Johannes Erath
Director
© Dshamilja Kaiser
The director Johannes Erath is back at Oper Frankfurt, where he enjoyed great success in recent seasons with works including Verdi's Otello, Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Weber's Euryanthe, Eötvös' Angels in America, the world premiere of Arnulf Herrmann's Der Mieter / The Tenant (commissioned by Oper Frankfurt), Szymanowski's King Roger and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for this new production of Handel's Alcina. Recent productions have included Trojahn's September Sonata and Bellini's La sonnambula at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. These were preceded by works including Gounod's Faust at Cologne Opera, Le nozze di Figaro and The Tales of Hoffmann at the Semperoper in Dresden, La traviata at the Hamburg State Opera and a Puccini/Bartok double bill: The Coat / Blubeard's Castle an the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Other plans this season include Kurtág's Fin de partie (Endgame) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and Kálmáns Die Csárdásfürstin at the Volksoper in Vienna and he makes his debut at La Scala Milan in October 2026 directing Gounod's Faust. He has enjoyed close ties with Oper Graz for many years, where productions have included Korngold's Die tote Stadt /The Dead City – which won the Austrian Music Theatre Prize, Lulu, Don Giovanni, Elektra and Lohengrin (which was also seen at Norske Opera in Oslo). Johannes Erath was awarded the 2008 Götz Friedrich Prize for his production of Massenet's Cendrillon at Theater Bern. He played the violin in the Volksoper in Vienna's orchestra and in the Vienna Philharmonic's Orchester Akademie before his passion for direction was realised.