Lydia Steier (born 1978) is an American opera director who has made an international career based in Germany. She directed the Swiss premiere of Stockhausen's ''

Donnerstag aus Licht 275px, Karlheinz Stockhausens grave with the score to LICHT . (''Thursday from Light'') is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, three acts, and a farewell, and was the first of seven to be composed for the opera cycle '' Licht: die si ...

'', chosen by critics as "Best Production of the Year" in 2016. In 2018, she became the first woman to stage Mozart's ''

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...

'' at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

, for the opening performance in 2018.

Career

Steier was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Her grandparents had left Vienna for the United States when the Nazis entered Vienna. She studied stage directing and voice at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

in Ohio. In 2002, she moved to Germany as a

Fulbright student The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, and worked as an assistant at the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, a ...

. Steier staged a double bill of Leoncavallo's ''

Pagliaccio ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

'' and Busoni's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is " Nessun dorma", ...

'' at the

Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar The (DNT) is a German theatre and musical organisation based in Weimar. It is a twin institution, consisting of the theatrical (German National Theatre, now solely based in Weimar) and the symphony orchestra known as the . It has a total of s ...

, which was awarded the prize "Neuentdeckung des Jahres 2009" (discovery of the year) by

Deutschlandradio Kultur Deutschlandfunk Kultur (; abbreviated to ''DLF Kultur'' or ''DKultur'') is a culture-oriented radio station and part of Deutschlandradio, a set of national radio stations in Germany. Initially named ''DeutschlandRadio Berlin'', the station was ren ...

. Her stagings of Handel's ''

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

'' at the

Staatstheater Oldenburg The Oldenburgisches Staatstheater (Oldenburg State Theatre) is a German theater in the city of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. Beginnings The theatre was first opened in the times of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, on 1 February 1833. At that time it ...

and Pascal Dusapin's '' Perelà, uomo di fumo'' were nominated for the Faust award. When she directed Handel's ''

Giulio Cesare ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica (''opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Ni ...

'' at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2015, she said about her approach to staging operas: "I have to make my idea plausible to musicians and singers. I was a singer. I'm not playing against the singers, but with them. I always make sure they can breathe properly. I think vocally." In 2016, Steier directed the Swiss premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's

at the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does no ...

, conducted by

Titus Engel Titus Engel (born 1975) is a Swiss conductor with a focus on both contemporary opera and Baroque opera in historically informed performance. Education Born in Zürich, Engel first studied musicology and philosophy at the University of Zurich an ...

. The production, the first after 30 years, earned the award "Best Production of the Year" ("Aufführung des Jahres") by

Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera house An opera house is a theater (structure) ...

. In 2017, Steier staged Puccini's ''

'' at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court th ...

, conducted by Claude Schnitzler. Jean-Luc Clairet called her staging of Stravinsky's ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Pro ...

'' in Basel in 2018, "a jewel", and described her as playing with light in this musical comedy inspired by paintings by

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-lik ...

. For the 2018

, she created the opening production of Mozart's ''

'', conducted by

Constantinos Carydis Constantinos Carydis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Καρύδης) is a Greek conductor, born in Athens in 1974 and active in both the symphonic and operatic repertories. He won the 201 bestowed by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, with Kent ...

. She is the first woman to direct the work at the festival. She staged it as a play in a play, with

Klaus Maria Brandauer Klaus Maria Brandauer (; born Klaus Georg Steng; 22 June 1943) is an Austrian actor and director. He is also a professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar. Brandauer is known internationally for his roles in '' The Russia House'' (1990), ''Mephisto ...

as a narrator as the grandfather of the Three Boys. In ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', Marie-Aude Roux commented: "It takes a real temper to dare to tackle this emblematic opera, which flourishes in traditional staging. But the American ... is obviously unafraid and takes up the challenge with a real scenic idea, whose abundant realization would nevertheless benefit from being reworked ..." In the 2018/19 season, she staged a double bill of Stravinsky's ''

Oedipus rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...

'' and Tchaikovsky's last opera ''

Iolanta ''Iolanta'', Op. 69, (russian: Иоланта, links=no ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play ' ...

'', conducted by Sebastian Weigle.

References

External links

Lydia Steier
Arsis Artists 2018
Alle Artikel kategorisiert unter "Lydia Steier"
(in German) Neue Musikzeitung *

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...

At Salzburg Festival, Two Bold Directors Claim Their Stages

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, 12. August 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Steier, Lydia 1978 births Living people People from Hartford, Connecticut American opera directors Female opera directors Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni American expatriates in Germany American people of Austrian descent