Wolfgang Nägele
director
© Gernot Kaspersetz
Wolfgang Nägele, working at Oper Frankfurt for the first time on this new production of Harrison Birtwistle's Punch and Judy in the Bockenheimer Depot, recently directed Falstaff at Theater Bielefeld, Il trittico at Saarländ's Staatstheater and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Korean National Opera in Seoul. He was appointed resident director at Theater Bielefeld in 2023/24, where he has staged Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. Born in Landsberg am Lech, he studied literature and philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. His productions have been seen at places including the Bavarian and Hamburg state operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater Basel, the Biennale in Venice and Philharmonie in Luxemburg. His staging of the world premiere of Berlin Alexanderplatz at Theater Bielefeld was voted best production of 2022/23 by the Deutsche Bühne. He worked closely with the director Hans Neuenfels from 2007 - 2016, at places including the Salzburg and Schwetzingen festivals, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, in Bayreuth, at Zurich Opera and Oper Frankfurt. He was awarded a scholarship by the Deutsche Bank's Akademie Musiktheater Heute Foundation. His concept for Don Pasquale made him a semi-finalist for the 2017 RING AWARD and he won the Deutsch Oper Berlin's Tischlerei Preis. Wolfgang Nägele joined the jury for the Götz Friedrich Prize in 2024/25.