Michael Levine
Awards
2022 - International Opera Awards: Michael Levine won Designer of the Year
2020 - Olivier Award for Best New Opera Billy Budd at The Royal Opera House
2019 - Dora Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design and Costume Design for Eugene Onegin
2019 - Excellence in Performance Design at the Prague Quadrennial
2016 - Dora Mavor Moore Award for Siegfried
2011 - Distinguished Artist Award from the International Society for the Performing Arts.
1997 - Gemini Award for September Songs The Music of Kurt Weill
1993 - Edinburgh Festival Drama and Music Award for Bluebeard’s Castle and Erwartung
1991 - Critics Award, France for A Midsummer Night's Dream
1981 - Named Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in France.
Nominated
2022 - International Opera Awards: Madama Butterfly at Bregenz Festival shortlisted in the New Production category
Michael Levine is Canadian. He has worked internationally as a set and costume designer for the past 35 years. He studied stage design at The Central School of Art and Design in London.
“Peter Grimes - The Royal Opera House
I defy anybody to see this and not feel emotionally wrecked by the end. Wrecked but also exhilarated. ”
“The Rake’s Progress - Aix en Provence
The real star of the show however was the stage set designed by Michael Levine. It was a white box made of paper. Various images, ranging from 18th century pastoral scenes, to a modern city harsh executive skyline, London black cabs, Instagram-inspired compositions, a crashing stock exchange, or Baba the Turk’s gilded boudoir are projected against its starkness to effectively convey the drastically changing atmosphere.”
“Madama Butterfly - Zürich Opera
Accolades also go to stage designer Michael Levine, whose deference to simplicity was like that of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The use of a single Japanese screen set off against Butterfly’s intimate profession of love, for example, made a single, clean line of gold behind her on an otherwise sparingly-outfitted stage. ”
Gallery
2025
Production |
Company |
Hotel Metamorphosis | Salzburg Festspiele, Dir. Barrie Kosky | Die Liebe der Danae | Bayerische Staatsoper, Dir. Claus Guth | Dialogues des Carmelites | Palau de les Arts, Dir. Robert Carson | Jenufa | Royal Ballet & Opera, Dir. Claus Guth |
|---|
2024
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Atonement | Joffrey Ballet, Dir. Cathy Marston |
| Ariadne auf Naxos | Zurich Opera House, Dir. Andreas Homoki |
| The Magic Flute | Palau de les Arts, Dir. Simon McBurney | Mnemonic | National Theatre, Dir. Simon McBurney | Atonement | Opernhaus Zurich |
2023
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Jenufa | Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dir. Claus Guth | Chicago | Komische Oper Berlin, Dir. Barrie Koksy | Carmen | Metropolitan Opera, Dir. Carrie Cracknell | Semele | Beyerische Staatsoper, Dir. Claus Guth, Set Des. Michael Levine | Peter Grimes (Revival) | Opera De Paris, Dir. Deborah Warner, Chor. Kim Brandstrup |
2022
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Turandot | Dutch National Opera, Dir. Barrie Kosky |
| Madama Butterfly | Bregenz Festival, Dir. Andreas Homoki, Set Des. Michael Levine, Costume Des. Antony McDonald, Choreography Lucy Burge |
| Carmen | Dutch National Opera, Dir. Robert Carsen |
| The Cunning Little Vixen | Bayerische Staatsoper, Dir. Barrie Kosky |
| Peter Grimes (Revival) | Royal Opera House, Dir. Deborah Warner, Chor. Kim Brandstrup |
2021
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Peter Grimes | Teatro Real, Dir. Deborah Warner, Chor. Kim Brandstrup |
| Jenůfa | Royal Opera House, Dir. Claus Guth |
2020
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Iphigenie en Tauride | Zürich Opera, Dir. Andreas Homoki |
| Eugene Onegin | Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma, Dir. Robert Carsen |
2019
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Billy Budd | Royal Opera House, Dir. Deborah Warner, Chor. Kim Brandstrup |
| The Rake's Progress | Stanislavski Theatre, Dir. Simon McBurney, Ass Dir. Josie Daxter, Costume Des. Christina Cunningham |
| Madama Butterfly (Revival) | Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier , Dir. Ted Huffman, Costume Des. Annemarie Woods |
2018
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Sweeney Todd | Zürich Opera, Dir. Andreas Homoki, Costume Des. Annemarie Woods |
| Die Tote Stadt | Theatre Komische Oper Berlin, Dir. Robert Carsen, Costume Des. Petra Reinhardt |
| Hell's Fury | Luminato Festival Toronto, Dir. Tim Albery |
2017
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Madam Butterfly | Zürich Opera, Dir. Ted Huffman, Costume Des. Annemarie Woods |
| Wings | Young Vic Theatre London, Dir. Natalie Abrahami, Costume Des. Holly Waddington |
| The Rake's Progress | Festival d'Aix en Provence, Dir. Simon McBurney, Associated Dir. Josie Daxter, Costume Des. Christina Cunningham |
| Billy Budd | Teatro Real Madrid, Dir. Deborah Warner, Chor. Kim Brandstrup |
2016
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Le Petit Prince | The National Ballet of Canada, Chor. Guillaume Cote |
| Benjamin Dernière Nuit | Opéra de Lyon, Dir. John FullJames, Costume Des. Christina Cunningham |
2015
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Hansel and Gretel | The Dutch National Opera, Dir. Lotte de Beer |
| Wozzeck | Zürich Opera, Dir. Andreas Homoki |
| The Encounter | Complicité, Dir. Simon McBurney & Co. Dir. Kirsty Housley |
| Between Worlds | English National Opera, Dir. Deborah Warner |
2014
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| The Magic Flute | Opéra national de Paris, Dir. Robert Carsen |
| The Queen of Spades | Zürich Opera & Opéra national du Rhin, Dir. Robert Carsen |