Robert Carsen

Born in Toronto, Canada, Robert Carsen is one of the most sought-after directors, designers and lighting-designers for theatre and opera worldwide.  

Recent new productions include Werther for Festival Baden-Baden; Peter Grimes for La Scala Milan; Ariodante at the Paris Opera; Aida at the Royal Opera; the musical Cabaret which reopened the Paris Lido; Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex for the Greek Theatre, Siracuse (which won the 2023 Maschere del Teatro Italiano award for best production); Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno at the Salzburg Festival; Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, Florence (which won the Abbiati prize for best production); Battistelli’s Julius Caesar for Rome Opera; Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo for Theater an der Wien, Vienna; Janáček's Osud in Brno; Idomeneo in Madrid, Rome and Copenhagen; and the premiere of Glanert's Oceane at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. 

Other opera productions include Die Tote Stadt at the Komische Oper, Berlin; Pagliacci & Cavalleria Rusticana at the Dutch National Opera; Der Rosenkavalier and Falstaff at Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera; Eugene Onegin for Rome Opera; La traviata which reopened the rebuilt theatre of La Fenice; The Makropoulos Case, Richard III (Battistelli), and Don Carlo, also for La Fenice; A Midsummer Night's Dream and Rigoletto at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence; Wozzeck, Agrippina, Platée and The Turn of the Screw at Theater an der Wien; Rinaldo and L'incoronazione di Poppea at Glyndebourne Festival; Tannhäuser, The Magic Flute, Elektra, Capriccio, Les Boréades, Rusalka, Alcina, Lohengrin, Nabucco and Manon Lescaut at the Opéra National de Paris; Der Ring des Nibelungen in Cologne, Venice, Shanghai, Barcelona, and Madrid; Dialogues des Carmélites, Katia Kabanová, Salome, Iphigénie en Tauride, Idomeneo in Madrid;  and for La Scala Milan he has directed Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Falstaff,  La fanciulla del West, CO2 (Battistelli), Don Giovanni, The Tales of Hoffmann, Katia Kabanová, Alcina, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Candide and Dialogues des Carmélites. 

Other work for the theatre includes: Mother Courage (Piccolo Teatro); The Tempest (Comédie Française), The Beggar’s Opera (Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord/Spoleto Festival/European tour); Singin’ in the Rain, My Fair Lady and Candide (Theatre du Châtelet); the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game in the West End; Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Roundabout Theatre); and Lady Windermere’s Fan (Bristol Old Vic).  

Robert has been invited to participate in many high-profile art and design exhibitions.  He was Artistic Director and Designer for the exhibitions Marie Antoinette, Bohèmes, Volez, Voguez, Voyagez – Louis Vuitton at the Grand Palais, L’Impressionnisme et la Mode and Splendeurs et Misères at the Musée d’Orsay, Dalida at the Musée Galliera and Charles Garnier – un Architect pour un Empire at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts - all in Paris; and Painting the Modern Garden – from Monet to Matisse at the Royal Academy in London.  

In December 2023 Robert Carsen conceived, designed and directed the Gala Vissi d’Arte at the Paris Opera Garnier to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas. In June 2019 he conceived, designed and directed Karl For Ever, the filmed and live celebration given by the fashion houses Chanel, Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld in memory of Karl Lagerfeld at the Grand Palais in Paris. He also conceived and directed Chaqu’un son Cinema, a celebration for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Festival. 

Future productions include Die Júdin von Toledo (Detlev Glanert) for the Semperoper Dresden, La Clemenza di Tito and Jedermann for the Salzburg Festival, L'Orontea (Cesti) for La Scala and The Adventures of Mr. Brouček on the Moon for the Brno Opera, Staatsoper Berlin and the Teatro Real in Madrid.