Gesellschaft der Freunde der Alten Oper e.V.

For many people, music is an essential part of their lives and they associate important memories or key experiences with a very specific work. Dr. Brigitte Franzen & Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff present their favorite pieces, accompanied by students of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and moderated by Prof. Ernst August Klötzke.

Our guest is Prof. Dr. Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt since 2021. He has been Professor of Molecular Cell Biology of Plants in the Department of Biosciences in Frankfurt since 2007 and conducts research into understanding plant function and reaction in particular. His musical wish by Jean Sibelius op. 26 later became the unofficial national anthem of Finland: the symphonic poem "Finlandia". It will be played in the version for solo piano composed by Sibelius.

Sometimes the path from art to science is not far at all. At least not for Dr. Brigitte Franzen, Director of the Senckenberg Nature Museum from 2021 to 2024. As an art historian with a focus on architecture and modern art, cultural anthropology, sociology and literary studies, she oversaw numerous exhibition projects before returning as Director to the place she has known since her childhood in Frankfurt - her father was himself a palaeontologist at the Senckenberg Museum. Since October 2024, she has been the first female president of the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach. When Brigitte Franzen accepts the invitation from FREUNDE der Alten Oper to the Mozart Saal in May, the focus will be on the only one of the arts that "only" plays a private role for the museum director: music.

Photo: SGN/Sven Tränkner

10.5., 11 a.m.

Alte Oper, Mozartsaal, Opernplatz 1, Frankfurt

2for1: 20 €

10.5., 10-10.30 a.m., box office