Nikolaus Lehnhoff

Nikolaus Lehnhoff (20 May 1939 in Hanover – 29 August 2015 in Berlin) was a German opera director.

Born in Hanover to Erika (née Fiediger) and Friedrich Lehnhoff, Lehnhoff studied at the University of Munich and the University of Vienna. Lenhoff began his career working as a stage director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and as an assistant to Wieland Wagner at the Bayreuth Festival in the 1960s. He then became a stage director for the Metropolitan Opera, beginning with the 1967 revival of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. He served as stage director for several more Met productions through 1970, including Ariadne auf Naxos, La bohème, The Flying Dutchman, and Simon Boccanegra.

In 1972 Lenhoff directed his first opera; a production of Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Paris Opera with Christa Ludwig and Walter Berry. He directed that same work for his directorial debut at the San Francisco Opera (SFO) with Leonie Rysanek as the Empress in 1976. He returned many times to direct for the SFO over the next three decades, including Salome (1982 & 1987), The Ring Cycle (1983-1985, 1990, & 1999), Die Walküre (1995), Parsifal (1999-2000), and The Flying Dutchman (2004-2005). His production of The Ring Cycle for the SFO was adopted by the National Theatre Munich in 1987.