Claus Guth

Born in Frankfurt, stage director Claus Guth studied in Munich before directing a series of theater productions in Munich, Mannheim, and Hamburg. His international breakthrough came in 1999 with the world premiere of Luciano Berio’s «Cronaca del Luogo» at the Salzburg Festival. Since then, he has regularly directed productions at the Salzburg Festival, including Gluck’s «Iphigenie auf Tauris», Mozart’s «Zaide», and the «Da-Ponte-Trilogie». He directed «Luisa Miller» at the Bavarian State Opera, «Der Fliegende Holländer» at the Bayreuth Festival, as well as «Fierrabras» and «Parsifal» at the Zurich Opera House. He has staged all Wagner operas, such as «Lohengrin» at La Scala in Milan, «Tannhäuser» at the Vienna State Opera, «Tristan und Isolde» at the Zurich Opera House, and the complete «Ring» cycle at the Hamburg State Opera. Recently, he realized productions including «Jephta» at the National Opera Amsterdam, «Rigoletto» at the National Opera Paris, and «Rodelinda» at the Teatro Real in Madrid. In 2021, his new production of «Salome» premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (in co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, New York), followed by his staging of «Dialogues des Carmélites» at the Frankfurt Opera. Claus Guth has directed numerous world premieres of contemporary music theater, including «Pnima…ins Innere» by Chaya Czernowin at the Munich Biennale, «Celan» by Peter Ruzicka in Dresden, and recently «Aschemond oder The Fairy Queen» with music by Helmuth Oehring and Henry Purcell at the Berlin State Opera.

In the 2021/2022 season, he directed «Bluthaus» at the Cuvilliéstheater, a co-production of the Bavarian State Opera and the Residenztheater. In the 2025/2026 season, he will return to the Residenztheater to direct «Cabaret».