Damiano Michieletto
Damiano Michieletto has emerged on the international scene in a short time as one of the most interesting representatives of the younger generation of Italian directors. He studied opera and theatre production at the Paolo Grassi School of Dramatic Art in Milan and also graduated in modern literature at the university in Venice, his home town.
His critically acclaimed production of Jaromír Weinberger’s Švanda the Bagpiper at the Wexford Festival (Irish Times / ESB Theatre Award 2003). Among his early opera productions are La gazza ladra in a co-production for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Bologna and Verona (Abbiati Award 2008), a Mozart/Da Ponte cycle at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, La scala di seta at the Rossini Opera Festival and at La Scala, Martinů’s The Greek Passion in Palermo, Così fan tutte at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. He also staged La bohème, Falstaff, La Cenerentola, Alcina at the Salzburg Festival, Guillaume Tell and Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci at Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Olivier Award 2016), Il viaggio a Reims at Nederlandse Opera di Amsterdam and Opera Philadelphia, Perocco’s Aquagranda at La Fenice (Abbiati Award 2017), Berlioz’s Damnation de Faust for the season opening of the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome (Abbiati Award 2018), Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the MusikTheater an der Wien, Jenůfa at the Staatsoper Berlin, Rigoletto at La Fenice (Abbiati Award 2022), Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Semperoper Dresden.
Among his recent engagements are new productions of: Bernstein’s West Side Story at the Caracalla Festival, the summer program of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (of which he was the Artistic Director for the 2025 edition); the world premiere of Il nome della rosa at Teatro alla Scala, based on the novel by Umberto Eco and composed by Francesco Filidei; Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery at the MusikTheater an der Wien; La fille du régiment at the Bayerische Staatsoper and at the Teatro di San Carlo; Handel’s Messiah and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at the Komische Oper Berlin; Battistelli’s Le baruffe at La Fenice (with libretto by the director himself); Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and at the Opéra du Capitole de Toulouse; the Italian premiere of Bernstein’s Mass at the Caracalla Baths in Rome; the world premiere of Animal Farm based on Orwell’s novel and composed by Alexander Raskatov at the De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam and at the Wiener Staatsoper; Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Sydney, Venice and London; Cherubini’s Médée and Strauss’s Salome at La Scala; Carmen at the Royal Opera House in London; Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang in Frankfurt; Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict at the Opéra de Lyon and at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (Italian premiere of the work).
Other highlights feature Rigoletto at the Circus Maximus in Rome in 2020 – which led to a film project for the big screen produced by Indigo Film with the Rome Opera – and a film version of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (Genoma Films, 2021). In 2022, he also presented Archèus. Labirinto Mozart, a multidisciplinary immersive installation created for the Venice Biennale, celebrating the 1600th anniversary of the city. More recently, at the “Verdi Off” section of the Parma Verdi Festival, he presented Il sonno uccidesti, another immersive installation inspired by the figure of Macbeth.
In 2025, he made his feature film debut in Italian cinemas with Primavera, produced by Warner Bros Italy and Indigo Film in collaboration with Moana Films, and loosely adapted from Tiziano Scarpa’s novel Stabat Mater.
In 2024, he completed shooting his first feature film, Primavera, loosely based on Tiziano Scarpa's novel Stabat Mater. The film is produced by Warner Bros Italia and Indigo Film, in collaboration with Moana Films.
Besides his busy schedule as an opera stage director, Damiano Michieletto is also actively involved in drama theatre, one other important element of his artistic career. He has staged a highly original and much appreciated version of Il Ventaglio (The Fan) by Goldoni, followed by a pungent and engaging production of The Inspector General by Gogol at the Teatro Stabile del Veneto; Divinas palabras by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán for the Piccolo Teatro of Milan, an essential and visionary piece of Twentieth century Spanish theatre; a new production of The Threepenny Opera by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan; and La domanda di matrimonio / L'orso by Čechov with the Teatro Stabile del Veneto at the Goldoni Theatre in Venice (broadcasted on Rai5).
Engagements in the 2025/26 Season include Lohengrin at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; Falstaff for the Semperoper Dresden; Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Opernhaus Zurich; Carmen at Teatro alla Scala in Milan; his first La traviata at the Bregenz Festival. He is also among the Creative Directors signing the Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
