
HIGHLIGHTS
Collaboration with:


DIE STUMME SERENADE (PREMIERE) – THEATER AN DER WIEN
BR Klassik by Jörn Florian Fuchs

PETER GRIMES (PREMIERE) – STAATSTHEATER AUGSBURG
a3kultur by Renate Baumille
Vita
Dirk Schmeding’s recent productions include The Bartered Bride at the Vienna State Opera, Pelléas et Mélisande at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, and La fanciulla del West at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen. Previous productions include L’elisir d’amore at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz and Pagliacci at the Staatsoper Hannover, as well as Il trittico at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Venus in Fur and Jaromír Weinberger’s Schwanda, the Bagpiper at the Oper Graz, Hansel and Gretel at the Luzerner Theater, and Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.
Particular acclaim was received by his productions of Caligula at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar and Die Passagierin at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. His staging of the German premiere of Guercœur at the Theater Osnabrück was named “Rediscovery of the Year” in the critics’ survey of Opernwelt and nominated for the International Opera Awards 2020. The German premiere of Solaris at the Staatstheater Augsburg also attracted considerable attention.
Further guest engagements have taken him, among others, to the Theater an der Wien, the Theater St. Gallen, the Luzerner Theater, the state theatres in Darmstadt, Braunschweig and Augsburg, the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Theater Kiel, Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, the SWR Festival Schwetzingen, and Oper Graz.
Born in 1983, Dirk Schmeding studied art history and literary studies in Braunschweig before turning to the theatre. Following assistant directing positions at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and at the Salzburg Festival, he began working as a freelance opera director in 2014.
2026-05-18
Media
Wiener Staatsoper | DIE VERKAUFTE BRAUT
Staatsoper Hannover | DER BAJAZZO
Luzerner Theater | HÄNSEL UND GRETEL
Staatstheater Braunschweig | CLO CLO
Oper Graz | SWANDA, DER DUDELSACKPFEIFFER
Theater Osnabrück | GUERCŒUR
Gärtnerplatz | DER LIEBESTRANK
Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar | IL TRITTICO
Staatstheater Darmstadt | LES CONTES D´HOFFMANN
Staatstheater Augsburg | PETER GRIMES
theaterKIEL* | DIE LIEBE ZU DEN DREI ORANGEN
Landestheater Detmold | DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE
Oper Graz | VENUS IN SEIDE
theaterKIEL* | KROL ROGER
Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar | CALIGULA
Staatstheater Braunschweig | RUSALKA
Production
| 16/04/2027 | Kaija Saariaho: L´AMOUR DE IOIN | Landestheater Detmold |
| 06/03/2027 | Ralph Benatzky: THE WHITE HORSE INN (IM WEIßEN RÖßL) | Oper Graz |
| 29/11/2026 | Franz Lehár: THE MERRY WIDOW (DIE LUSTIGE WITWE) | Semperoper Dresden |
| 16/10/2026 | Gioachino Rossini: IL VIAGGIO A REIMS | Gärtnerplatztheater München |
| 28/03/2026 | Giacomo Puccini: LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST | Aalto Musiktheater Essen |
| 31/01/2026 | Claude Debussy: PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE | Staatstheater Darmstadt |
| 28/09/2025 | Bedrich Smetana: DIE VERKAUFTE BRAUT (PRODANÁ NEVĚSTA) | Wiener Staatsoper |
| 23/05/2025 |
Gaetano Donizetti: L´ELISIR D´AMORE | Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz |
| 29/11/2024 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE | Landestheater Detmold |
| 25/10/2024 |
Ruggero Leoncavallo: PAGLIACCI | Staatsoper Hannover |
| 18/05/2024 | Giacomo Puccini: IL TRITTICO | Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar |
| 16/03/2024 |
Robert Stolz: VENUS IN SEIDE | Oper Graz |
| 11/11/2023 |
Engelbert Humperdinck: HÄNSEL UND GRETEL | Luzerner Theater |
| 30/09/2023 | Jacques Offenbach: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN | Staatstheater Darmstadt |
| 05/06/2023 | Erich Wolfgang Korngold: DIE STUMME SERENADE | Musiktheater an der Wien |
| 25/02/2023 |
Karol Szymanowski: KÖNIG ROGER | Oper Kiel |
| 03/12/2022 |
Franz Lehár: CLOCLO | Staatstheater Braunschweig |
| 29/05/2022 | Benjamin Britten: PETER GRIMES | Staatstheater Augsburg |
| 12/02/2022 | Detlev Glanert: CALIGULA | Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar |
| 18/12/2021 | Jaromir Weinberger: SCHWANDA THE BAGPIPER | Oper Graz |
| 18/09/2021 | Sergej Prokofiev: THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES | OperKiel |
| 07/07/2021 | Johann Strauss II: THE BAT | Dutch National Opera Academy |
| 05/03/2021 | Antonin Dvorak: RUSALKA (Streaming-Premiere) | Staatstheater Braunschweig |
| 14/03/2020 | Richard Wagner: DAS RHEINGOLD (canceled) | Mainfranken Theater Würzburg |
| 29/09/2019 | Richard Strauss: ARIADNE AUF NAXOS | Staatstheater Augsburg |
| 15/06/2019 | Albéric Magnard: GUERCOEUR | Theater Osnabrück |
| 06/04/2019 | Mieczyslaw Weinberg: DIE PASSAGIERIN | Staatstheater Braunschweig |
| 02/02/2019 | Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow / Igor Strawinsky: DER UNSTERBLICHE KASCHTSCHEI / DIE NACHTIGALL | Theater St. Gallen |
| 18/05/2018 | Dai Fujikura: SOLARIS (German premiere) | Staatstheater Augsburg |
| 27/01/2018 | Giuseppe Verdi: SIMON BOCCANEGRA | Staatstheater Darmstadt |
| 04/03/2017 | Leos Janácek: JENUFA | Staatstheater Darmstadt |
| 15/11/2015 | Leos Janácek: THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN | Staatstheater Darmstadt |
News & Infos
STAATSTHEATER DARMSTADT – PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE (PREMIERE)
WIENER STAATSOPER – DIE VERKAUFTE BRAUT (PREMIERE)
STAATSOPER HANNOVER – PAGLIACCI (PREMIERE)
Press

L’ELISIR D’AMORE (PREMIERE) – STAATSTHEATER AM GÄRTNERPLATZ (REVIEWS)

VENUS IN SEIDE (PREMIERE) – OPERNHAUS GRAZ (REVIEWS)

LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN (PREMIERE) – STAATSTHEATER DARMSTADT (REVIEWS)





