Each year since 1994, at the end of the season, the magazine sponsors a jury of 50 critics to select the best in several categories: • opera house of the year () • staging of the year () • stage director of the year () • singer of the year () • stage- and costume designer of the year () • conductor of the year () • orchestra of the year () • premiere of the year () They are usually selected from German-speaking countries, Austria, Germany and German-speaking Switzerland. In 2011,
La Monnaie received the accolade, the first time it has been given to a non-German speaking house.
Opera house of the year Source: • 2024/2025:
Meiningen Court Orchestra, Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, Bayerische Staatsorchester
Singer of the year Source: • 1995/1996:
Michael Gielen • 1996/1997:
Lothar Zagrosek • 1997/1998:
Ingo Metzmacher • 1998/1999: Lothar Zagrosek • 1999/2000:
Claudio Abbado • 2000/2001:
Sylvain Cambreling • 2001/2002:
Ádám Fischer • 2002/2003:
Sebastian Weigle • 2003/2004:
William Christie • 2004/2005:
Pierre Boulez • 2005/2006:
Simone Young • 2006/2007:
Kirill Petrenko • 2007/2008: Claudio Abbado • 2008/2009: Kirill Petrenko • 2009/2010: Ingo Metzmacher • 2010/2011:
Mariss Jansons • 2011/2012:
Christian Thielemann • 2012/2013:
Lothar Zagrosek • 2013/2014: Kirill Petrenko • 2014/2015: Kirill Petrenko • 2015/2016:
Teodor Currentzis • 2016/2017:
Hartmut Haenchen • 2017/2018:
John Eliot Gardiner • 2018/2019:
Joana Mallwitz • 2019/2020: Kirill Petrenko,
Titus Engel • 2020/2021: – • 2021/2022: Kirill Petrenko • 2022/2023: Kirill Petrenko • 2023/2024:
Pablo Heras-Casado • 2024/2025: Kirill Petrenko
Stage director of the year Source: • 1996/1997:
Herbert Wernicke • 1997/1998:
Peter Konwitschny • 1998/1999: Peter Konwitschny • 1999/2000: Peter Konwitschny • 2000/2001: Peter Konwitschny • 2001/2002:
Sergio Morabito and
Jossi Wieler • 2002/2003:
Christof Loy • 2003/2004: Christof Loy • 2004/2005:
Hans Neuenfels • 2005/2006:
Sebastian Baumgarten • 2006/2007:
Stefan Herheim • 2007/2008: Christof Loy und Hans Neuenfels • 2008/2009:
Stefan Herheim • 2009/2010: Stefan Herheim • 2010/2011:
Achim Freyer • 2011/2012: Sergio Morabito and Jossi Wieler • 2012/2013:
Tatjana Gürbaca • 2013/2014:
Romeo Castellucci • 2014/2015: Hans Neuenfels • 2015/2016:
Barrie Kosky • 2016/2017:
Dmitri Tcherniakov • 2017/2018: Peter Konwitschny • 2018/2019: Romeo Castellucci • 2019/2020:
Tobias Kratzer • 2020/2021: – • 2021/2022:
Kirill Serebrennikov • 2022/2023: Dmitri Tcherniakov • 2023/2024:
Lydia Steier for Verdi's
Aida in Frankfurt • 2024/2025: Tobias Kratzer
Staging of the year Source: • 1995/1996:
Xerxes by
Georg Friedrich Händel at the
Bayerische Staatsoper • 1996/1997:
Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern by
Helmut Lachenmann at the
Staatsoper Hannover • 1997/1998:
Die Entführung aus dem Serail by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 1998/1999:
Káťa Kabanová by
Leoš Janáček at the
Salzburger Festspiele • 1999/2000:
Götterdämmerung by
Richard Wagner at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 2000/2001:
Falstaff by
Giuseppe Verdi at the
Opernhaus Graz • 2001/2002:
Ariadne auf Naxos by
Richard Strauss at the
Salzburger Festspiele • 2002/2003:
Rinaldo by
Georg Friedrich Händel in Montpellier, Innsbruck und Berlin • 2003/2004: ''
Al gran sole carico d'amore'' by
Luigi Nono at the
Staatsoper Hannover • 2004/2005:
Doktor Faust by
Ferruccio Busoni at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 2005/2006:
Alceste by
Christoph Willibald Gluck an der
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 2006/2007:
Aus einem Totenhaus by
Leoš Janáček bei den
Wiener Festwochen • 2007/2008:
Penthesilea by
Othmar Schoeck at the
Theater Basel • 2008/2009:
Parsifal by
Richard Wagner at the
Bayreuther Festspiele • 2009/2010:
Macbeth by
Giuseppe Verdi at the
La Monnaie • 2010/2011:
Les Huguenots by
Giacomo Meyerbeer at the
La Monnaie • 2011/2012:
La sonnambula by
Vincenzo Bellini at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 2012/2013:
Parsifal by
Richard Wagner at the
Vlaamse Opera in Antwerpen • 2013/2014:
Die Soldaten by
Bernd Alois Zimmermann at the
Bayerische Staatsoper Munich • 2014/2015:
Jakob Lenz, Kammeroper by
Wolfgang Rihm at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 2015/2016:
Donnerstag aus Licht by
Karlheinz Stockhausen at the
Theater Basel • 2016/2017:
Lulu by
Alban Berg at the
Hamburgische Staatsoper • 2017/2018:
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by
Richard Wagner at the
Bayreuther Festspiele • 2018/2019:
Salome by
Richard Strauss at the
Salzburger Festspiele • 2019/2020:
Tannhäuser by
Richard Wagner at the
Bayreuther Festspiele • 2020/2021: – • 2021/2022:
Die Nacht vor Weihnachten by
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the
Oper Frankfurt • 2022/2023:
Krieg und Frieden by
Sergei Prokofiev at the
Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich • 2023/2024: Wagner's
Tannhäuser by
Matthew Wild at the Oper Frankfurt, Schönberg's
Moses und Aron by Lorenzo Fiorini in Bonn, Tschaikowsky's
Pique Dame by Timofej Kuljabin at the Opéra de Lyon, Weinberg's
The Passenger by Tobias Kratzer at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Martinů's
The Greek Passion by Simon Stones at the Salzburger Sommerfestspiele • 2024/2025: Mieczysław Weinberg's
Der Idiot at the
Salzburger Festspiele Premiere of the year Source: • 1996/1997:
Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern by
Helmut Lachenmann at the
Hamburg State Opera • 1997/1998:
Die tödliche Blume by
Salvatore Sciarrino at the
Schwetzinger Festspiele • 1998/1999:
Schneewittchen by
Heinz Holliger at the
Opernhaus Zürich • 1999/2000:
Pnima by
Chaya Czernowin at the
Münchener Biennale • 2000/2001:
Bernarda Albas Haus by
Aribert Reimann at the
Bayerische Staatsoper Munich • 2001/2002:
Macbeth by
Salvatore Sciarrino at the
Schwetzinger Festspiele • 2002/2003:
Begehren by
Beat Furrer at the
Steirischer Herbst in Graz • 2003/2004:
Das Gesicht im Spiegel by
Jörg Widmann at the
Cuvilliés-Theater Munich • 2004/2005:
iOpal by
Hans-Joachim Hespos at the
Staatsoper Hannover • 2005/2006:
Ein Atemzug – die Odyssee by
Isabel Mundry at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin • 2006/2007:
Alice in Wonderland by
Unsuk Chin at the
Bayerische Staatsoper • 2007/2008:
Phaedra by
Hans Werner Henze at the
Berliner Staatsoper • 2008/2009:
Proserpina by
Wolfgang Rihm bei den
Schwetzinger Festspiele,
Hamlet by
Christian Jost at the
Komische Oper Berlin and
La porta della legge by
Salvatore Sciarrino in
Wuppertal • 2009/2010:
Medea by
Aribert Reimann at the
Wiener Staatsoper • 2010/2011:
Dionysos by
Wolfgang Rihm at the
Salzburger Festspiele • 2011/2012:
Orest by
Manfred Trojahn at the
De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam • 2012/2013:
Written on Skin by
George Benjamin at the
Aix-en-Provence Festival and
Der Idiot by
Mieczysław Weinberg at the
Nationaltheater Mannheim • 2013/2014:
Böse Geister by
Adriana Hölszky (after
Dostoevsky) at the
Nationaltheater Mannheim • 2014/2015:
Esame di mezzanotte by
Lucia Ronchetti at the Nationaltheater Mannheim • 2015/2016:
Koma by
Georg Friedrich Haas for the
Schwetzinger Festspiele and the
Staatstheater Darmstadt • 2016/2017:
Infinite Now by
Chaya Czernowin, coproduction
Vlaamse Opera Antwerpen/Gent,
Nationaltheater Mannheim and
IRCAM, Paris • 2017/2018:
Lunea by
Heinz Holliger at the
Opernhaus Zürich • 2018/2019:
Fin de partie by
György Kurtág at the
La Scala • 2019/2020:
Orlando by
Olga Neuwirth at the
Wiener Staatsoper ex aequo with
The Snow Queen by
Hans Abrahamsen (Copenhagen and Munich) • 2020/2021: – • 2021/2022:
Sleepless by
Péter Eötvös at the
Staatsoper Berlin and
Girl with a Pearl Earring by at
Opernhaus Zürich • 2022/2023:
Blühen by
Vito Žuraj at the
Oper Frankfurt and
La Légende de Tristan by
Charles Tournemire at the
Theater Ulm • 2023/2024:
Dora by
Bernhard Lang at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart • 2024/2025:
Le petit pauvre d’Assise by
Charles Tournemire at the
Theater Ulm Emerging Artist of the Year Source: • 1995/1996:
Christine Schäfer • 1996/1997:
Alexandra von der Weth • 1997/1998:
Iride Martinez • 1998/1999:
Nadja Michael,
Vivica Genaux • 1999/2000:
Anja Harteros,
Stefan Vinke • 2000/2001:
Daniela Denschlag,
Francis Pappas, David Walker • 2001/2002: – • 2002/2003: – • 2003/2004: – • 2004/2005:
Pavol Breslik • 2005/2006:
Anna Palimina • 2006/2007:
Andris Nelsons • 2007/2008:
Philippe Jaroussky • 2008/2009:
Christiane Karg • 2009/2010:
Svetlana Ignatovich • 2010/2011:
Julia Lezhneva • 2011/2012:
Ana Durlovski • 2012/2013:
Diana Haller • 2013/2014:
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller • 2014/2015:
Elena Sancho Pereg • 2015/2016:
Elsa Dreisig • 2016/2017:
Demis Volpi • 2017/2018:
Anna El-Khashem • 2018/2019:
Lise Davidsen • 2019/2020: "Tolle neue Stimmen" • 2022/2023:
Konstantin Krimmel • 2023/2024: – • 2024/2025:
Anna Nekhames ==References==