Sobotka becomes artistic director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Created: 05/12/2022, 16:57

Elisabeth Sobotka is standing next to parts of the scenery that are under construction.

© Felix Kästle/dpa/archive image

The director of the Bregenz Festival, Elisabeth Sobotka (56), will be the new director of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden.

The board of trustees of the Berlin Opera Foundation has approved the contract, which will run from September 2024, the cultural administration announced on Thursday.

Born in Vienna, Sobotka will succeed the previous director Matthias Schulz, who will move to the Zurich Opera House in 2025.

Berlin – The State Opera is not a new field of work for Sobotka.

After stints at the Leipzig Opera and the Vienna State Opera, she worked there as opera director between 2002 and 2007.

Before her time in Bregenz, she was managing director of the Graz Opera from 2009 to 2015.

more on the subject

Cheers and boos at the new production of "Tannhäuser"

Swords, masks, armor: Samurai Museum opened

No cooperation between schools and the MV Climate Foundation

Berlin's Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left) called Sobotka "an extremely competent, internationally experienced and passionate culture manager who has long been associated with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden".

For Sobotka, the State Opera is a "magnificent house steeped in tradition".

Berlin is the city "in which I want to live and do opera".

You feel "an inspiring mixture of awakening and "coming home"".

At the State Opera, she will work alongside General Music Director Daniel Barenboim, who sees her time as opera director "characterized by a very gratifying and fruitful collaboration".

He is looking forward to taking office with great pleasure.

"She is engaging, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and extremely versatile in her artistic thinking," Barenboim said in the statement.

"She is passionate about opera and music and as director is a stroke of luck for the State Opera." dpa