Stephen Medcalf

Stephen Medcalf (born 1958) is a British stage director, particularly known for his opera productions, both in the UK and abroad. He received the Italian music critics' prize, Premio Abbiati, for "Best Director" in 2005. Medcalf is married to the British soprano Susan Gritton.

Life and career Medcalf was born in Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire and attended the University of Nottingham where he read economic and social history. While at Nottingham he sang in the university's opera group chorus and directed a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore at the New Theatre. After graduation, he did further training as a stage director at the London Drama Studio. His first job was in stage management at the Royal Northern College of Music. He then worked at Glyndebourne Festival Opera which he describes as the place where he "learnt his craft and trade" working as an assistant director under Peter Sellars and Peter Hall.

One of Medcalf's earliest productions in Italy was The Magic Flute for the Teatro Regio di Parma in 1995 conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. The production has since been revived at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Teatro Regio di Parma, and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, Spain. Medcalf went on to direct new several more new productions in Italy, notably A Village Romeo and Juliet (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari 2002), The Queen of Spades (La Scala, Milan 2005), Manon Lescaut (Teatro Regio di Parma 2005), and Falstaff (Teatro Farnese, Parma 2011). He was awarded the 2005 Premio Abbiati for "Best Director" for The Queen of Spades at La Scala.

Opera productions Opera productions directed by Stephen Medcalf include: Mascagni, Il piccolo Marat, 1992, Wexford Festival Opera Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, 1994, Glyndebourne Festival Opera (inaugural performance of the new Glyndebourne opera house) Rimsky-Korsakov, May Night, 1995, Wexford Festival Opera Delius, A Village Romeo and Juliet, 2002, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (Italian premiere) Tchaikovsky, The Queen of Spades, 2005, La Scala (Premio Abbiati for Best Director) Puccini, Manon Lescaut, 2005, Teatro Regio di Parma Verdi, Falstaff, 2011, Teatro Farnese in Parma (first opera production in the 17th-century theatre in 200 years) Verdi, Aida, 2012, Royal Albert Hall Foroni, Cristina, regina di Svezia, 2013, Wexford Festival Opera (Irish premiere and only the second production in modern times) Donizetti, Viva La Diva, 2022, Buxton Festival