Jens-Daniel Herzog

Jens-Daniel Herzog is the son of actor Peter Herzog. After studying philosophy at FU Berlin, Jens-Daniel Herzog joined the Münchner Kammerspiele theatre as assistant to artistic director Dieter Dorn in 1990 and worked on several of his productions, including "King Lear" (1992). Herzog's directorial debut was the premiere of Marlene Streeruwitz's play "New York, New York" at the Kammerspiele's Werkraum theatre in 1993.

Over the next few years, Herzog was a permanent member of the Kammerspiele team, working as both a production manager and as artistic director; he also directed productions at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg, at the Burgtheater in Vienna, at the Schauspiel Frankfurt and at the Schauspielhaus Zurich from time to time; his production of David Mamet's "Oleanna" for the latter was performed at the Theatertreffen theatre festival in Berlin. At the Zurich Opera House, Herzog staged Wagner's "Tannhäuser" and Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades". From 2000 to 2006, he was the artistic director of the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where his productions included the Mozart operas "Così fan tutte" and "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" as well as Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg".

After leaving Mannheim, Herzog primarily directed operas, with productions at the Zurich Opera House, the Staatstheater Mainz, the National Theater of Korea in Seoul, the Staatstheater Nürnberg, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, the Hamburg State Opera and, once more, the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He directed plays at the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel in Munich and the Staatstheater Karlsruhe.

Herzog's production of Handel's opera "Rinaldo" in Zurich, conducted by William Christie, was recorded on DVD. He also directed "Intermezzo" by Richard Strauss in Zurich, again in 2008. His first production for the Semperoper was Handel's "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" in 2009. At Frankfurt Opera, he staged Wagner's "Lohengrin" and Verdi's "Les Vêpres siciliennes".

Jens-Daniel Herzog was the artistic director of the Oper Dortmund from 2011 to 2018. Alongside his work there, he continued to direct freelance at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Theater an der Wien, the Hamburg State Opera and also at the Semperoper in Dresden. In July 2012, he opened the Salzburg Festival with "The Magic Flute", conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

In Dortmund, Jens-Daniel Herzog gathered together and developed a passionate ensemble of outstanding singers. Thanks to the artistic quality of the productions and the integration of the opera house into the context of the city's social life, Jens-Daniel Herzog re-established its reputation both in the city itself as well as beyond its borders. On the occasion of the premiere of Herzog's staging of "Tristan und Isolde", the Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcasting service referred to the Oper Dortmund as "currently western Germany's leading opera house". He presented his first operetta production, Lehár's "Der Graf von Luxemburg", at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Jens-Daniel Herzog has been the Staatstheater Nürnberg's director and director of opera since the 2018/2019 season. At the 2019 Salzburg Easter Festival, Herzog staged a production of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" that was co-produced by the Semperoper, the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and the New National Theatre Tokyo and conducted by Christian Thielemann. It will be performed at the Semperoper from January 2020 onwards. In June 2020, Jens-Daniel Herzog will be staging Henze's Kleist opera "Der Prinz von Homburg" at Frankfurt Opera.