Rifail Ajdarpasic

Rifail Ajdarpasic was born in Stuttgart. He graduated with a degree in stage and exhibition design from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (ZKM), where he has already won several awards. At the beginning of his career as a stage designer, he worked several times at the Vienna State Opera for the ballet productions of the off-ballet series Young Choreographers. From 2003 to 2007, he regularly designed the sets for Calixto Bieito's productions in Europe together with Ariane Isabell Unfried, among others, with whom he continues to work closely. During this period, he played a key role in shaping Bieito's stage aesthetic. From this period, Verdi's “La traviata” and “Don Carlos”, “The Rake's Progress” (Stravinsky), ‘Elektra’ (R. Strauss), “King Lear” (Reimann) and “Hamlet” (Thomas) are particularly noteworthy.
Rifail Ajdarpasic regularly works with directors Francisco Negrin, Nicola Berloffa, Immo Karaman, David Hermann, Hendrik Müller, Philipp Kochheim and Ulrich Peters across genres at major European opera houses. Since 2007, he has also developed a number of joint concepts with Carlos Wagner, for example for “La damnation de Faust” (Berlioz), “The Fall of the House of Usher” (Glass), Wagner's “Der fliegende Holländer” and ‘Lohengrin’, as well as “Notre Dame” by Franz Schmidt for the 16th St. Gallen Festival in 2021. Nicolai's “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (director: David Hermann) in Switzerland and Bizet's “Carmen” (director: Nicola Berloffa) at the St. Gallen and Rennes Opera have also won awards. The production “Gegen die Wand” (Ludger Vollmer, director: Neco Çelik) at the Stuttgart State Opera was awarded the theater prize DER FAUST in 2011.
At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Rifail Ajdarpasic was responsible for the stage design of Bizet's “Carmen” (director: Carlos Wagner) and most recently worked with Ariane Isabell Unfried on Paul Abraham's “Märchen im Grand-Hotel” (director: Michaela Dicu) at Theater Duisburg. In the 2025/26 season, the team will return to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein for Händel's “Giulio Cesare in Egitto”.

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