Hans Neuenfels

Hans Neuenfels (born 31 May 1941, Krefeld) is a German writer, poet, film producer, librettist, theatre director and opera director.

Neuenfels studied at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna in the 1960s, and in the 1970s he quickly established himself as a leading practitioner of German Regietheater. Being invited to prominent venues, such as the Burgtheater, his productions were often controversially received, but he worked at the same time with well-known actors such as Klaus Maria Brandauer, Bernhard Minetti and Anne Bennent ().

His opera productions have often been accompanied by heated discussions and scandals. In particular his version of Aida in 1980 for Frankfurt, conducted by Michael Gielen, in which he portrayed Verdi's Ethiopian slave as a cleaning woman in a contemporary setting, or his Fledermaus in 2001 for the Salzburg Festival, which provoked angry reactions and resentment.

Neuenfels has been criticised for creating extremely sexually explicit opera scenes. Soprano Karita Mattila criticised him in 2000 for a Salzburg production of Mozart's Così fan tutte in which huge insects and background videos, some of them erotic, distracted attention from the singers; during Fiordiligi's fiery aria "Come scoglio", Mattila arrived onstage walking two men, in leather and chains, as if they were dogs. She called that the worst experience and said she believed Neuenfels had crossed the line.

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