Dmitri Tcherniakov

Dmitri Tcherniakov was born in Moscow in 1970, where he studied at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts. He is not only a director, but also creates sets for his productions. Prior to his international career, he staged a number of opera and theatre productions in many Russian theatres, including the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His first high-profile production outside Russia was Boris Godunov at the Berlin State Opera in 2005 under Daniel Barenboim. In 2006, he made an international breakthrough with Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The production was received by many other opera houses, and in 2020, it entered the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera. In 2009, he staged Wozzeck at the Bolshoi Theatre, and in 2011, he returned to stage Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila for the opening of the Bolshoi's historic stage after reconstruction.

He has collaborated intensively with Daniel Barenboim, working with him at the Berlin State Opera on Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Prokofiev’s The Gambler and Betrothal in a Monastery, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride and Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde. In 2014, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Borodin’s Prince Igor, and in 2013 directed La traviata at La Scala, Milan.

Other career highlights have included Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Lulu and Der Freischütz at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; Trovatore at La Monnaie in Brussels, the Cologne Opera; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the English National Opera and the Opéra national de Lyon; Macbeth, Les Troyens, Iolanta/The Nutcracker and Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden at the Paris Opéra; Simon Boccanegra at the English National Opera and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh in The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow; Don Giovanni at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Teatro Real in Madrid and Canadian Opera Company; Carmen at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, La Monnaie in Brussels and Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg; Jenůfa, The Makropulos Affair, Pelléas et Mélisande and Die tote Stadt at the Zurich Opera House and Rimsky-Korsakov’s  The Tale of Tsar Saltan at La Monnaie in Brussels, the Opéra national de Rhin in Strasbourg and the Teatro Real in Madrid; The Flying Dutchman at the Bayreuth Festival.

His recent projects include The Ring of the Nibelung at the Berlin State Opera; War and Peace in Munich; Così fan tutte and a double bill of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride in Aix-en-Provence and Greek National Opera; Janáček’s From the House of the Dead at the Ruhrtriennale festival; Elektra, Salome and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Hamburg State Opera; Elektra at The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen; Rusalka at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Salzburg festival. Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and Borodin’s Prince Igor at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.

From 12 November until 2 December 2025, Dutch National Opera will stage The Maid of Orleans with Dmitri Tcherniakov as stage director and set designer.

Last update: 29-10-2025