University. Alongside this, he took piano classes and worked in the editorial department for music for the “FAZ”, the “Neue Musikzeitung” and the magazine “Opernwelt” from 1975 until 1980. Moreover, he worked as a freelancer for the “Hessischer Rundfunk” (A Hessian radio broadcaster) where he presented, a 2-hour program titled “vor dem Alltag”. In 1979 he moved into the editorial department for music of the “Hessischer Rundfunk”, where he was responsible for the coverage of the Bayreuth Festival, the Salzburg Festival and other international music festivals. In 1990 he became artistic director at the opera La Monnaie in Brussels. In 2002/2003 he became manager of the opera in Frankfurt. His contract has been extended various times and the current contract duration is until 2018. Loebe became responsible for the opera in Frankfurt during decreasing budgets and numbers of performances, however was able to, in his first season, gain the opera the title “opera of the year” by critics. Despite limited musicians’ fees, he manages to bring international stars to Frankfurt. In the interview with Rolf van Dick he talks about his personal leadership style, about the role of authority and artistic intuition in the opera. He also talks about his role models and the role of values in arts and society.