Otto Schenk (born June 12, 1930 in Vienna, Austria) is an actor, theatre director and production designer. He is most famous in the United States for his lavish, realist, traditionalist productions at the Metropolitan Opera. He has also produced operas at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala and the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, as well as at smaller opera houses such as the Berlin State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera and the Hamburg State Opera. He regularly collaborates with Rolf Langenfass, a set and costume designer.
In Austria, Schenk is well known as a comic actor. He has appeared in over 30 films (mostly in German) and many plays.
Selected works as opera producer, director
- Die Zauberflöte (1957), Salzburg National Theatre. Debut as an opera director
- Lulu (1962), Vienna State Opera
- Carmen (1966), Vienna State Opera (Lorin Maazel conducting)
- Don Giovanni (June 15, 1967), Vienna State Opera (designed by Luciano Damiani; Josef Krips conducting, with Cesare Siepi as Don Giovanni)
- Der Rosenkavalier (1968), Vienna State Opera (Leonard Bernstein conducting)
- Fidelio (1970), Vienna State Opera (Leonard Bernstein conducting)
- Die Fledermaus (1972)
- Le nozze di Figaro (1974), La Scala (Claudio Abbado conducting, with Mirella Freni as the countess, José van Dam as Figaro, and Teresa Berganza as Cherubino)
- Un ballo in maschera (1975), Royal Opera House, (Claudio Abbado conducting, with Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli, Reri Grist, Piero Cappuccilli)
- Tannhäuser (1978), Metropolitan Opera. Still in use at the Met.
- Andrea Chénier (1981), Vienna State Opera (Nello Santi conducting, with Plácido Domingo in the title role)
- Baal (1981, premier), Salzburger Festival (later Vienna State Opera)
- Der Freischütz (1983), Bregenzer Festival
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (1986), Metropolitan Opera (James Levine conducting). Retired from the Met in May, 2009.[1]
- Manon Lescaut (1986), Vienna State Opera (Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting, with Mirella Freni as Manon)
- Die Zauberflöte (1988), Vienna State Opera (Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting, with Jerry Hadley as Tamino)
- Rigoletto (1989), Metropolitan Opera (Marcello Panni conducting, with Leo Nucci in the title role, Luciano Pavarotti as the Duke and June Anderson as Gilda).[2] Still in use at the Met.
- Parsifal (1991), Metropolitan Opera (James Levine conducting, with Placido Domingo in the title role). Still in use at the Met.
- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1993), Metropolitan Opera (James Levine conducting).[3] Still in use at the Met.
- Rusalka (1993), Metropolitan Opera. Still in use at the Met.
- Don Pasquale (March 31, 2006), Metropolitan Opera (Maurizio Benini conducting, standing in for an injured James Levine), with Anna Netrebko as Norina and Juan Diego Flórez as Ernesto
The Metropolitan Opera currently uses his productions of Parsifal, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tannhäuser, Rigoletto and Rusalka, among others. Many of his productions are available on DVD, including his Vienna State Opera production of Fidelio and his Met productions of Parsifal, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tannhäuser and Der Ring des Nibelungen.
References
- ^ Tommasini, Anthony (May 10, 2009). "Music Review: 'Götterdämmerung': A Reverent ‘Ring’ Comes to Its Close". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/arts/music/11gott.html. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
- ^ Henahan, D. (November 6, 1989). "Review/Opera; Pavarotti and Vocalism Star in Met's 'Rigoletto'". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/06/arts/review-opera-pavarotti-and-vocalism-star-in-met-s-rigoletto.html. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ Rothstein, E. (January 16, 1993). "Review/Opera; New Met 'Meistersinger' Aims for Literalism". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/16/arts/review-opera-new-met-meistersinger-aims-for-literalism.html. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
External links
- Otto Schenk at the Internet Movie Database
- New York Times review of Schenk's 2006 Don Pasquale
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