Press Releases

OPER! AWARDS 2026

Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Jürgen Rose

Many international stars expected at Theater Regensburg on 23 February 2026

Berlin – The stage / costume designer and director Jürgen Rose will be honoured for his lifetime achievement at the OPER! AWARDS 2026, the jury announced today in Berlin. The award will be presented to Jürgen Rose personally at a gala event at the Theater Regensburg on 23 February 2026.

The winners of the other 19 OPER! AWARDS categories will also be announced and personally honoured that evening. Among the international guests expected to attend are Cecilia Bartoli, Jonathan Tetelman, Barrie Kosky, Christof Loy, Ermonela Jaho, Nadezhda Karyazina, Erin Morley and Miina-Liisa Värelä.

The OPER! AWARDS are Germany’s only publicly awarded international opera prize. They are presented annually at a gala event to the world’s best artists and creatives of the international opera scene, working on or behind the stage, chosen across 20 categories by a jury of music journalists. Assessment period is the calendar year 2025. Last year’s winner of „Best Opera House“ was La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels.

In its laudation, the jury called Jürgen Rose’s life a “Gesamtkunstwerk that defies categorisation”. As an artist he “has mastered almost every craft, co-creating sets, costumes and dramaturgy for more than 300 operas, plays, ballets and operettas, while also working as a director and, in his early days, even as an actor. He achieved his breakthrough at 25 with Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet in Stuttgart; he took his final bow at 76 with Wagner’s Ring in Geneva. He has always hit the mark – a perfectionist and a team player at the same time. For this, he has been loved and feared – and become a stylistic trailblazer for an entire generation of students. Countless images are permanently seared into our memories. For example: the bizarre insect world of The Cunning Little Vixen in Munich. Or Daland’s folded-up, tilted, spinning house in Bayreuth. Thank you for everything, Jürgen Rose.”

Ulrich Ruhnke
Chair of the OPER! AWARDS Jury

OPER! AWARDS 2026

Theatre Regensburg is „Best Opera House“

Award ceremony on 23 February 2026

Berlin – The Theatre Regensburg will receive the OPER! AWARD 2026 for „Best Opera House“ of 2025, the jury of the OPER! AWARDS announced in Berlin today. The award will be presented on 23 February 2026 during a gala at the Theatre Regensburg. The winners of the other 19 categories of the OPER! AWARDS will be named and honoured in person at the same event.

The OPER! AWARDS are Germany’s only publicly awarded international opera prize. They are presented annually at a gala event to the world’s best artists and creatives of the international opera scene, working on or behind the stage, chosen across 20 categories by a jury of music journalists. Assessment period is the calendar year 2025. Last year’s winner of „Best Opera House“ was La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels.

“More of the new, less of the familiar, embracing openness instead of programmatic caution, and an unshakable belief in the right of musical theatre to exist in all its forms, colours, and varieties: under its artistic director Sebastian Ritschel, the Theatre Regensburg shows great readiness to take risks, but its rate of success is high. Audiences, trust, and approval follow quality – regionally and, for quite some time now, nationwide as well. The call for a broader repertoire is often heard, yet rarely fulfilled – not so in Regensburg, where it is common practice! And always inspiring, too, thanks to an outstanding ensemble. Innovations with regard to participation, accessibility, community building, and sustainability demonstrate further how a theatre must indispensably anchor itself within civic society. No question: the best opera house is found under the roof of the Theatre – soon: State Theatre – Regensburg!”, according to Ulrich Ruhnke, Jury Chairman of the OPER! AWARDS. “We are delighted to be honouring the Theatre Regensburg with the OPER! AWARD for ‘Best Opera House’ under its own roof on 23 February 2026.”

Ulrich Ruhnke
Chairman of the OPER! AWARDS Jury