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About
Robert Carsen O.C. is a Canadian opera director. He was born in Toronto and is the son of philanthropist Walter Carsen.
When Carsen was 25 Canadian Opera Company (COC) director Lotfi Mansouri invited him to work as assistant director on Tristan und Isolde, and this was followed directing two operas at the Guelph Spring Festival in Ontario, these being Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse and Benjamin Britten’s The Prodigal Son.
Carsen started at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 1987 and he stood out as a designer with the National Ballet of Canada.
Subsequently, Carsen staged Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner in Cologne, Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera, Il Trovatore in Bregenz, Capriccio by Richard Strauss, Alcina by Handel and Rusalka at the Opera Bastille with Renée Fleming, The Magic Flute in Baden-Baden, La Traviata at La Fenice, Mefistofele at the San Francisco Opera and Der Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival.
He directed seven Puccini operas in Belgium and Verdi's Shakespearean trilogy of (Macbeth, Falstaff and Otello) in Germany.
In addition, Carsen directed Sunset Boulevard and The Soldier's Tale with Sting, Vanessa Redgrave and Ian McKellen.
His most recent staging has been of Verdi's Falstaff. This five-company co-production includes Milan's La Scala, London's Covent Garden (where both companies gave performances in the 2012/13 season). the Canadian Opera Company, The Netherlands Opera, and New York's Metropolitan Opera. The Met's December 2013 staging received acclaim.
In 1996, Carsen received the title of Knight of the Legion of Honour. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006.
