Jiří Heřman

Jiří Heřman ranks among the most remarkable Czech opera directors of the present time. His distinctive and elaborated style of directing possesses, beside cultivated aesthetic qualities, also a strong spiritual dimension. He places emphasis on the suggestiveness of the theatre space and its relationship to the actors’ movements as well as the spoken word and music. He attained high renown through both chamber projects in untraditional venues and productions on large opera stages. In the period 2007 – 2012 he was the artistic director of the Opera Ensemble of the National Theatre. When he was in this position, he directed six productions that won extraordinary acclaim by the audience and the critics – Orfeo by Monteverdi, the operas Rusalka and The Jacobin by Antonín Dvořák, The Miracles of Mary by B. Martinů, Parsifal by Richard Wagner and Gloriana by Benjamin Britten. His current artistic feats include the originally executed stage production of Schubert’s Winterreise, in the gigantic space of the film studio No. 4 in Barrandov, Prague. At present, he is preparing Zdeněk Fibich’s last great opera, The Fall of Arkun, for the National Theatre in Prague. In March 2014 he staged Yerma by Lorca, with the Drama Ensemble of the South Bohemian Theatre. In January 2015 he will assume the position of artistic director of the Opera Ensemble of the National Theatre in Brno.