26 Artist

Biography

Robert Carsen was born in Canada and trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He then moved into directing, lighting, and set design.

His productions include Cabaret at Lido2Paris, Aida at the Royal Opera House in London, Œdipus Rex in Siracusa, Arabella in Zurich, Idomeneo in Madrid and Rome, and Oceane in Berlin. For the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, he staged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Orlando, The Magic Flute, Sémélé, and Rigoletto. At the Opéra Comique, he staged Platée and Les Fêtes vénitiennes. At the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, he staged Armide, Iphigénie en Tauride, and Orphée et Eurydice. At the Théâtre du Châtelet, he staged Candide, My Fair Lady, and Singin' in the Rain. His other productions include Falstaff and Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera House in London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York; Rinaldo and Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at Glyndebourne; La Traviata at La Fenice in Venice; Don Giovanni at La Scala in Milan; Ariadne auf Naxos in Munich; Der Ring des Nibelungen in Cologne, Venice, Barcelona, and Madrid; and Carmen in Amsterdam. Carsen has also served as artistic director and set designer for several exhibitions in Paris, London, and Chicago.

An Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters, Robert Carsen has received numerous awards, including the 2021 International Opera Award, the Abbiati Critics Prize, the Prix XXI in Spain, and the Italian Opera Star Prize. His recent directing credits include Peter Grimes and L'Orontea in Milan, Werther in Baden-Baden, La Clemenza di Tito and Jedermann in Salzburg, Les Voyages de Monsieur Brouček in Brno and Berlin, and Les Fêtes d'Hébé at Opéra Comique. For the 2025–26 season, he is set to direct Così fan tutte at La Scala in Milan and Rusalka at the Opéra national de Paris.

At the Opéra national de Paris: Manon Lescaut (1991), Les Capulets et les Montagues (1995), Nabucco (1995), Lohengrin (1996), Alcina (1999), Les Contes d'Hoffmann (2000), Rusalka (2002), Les Boréades (2003), Capriccio (2004), Tannhäuser (2007), Elektra (2013), The Magic Flute (2014), Renée Fleming gala (2022), Ariodante (2023), Maria Callas gala (2023).

Currently in

Immerse in the Paris Opera universe

Corporate Partnerships