(Ger. Teplitz). Town in north Bohemia, Czech Republic. It became a spa town in the 15th century. There are records of the church choir (the ‘literati’) performing contemporary polyphonic music, from the 16th century, including two songbooks from 1560 and 1566. In the 16th and 17th centuries Teplice also had town musicians, and there were performances by foreign musicians in the entourages of the spa's titled guests. Regular music performances in the town are, however, recorded only from the 18th century. The private theatre in the castle was built in 1751. In 1789 a public theatre (the ‘Comoedien Haus’) was opened in the castle grounds, which was used for summer performances and from 1794 hired out to opera and theatrical groups such as the Patriotic Theatre, led by the Prague director Anton Grams. In the 19th century performances continued under other Prague directors. There were also guest performances, among them in 1807 Schikaneder's group from Vienna. The most prominent local opera composer was the mayor of Teplice, Joseph Wolfram (1789–1839), whose Die bezauberte Rose (1826) and Der Bergmönch (1829) became popular all over Germany. A new summer theatre was built in 1856. At the town theatre, opened in 1874, the local opera company alternated with private groups. The directors and conductors were mainly German, including Siegfried Wagner and Felix Weingartner. Czech performances started in 1924, with guest performances by companies including those from the Prague National Theatre and Vinohrady Theatre.
From the 18th century, concerts were organized in the theatre, the castle and the rooms of distinguished guests. In the early 19th century Teplice had a group of town musicians, a brass band and a spa orchestra, the latter consisting of 16 members, growing to 48 by the end of the century. Many famous musicians stayed and performed in Teplice, among them Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Paganini, Slavík, Laub, Wagner, Destinn, d'Albert, Lehmann, Carreňo, Sarasate, Ysa˙e, Kreisler, Hubermann, Jan Kubelík and Ondříček, as well as chamber ensembles and orchestras. In 1948 a symphony orchestra was created. Teplice also has its own conservatory. (See also B. Plevka: Severočeské hudební kapitoly [Chapters from the history of music in north Bohemia], Teplice, 1983.)
MICHAELA FREEMANOVÁ