Watching linked videos is only available to logged-in DONORS
Become a donor for as little as 10 Swiss Francs (~ 13$) for website lifetime
and get AD-FREE too.
DONATE HERE
FULL OTTO SCHENK IN MEMORIAM Playlist 15 videos
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: OTTO SCHENK in Memoriam
- Composer: N/A
- Libretto: N/A
- Venue & Opera Company: various
- Recorded: various
- Type: Other
- Singers:
- Conductor:
- Orchestra:
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: OoV
- Date Published: 2026
- Format: Broadcast
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: nosubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Otto Schenk (12 June 1930 – 9 January 2025) was an Austrian actor, stage director for plays and opera, and theatre director. He worked internationally at major houses such as the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Schenk’s operatic productions included works by Mozart, Verdi, Richard Strauss and Alban Berg. He directed the world premiere of Friedrich Cerha’s Baal at the Salzburg Festival in 1981. Some of his productions have remained in the repertoire for decades, such as Puccini’s La Bohème at the Bavarian State Opera from 1969, Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss at the Vienna State Opera from 1972, and his traditionalist version of Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera from 1986 to 2009. Schenk also directed films of operas and plays, and was on the board of directors of the Salzburg Festival and the Theater in der Josefstadt.
Schenk was born on 12 June 1930 in Vienna to Catholic parents. His father, a lawyer, had Jewish roots and therefore lost his job after Hitler’s annexation of Austria in 1938. His mother was Italian. He achieved his Matura at the Stubenbastei and then studied law for a year at the University of Vienna. Schenk studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.
In 1957, Schenk directed his first opera, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for the Salzburger Landestheater. His breakthrough as an opera director came in 1962 with Alban Berg’s Lulu at the Theater an der Wien. This production was later moved to the Vienna State Opera, where Schenk debuted in 1964 with Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa. He was contracted by the Vienna State Opera as a permanent director for several seasons, while continuing his free-lance career as an actor, comedian and director in Austria and Germany, working for theatres, opera houses and television productions. In 1965 Austrian television engaged him to direct a studio production of Verdi’s Otello sung in German with a stellar cast. During the 1970s and 1980s, Schenk was hired by La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, and German opera houses such as the Berlin State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera and the Hamburg State Opera. He directed ten productions at the Bavarian State Opera; his 1972 version of Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss in a stage design by Jürgen Rose was played until 2021, and his 1969 staging of Puccini’s La bohème has remained in the repertoire as the oldest production at the house still played.
In the United States, Schenk is especially remembered for his lavish traditionalist productions at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) where he first staged Puccini’s Tosca in 1968. He directed Wagner epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen in 1986 with stage design by Günther Schneider-Siemssen, which was hailed by Wagnerian opera lovers as close to Wagner’s vision. The production was retired from the Met in 2009. His 2006 farewell production was Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. In October 2010, Schenk returned to the Met to revive it with Anna Netrebko. The Met currently uses his productions of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tannhäuser, Arabella by R. Strauss, and Don Pasquale. In December 2010, he revived his Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera, conducted by Asher Fish with a cast including Adrianne Pieczonka.
Schenk staged 31 productions at the Vienna State Opera and 16 productions at the Met.
Quoted from Wikipedia