Germany’s OPER! AWARDS Announces 2023 Winners

With winners across 20 categories, the Berlin Philharmonic and conductors Oksana Lyniv and Gianandrea Noseda took home prizes

As Germany’s only international opera prize, the OPER! AWARDS is a gala held each year to award outstanding creatives, orchestras, and opera houses, as well as recognize their work both on or behind the stage.

Presented for the first time outside of Berlin, this year’s prizes were presented at Theater Dortmund — the winner of the OPER! Award for “Best Opera House.” Home to the highest number of opera houses, Germany sees the most opera productions performed worldwide. 

“The Oper Dortmund…has opened itself in an exemplary manner towards the town’s civic society through innovative [programs], making itself a subject of interest and a destination for national and international opera professionals and enthusiasts alike,” said OPER! AWARDS jury chair, Ulrich Ruhnke.

The jury comprised Manuel Brug, Eleonore Büning, Uwe Friedrich, Kai Luehrs-Kaiser, Stephan Schwarz-Peters, Franziska Stürz, Christian Wildhagen, and Björn Woll. 

The 2023 OPER! AWARD categories and winners are: 

• Best Opera House | Oper Dortmund

• Best Female Singer | Cuban soprano Lisette Oropesa

• Best Male Singer | German baritone Michael Volle 

• Best Conductor | Gianandrea Noseda Bester 

• Best Director | Claus Guth 

• Honorary Lifetime Achievement | Belgian singer and conductor René Jacobs 

• Outstanding Engagement | Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv 

• Best Newcomer | German-Romanian baritone Konstantin Krimmel 

• Best Orchestra | Berlin Philharmonic, for their performance of Tchaikovsky’s Queen Of Spades 

• Best Choir | Slovak Philharmonic Choir, for their performance of Tchaikovsky’s Queen Of Spades 

• Best World Premiere | Manfred Trojhan’s Eurydice – Die Liebenden, Blind, performed by the Dutch National Opera

• Best Performance | Krzysztof Penderecki’s Die Teufel Von Loudun, performed by the Bavarian State Opera 

• Best Stage Designer | Ulrich Rasche, for Richard Strauss’ Elektra performed by Opera Geneva 

• Best Costume Designer | Ersan Mondtag and Annika Lu, for Rued Langgaard’s Antikrist performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin 

• Best Solo Album | Chilean-American tenor Jonathan Tetelman’s Arias, released on Deutsche Grammophon 

• Best Opera Recording | Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Robert Le Diable, released by cultural institution Palazzetto Bru Zane 

• Best Rediscovery | The Fokus ’33 project, by Theater Bonn 

• Best Festival | Festival D’aix-En-Provence in France

• Best Sustainability Initiative | Germany’s Musiktheater Im Revier and Theater Regensburg 

• Biggest Nuisance | The forecourt of Germany’s Theater Krefeld. Due to the local drugs scene at the location, the theater and its community have been lobbying for safer measures for its 530 staff members.

The “Best Equal Opportunities Project” award was not presented for 2023. For further information on each of the winners, click here.

The full award ceremony, translated into English, can be viewed below.