Damiano Michieletto

Michieletto directed Massenet's Cendrillon at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2016. He staged Martinů's The Greek Passion at the San Francisco Opera and Samson et Dalila by Saint-Säens in Paris. The same year, he directed the world premiere of Filippo Perocco's Aquagranda [de] at La Fenice in 2016, written on a commission on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1966 acqua alta flooding. In 2019, Michieletto directed Franz Schreker's Der ferne Klang at the Oper Frankfurt, where the world premiere had taken place in 1912. The new production was conducted by GMD Sebastian Weigle, with Jennifer Holloway and Ian Koziara in the leading roles.

His awards include the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for the production of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at the Royal Opera House in London.

Michieletto directed at La Scala in Milan, for the first time in the 2013/14 season, a production of Verdi' Un ballo in maschera. At the Salzburg Festival, he directed Verdi's Falstaff. A production of Mozart's Idomeneo for the Theater an der Wien was also presented in Tokyo. He staged Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and Handel's Alcina in Florence. A production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress was made for both the Leipzig Opera and La Fenice. He directed Rossini's La Cenerentola for the Salzburg Festival, with Cecilia Bartoli in the title role. In 2014, Michieletto staged Wagner's Lohengrin at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, Italy, and the same composer's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Theater an der Wien. He made his London debut in June 2015, staging Rossini's Guillaume Tell at the Royal Opera House.

He has directed productions in Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Japan and China. He is a specialist for works by Gioacchino Rossini, who staged besides Il barbiere di Siviglia also La gazza ladra, La scala di seta and L'italiana in Algeri, among others, especially at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. At La Fenice in his hometown, he directed Mozart's three operas on librettos by Lorenzo da Ponte, conducted by Antonello Manacorda, and Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. He staged some rarely performed operas by Ramón Carnicer, Michael Daugherty, Nino Rota, Stefano Pavesi and Marco Tutino. In 2012, he made his debut at both the Salzburg Festival, where he directed Puccini's La Bohème, and at the Theater an der Wien, where he directed the same composer's Il trittico.

Michieletto was born in Venice and grew up in Scorzè, a village in the Metropolitan City of Venice. He studied literature at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and directing at the Scuola d'Arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi in Milan. He made his directing debut with a production of Weinberger's Švanda dudákat at the Wexford Festival in 2003.

Damiano Michieletto (born 1975) is an Italian stage director especially known for opera. He has staged productions at leading opera houses and festivals in Europe including the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. He has directed several operas by Gioachino Rossini, including at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. At La Fenice in his hometown of Venice, he has staged Mozart operas, among others. He has staged plays at the Teatro Stabile del Veneto and the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, among other venues.