The General Music Director of the Komische Oper Berlin from 2012 to 2017, Henrik Nánási conducted new productions of Mazeppa, Eugene Onegin, Gianni Schicchi, La Belle Hélène, Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, The Fiery Angel, La clemenza di Tito, Cendrillon and The Fair at Sorochyntsi, as well as revivals of Falstaff, Der Rosenkavalier, Rusalka and Rigoletto, among others. Since his appointment in 2012, the Komische Oper Berlin has been named “Opera House of the Year 2013” by Opera World Magazine and “Opera Company of the Year 2015” at the Opera Awards.
Highlights of M° Nánási’s 2023/24 season include the house debut at Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville with a new production of Tristan und Isolde, I Vespri Siciliani at Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli, Der fliegende Holländer at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, a brand new production of Halévy’s La Juive at Oper Frankfurt. On the concert podium he will conduct Verdi Requiem with the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, and the Santa Cecilia Concert with Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid.
M° Nánási is a regular guest at the world’s major opera houses including The Metropolitan Opera (Iolanta, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle), Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Turandot, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Salome, Simon Boccanegra, Jenůfa – awarded with an Olivier Award 2022 as Best New Opera Production), Teatro alla Scala (Elektra), San Francisco Opera (Elektra, Le Nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte), Bayerische Staatsoper München (La Traviata, Rusalka), Opéra National de Paris (Die Zauberflöte), Gran Teatre del Liceu (Die Zauberflöte, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, Tosca), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Le Nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly, Carmen), Opernhaus Zürich (Le Nozze di Figaro), Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (La Bohème, Die Zauberflöte), Arena di Verona (Carmen), Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, Macbeth, Werther, Iolanta), Hamburgische Staatsoper (Otello, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata), Oper Frankfurt (La Bohème, I Masnadieri, L’Étoile, La Gazza Ladra, Otello), Semperoper Dresden (L’Italiana in Algeri, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, La Cenerentola), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Roméo et Juliette), ABAO Bilbao Opera (Madama Butterfly), Opéra de Monte-Carlo (Werther).
On the concert stage, he has worked with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Essener Philharmoniker, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli, Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Palermo, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica Illes Balears, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Modena.
His recording projects include DVD recordings of the Royal Opera’s Turandot and Jenůfa (available with Opus Arte), the Arena di Verona’s Carmen (available with Bel Air Classiques) and the CD recording of the Oper Frankfurt’s La Gazza Ladra (available with Oehms Classics).
Henrik Nánási was born in Pécs/Hungary. After studying piano and composition at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest he continued his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in orchestral conducting, coaching, and composition. He worked as a musical assistant at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden under Sir Antonio Pappano as well as at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and he was intensely active in concerts as a pianist and Lieder accompanist. After early engagements in Klagenfurt and Augsburg, he became First Conductor and Vice Chief Conductor at the Staatstheater am Gaertnerplatz in Munich before he moved to Berlin in 2012. M° Nánási is married to composer Veronika Ágnes Fáncsik, they currently live in Berlin.