Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz
Born in Vienna, he studied musicology, political science, sociology and Romance studies in his hometown (graduating with a Master's degree in 1989). He was head of press at the Vienna State and Volksoper from 1993-96 and chief dramaturge at the Vienna State Opera from 1996-2001. In this position, he supervised numerous productions as dramaturge and hosted major introductory matinees until 2008, including the new productions of Richard Wagner's “Ring des Nibelungen” and “Tristan und Isolde”
Since 2001, he has been a TV commentator for the Vienna Opera Ball on ORF (the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) and has created opera and music programmes on Austrian radio (Ö1) and Deutschlandfunk Kultur. From 2003 he was a member of the management of the Volksoper Vienna, from 2009 to 2022 its chief dramaturge. 2013-16 he was artistic director of the Theatersommer Haag, since 2020 he has been artistic director of the Operette Langenlois. Since 2022, he has worked as a dramaturge at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (State Theatre on Gärtnerplatz) in Munich.
Appearances as a lecturer, presenter and actor have taken him to the Berlin State Opera, the Bonn Opera and Bühne Baden, the Bregenz and Salzburg Festivals, the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Munich, the Richard Strauss Festival Garmisch, the Festspielhaus St. Pölten, the Grafenegg Festival, the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, the Theater im Park in Vienna, the Wiener Festwochen and the Theater an der Wien, where he appeared as an actor among other engagements in the Hölle (which was and still is one of the most famous cabaret venues) between 2010 and 2022.
As a dramaturge and performer, he has worked with directors including David Pountney, Christine Mielitz, Josef Ernst Köpplinger, Brigitte Fassbaender, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Martin G. Berger, Matthias Davids, Aron Stiehl and Peter Lund. Guest engagements as a dramaturge have taken him to the opera houses in Vienna, Bonn, Graz and Munich, among others.
Numerous publications and books, including “Durch die Hand der Schönheit. Richard Strauss und Wien” (1999/2014), ”Wenn sie auch schlecht singen, das macht nichts. Versuche über Giuseppe Verdi” (2012), ”A Sound Tradition. A Short History of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra” (published in German and English, 2017), ”Alles Walzer. Der Opernball von A bis Z” (2020) and ”Willkommen, Bienvenue, Musical an der Volksoper Wien” (2022).
Engagements in Bayreuth
| Year | Opera | Part |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg | Dramaturgy |
