Dietrich W.
Hilsdorf

Dietrich W. Hilsdorf (born 1948) studied Acting at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts from 1972 to 1975, during which time he also worked as an assistant to Hans Neuenfels. He subsequently served as Assistant Director to Andreas Weißert in Dortmund.

Since 1978, he has directed more than 175 productions in theatre, opera, and musical theatre, working at venues including Wiesbaden, Meiningen, Gelsenkirchen, Rouen, Essen, Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Bremen, Bonn, Cologne, Leipzig, Berlin, Catania, and Vienna. Hilsdorf set new standards in music theatre with his Mozart cycle in Gelsenkirchen, his Verdi productions at the Aalto-Theater Essen, and his series of Handel productions in Bonn.

His production of Jekyll & Hyde in Bremen earned him the title of Musical Director of the Year in 1999. In 2006, he was nominated for the German theatre award Der Faust in the category Best Director – Music Theatre for Handel’s Jephtha in Bonn. He received the award in 2007 for Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges at Chemnitz Opera.

At Oper Köln, he directed Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, while at the Aalto-Theater Essen he staged Scarlatti’s Cain, or The First Murder. For Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Hilsdorf directed Ariadne auf Naxos and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen between 2017 and 2019. Other notable productions include Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza 2021 in Wuppertal, Lucia di Lammermoor in Dresden and Essen, La clemenza di Tito in Magdeburg, and Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci in Karlsruhe.

Reviewing his acclaimed production of Aribert Reimann’s Bernarda Albas Haus in Gelsenkirchen, critic Uwe Schweikert wrote in Opernwelt: “Hilsdorf once again proves himself to be one of the most brilliant psychologists among the older generation of opera directors.”

In the 2025/26 season, he directed the German staged premiere of Sarro’s Didone abbandonata at the Meiningen State Theatre.

During the 2026/27 season, two of Hilsdorf’s productions will be presented at Oper Köln: the highly successful Cain and Abel, which premiered at the Aalto-Theater Essen in 2020, and a revival of My Fair Lady (originally staged in 2012).