Carlos Wagner was born and brought up in Caracas, Venezuela.
He studied at the Guildhall School of Music ad Drama in London.
He has worked as an actor both on stage and in film. Being fluent in German, Spanish, French, Italian, and English, he has written singing translations of “Mefistofele”: A. Boito and “Tristan und Isolde” R. Wagnerfor the English National Opera in London.
After a workshop with Ruth Berghaus in Berlin however, he decided to dedicate himself to directing opera and theatre.
He has worked at major Houses like: The Royal Opera House in London, El Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, The Opéras Nationales de Lorraine, de Nantes, de Bordeaux and Montpellier in France, The Aalto Theater in Essen, Gärtnerplatz Theater in Munich, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Staatstheater Mainzand Leipzig in Germany. De Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, The National Opera of South Korea and The Festival of Arts and Ideas in Connecticut USA. He has also staged two large open air events in front of the Cathedral of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Operas he has directed include: Angels in America: P. Eötvös, Il Barbiere di Siviglia: G. Rossini, Carmen: G. Bizet, La Damnation de Faust: H. Berlioz, Das Gesicht im Spiegel: J. Widmann & R. Schimmelpfennig, Don Giovanni: W. A. Mozart, Le Duc d’Albe: G. Donizetti, Eugene Onegin: P. I. Tchaikovsky, The Fall of the House of Usher: Ph. Glass, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Siegfried & Götterdämmerung: R. Wagner,Der Freischütz: C.M. von Weber, Le Grand Macabre: G. Ligeti, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno & Lotario: G.F. Händel, Macbeth, Luisa Miller & I due Foscari: G. Verdi, Notre Dame: F. Schmid, Powder her Face: T. Adès, The Rake’s Progress: I. Stravinsky, The Rape of Lucretia: B.Britten,Salomé: R. Strauss, Tosca, La Bohème & Trittico: G. Puccini, La Vie Parisienne & Geneviève de Brabant: J. Offenbach and Werther: J. Massenet amongst many others.
He also staged “El Palacio Imaginado” H. Paredes “La Cabeza del Bautista”: E. Palomar, “Il Medico dei Pazzi”: G. Battistelli and “Julie & Jean”: G. Schedl, all world premières for the Gran Teatro del Liceo, Opéra Nationale de Nancy, Musik der Jahrhunderte, The Festival of Arts and Ideas and Neue Oper Wien.
Plays staged: La Ronde: A. Schnitzler, Angels in America: T. Kushner and Romeo and Juliet: W. Shakespeare.
Future events include:
Iolanta (P. I. Tchaikovsky) for the theatre of Kiel, Germany. Ottone (G. F. Händel) for the Baadisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Germany. Mother Courage and her Children (B. Brecht) for the theatre of Kiel. La Bella Susona (A. Carretero & R. Puerto) for the Teatro de la Maestranza, Seville, Spain.