Famed Opera Director Otto Schenk has passed away at the age of 94.

Mr. Schenk was born June 12th, 1930 in Vienna, Austria.

Starting out as an actor, he would switch over to directing plays in 1953. He would direct his first opera, The Magic Flute, in 1957. He would go on to direct operas at Royal Opera House, La Scala, Berlin State Opera, etc.

Mr. Schenk will be most remembered for his work at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City, starting with Tosca in 1968. His most well known production was his production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, which was aired on public television. Other productions at The Met included Tannhäuser, Rigoletto, Parsifal, Elektra, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and finally Don Pasquale.

I grew up watching, and purchasing the DVDs, of Mr. Schenk’s Wagner productions and he was my favourite Wagner director, and one or my two favourite directors along with the late Franco Zeffirelli. Mr. Schenk will be remembered by me as a director who wanted to present what the composer wrote, not what someone might think the work meant – his productions were faithful to the composer’s vision, as I feel they should be. We didn’t need to be told that one of the Ring Cycle’s main themes was the power of love over power, as Mr. Schenk let the Wagner’s own words and music say that as we watched the production with its’ natural backgrounds.

Mr. Schenk passed away on January 9th, 2025 at his home near Lake Irrsee in Salzkammergut, Austria