The OPER! AWARDS 2025 were presented on 21 February at La Monnaie in Brussels, which had the honor of hosting the award show as the Best Opera House of 2025. La Monnaie was honored by Ulrich Ruhnke, the jury chair and founder of the OPER! AWARDS, for its “tremendous attraction and inviting openness that brings both artists and audiences together in the opera house for top creative performances.”
The OPER! AWARDS are Germany’s only publicly awarded international opera prizes. They are awarded annually at a gala event to the world’s best performers and artists on and off stage. A jury of specialised journalists awards prizes in 20 categories. The assessment period for these awards is the year 2024.
The selection, level and aesthetics of the productions can more than once be called groundbreaking and also make opera accessible to younger generations. At the same time, the programme is embedded in the overarching mission of a contemporary opera house to reach out to society and send signals for sustainability and the promotion of a welcoming culture. For almost two decades and currently in his final season, Peter de Caluwe has led La Monnaie at a consistently high level and with undiminished creativity – an exception in the international opera world and absolutely worthy of an award.”
The award for ‘Best Opera House of the Year’ is a wonderful crowning of the teamwork that goes on within our house at all levels to bring trendsetting excellence time and again.
Peter de Caluwe, General and Artistic Director of La Monnaie
During the awards ceremony in Brussels, Peter de Caluwe, General and Artistic Director of La Monnaie shared a message of gratitude: “The award for ‘Best Opera House of the Year’ is a wonderful crowning of the teamwork that goes on within our house at all levels to bring trendsetting excellence time and again. It is satisfying to note that La Monnaie, despite its modest budget within the international context, continues to consistently play in the top league. I am proud to lead this house through a sustained period of success. That this Award comes in my final season I also consider a personal recognition. I am extremely grateful to the prestigious professional jury of journalists, who all judge many performances in many countries, for honouring La Monnaie with this title.”
Ulrich Ruhnke, jury president of the OPER! AWARDS justified the decision with the following words: “Under general and artistic director Peter de Caluwe, the Brussels opera house La Monnaie exudes a tremendous attraction and inviting openness that brings both artists and audiences together in the opera house for top creative performances. The selection, level and aesthetics of the productions can more than once be called groundbreaking and also make opera accessible to younger generations. At the same time, the programme is embedded in the overarching mission of a contemporary opera house to reach out to society and send signals for sustainability and the promotion of a welcoming culture.”
Also speaking at the award ceremony, Jan Jambon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Pensions, in charge of the National Lottery and the Federal Cultural Institutions shared his enthusiasm – “For the first time, this country receives the prestigious Oper! Award for ‘Best Opera House of the Year.’ The team behind La Monnaie, under the artistic direction of Peter de Caluwe, has shown year after year the beautiful total performances they are able to create. Light and sound, text and voice, and experience and emotion are meticulously worked out. With this, they have won the hearts of opera lovers countless times, and with the additional visibility of the Oper! Award, they can now focus even more on international stages.”
More recognition for La Monnaie’s projects & collaborators
The fact that Christophe Coppens received the award for Best Set and Costume Designer for the production of Puccini’s Turandot that he created for La Monnaie is also telling. In addition, the recognition of Tobias Kratzer as Best Director and Krzysztof Warlikowski, who won the award for Best Production for Der Idiot, also deserves a more than honorable mention. It confirms that the choices of La Monnaie for innovative opera creators often turn out to be trendsetting within the European opera landscape. Tobias Kratzer directed Mozart’s Lucio Silla at La Monnaie and more recently a particularly well-received Il Trittico by Puccini. Krzysztof Warlikowski has been working at La Monnaie since the first season of Artistic Director Peter de Caluwe and has directed no fewer than seven productions there.
Our team also congratulates to La Monnaie / De Munt for being justly recognized with this prestigious award.
To learn more about the awards and to see the upcoming activities at the Brussels opera, visit the website of La Monnaie De munt.
