The new opera house Opernhaus Dortmund opened in 1966 to serve as a venue for operas, ballets, concerts, and for plays which require a big stage. The first performance was Der Rosenkavalier of Strauss, an opera which had been performed first in 1911, the year of the works premiere. Wilhelm Schüchter conducted the Dortmunder Philharmoniker.[2][3] In 1967 he conducted the premiere of the opera Eli of Walter Steffens after the drama of Nelly Sachs, a commission of the city of Dortmund.[4]