Schenk, Otto (1930– )

Austrian producer. He produced Mozart's Die Zauberflöte/The Magic Flute at the Landestheater, Salzburg, in 1957. He produced Berg's Lulu (1962) and Janáček's Jenůfa (1964) at the Vienna Staatsoper; he later staged Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier/The Rose Cavalier (1969) and Weber's Der Freischütz/The Freeshooter (1972). In 1970 he produced Beethoven's Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York (1970), where he began a production of Wagner's Ring cycle with Die Walküre/The Valkyrie, in 1986. The cycle was completed with Götterdämmerung/Twilight of the Gods, in 1991. He was admired by audiences for a naturalistic approach and for his reluctance to polemicize. In 1975 he produced an austere version of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera/A Masked Ball at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.