Dmitri Tcherniakov

Dmitri Tcherniakov, born in Moscow, is living in his home town. He finished his studies at the Russian Academy of Performing Arts in 1993. Beyond directing, Tcherniakov is also designing the sets of his productions entirely himself, sometimes the costumes as well. He was awarded with several international prizes, including Italy’s »Franco Abbiati Prize« and four times with Russia’s most prestigious theatre prize, the Golden Mask. His career took off in Novosibirsk with widely discussed productions, including Aida, and it was highlighted at the reopening of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre with Glinka’s »Ruslan and Lyudmila« in 2011. Mussorgski’s »Boris Godunov« at Berlin’s Staatsoper marked the beginning of a longtime partnership with Daniel Barenboim as conductor. It was followed by several productions, Prokofiev’s »The Gambler«, Rimsky-Korsakows »The Zsar’s Bride« and Wagner’s »Parsifal« and »Tristan und Isolde«. Prokofiev’s rarely performed »Betrothal in the Monastery« expanded their worklist in 2019. Tschaikovsky’s »Eugene Onegin«, guest performed worldwide in Paris, London, New York and Tokyo, marked another highlight for the Bolshoi Theatre, to be followed by Berg’s »Wozzeck«. Wagner’s »Tristan und Isolde« and Glinka’s »A Life for the Zsar« at St. Petersburg’s Mariinski Theatre, Shostakovitch’s »Lady Macbeth from Mzensk« at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, London’s ENO and Lyon’s Opera, Verdi’s »Macbeth« and Berlioz’ »Les Troyens« at the Opéra de Paris, Verdi’s »Simon Boccanegra« at the English National Opera, Mozart’s »Don Giovanni« and Bizet’s »Carmen« at the Festival in Aix-en-Provence, established and consolidated his rank as one of today’s leading opera directors and designers.

Mussorgski’s »Chovanshtshina«, Poulenc’ »Dialogues des Carmélites«, Berg/Cerha’s »Lulu« and Verdi’s »Simon Boccanegra«, all at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, widened his success in Germany, Verdi’s »La traviata« at Milan’s La Scala and Borodin’s »Prince Igor« at New York’s Metropolitan Opera widened his intercontinental fame. »Prince Igor« moved later on to Amsterdam. Some outstanding highlights of his career were certainly Rimski-Korsakov’s »The Legend from the Unvisible City of Kitesh and from the Virgin Fevronia« in Amsterdam, Verdi’s »Il trovatore« and »The Tale of Tsar Saltan« in Brussels, and three productions at the Zurich Opera. He opened two seasons there with Leoš Janáček,  »Jenůfa« in 2012 and »The Makropulos Case« in 2019, and he directed and designed Debussy’s »Pelléas et Melisande« in 2016. A spectacular production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely performed opera »Sadko« was premiered by the Bolshoi Theater in 2020. The Paris Opéra offered Tcherniakov the unique opportunity to recreate a historical double bill from 1892, never repeated anywhere else, Tchaikovsky’s one-act-opera »Iolanta« and his ballet »The Nutcracker«. Loyal to Tchaikovsky’s idea, Tcherniakov entwined the pieces dramaturgically. It was the Paris Opéra again, where Tcherniakov expanded the Russian repertory with Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely performed »Snegurotchka« (»The Snow Maiden«).