It began very early: Already as a small boy, Jürgen Flimm would sit in the audience next to his father, a theater doctor, enthralled by what was happening on stage. After his first practical experiences as a student, in 1968 he began his unparalleled theater career as assistant director at the Munich Kammerspiele. In the five decades that followed he has made national and international cultural history with his unforgettable directorial work, as director of the Cologne Schauspielhaus and Hamburg Thalia Theater, as head of the Ruhrtriennale and Salzburg Festival, and as director of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden.
In Bayreuth he brought a memorable “Ring” cycle to the stage, and his often spectacular opera productions have taken him to the Met in New York, to Milan, London, Petersburg, and Chicago. Virtually every theater buff remembers at least one of Jürgen Flimm’s groundbreaking productions, which include “Käthchen von Heilbronn” in Cologne in 1979, “Romeo and Juliet” at the Vienna State Opera in 2001, and Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” in Zurich in 1999.
At the same time, he was involved in cultural politics, performed as an actor in his own right, worked for television and, through it all, never lost his wonderful sense of humor, which makes his memoirs such a delight to read. A book full of highs and lows, bravos and booing, major triumphs and disappointments. A record of contemporary and cultural history, and a reminder that a life without art is not really life at all.
