Barbara de Limburg designs sets for both theatre and opera, producing beautiful and imaginative sets that are in harmony with and complement fully the work of the directors with whom she collaborates.  Her regular partners include Laurent Pelly and Laura Scozzi.  

Born in Brussels, she studied set design at La Cambre, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels in Brussels, graduating in 1996.  Initially her work was exclusively in the theatre, expanding into opera just a few years ago.  Theatrical work has included a successful collaboration with the choreographer Bud Blumenthal, their productions including Groundscape in Essen and Brussels, Les Reflets d’Ulysse in Liège in 2005 and Brussels in 2006 and Dowhileloop in Brussels and Paris in 2007.  In 2011 theatre design included Tennessee Williams – Short Stories directed by Agathe Mélinand at Théâtre National du Toulouse and plans include Sous La Ceinture for Théâtre Varia Brussels and Théâtre National de Bordeaux) with Delphine Salkin.

Her debut opera design was Massenet’s Cendrillon for Santa Fe Opera in 2006, directed by Laurent Pelly. Her collaboration with Laurent Pelly continued in 2007 with Mozart’s La Finta semplice (Theater an der Wien), Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel (Glyndebourne, 2008), Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (Saito Kinen Festival, Japan 2008 and Maggio Musicale, Florence 2009), and Massenet’s Don Quichotte (La Monnaie, Brussels and Teatro Massimo, Palermo 2010).  Work with director Laura Scozzi includes set design for Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini (2008).

Most recently, she enjoyed great critical acclaim in a collaboration with Laurent Pelly on Ravel’s L'enfant et les sortilèges, a co-production for Glyndebourne Festival and Saito Kinen Festival.  Other recent work includes set design for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle with Jean-Philippe Delavault in Tourcoing, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for the Thèâtre National du Capitole, Toulouse, (Pelly) and Rossini’s Il viaggio à Reims for Nuremberg State Opera, (Scozzi).   Plans for 2012/13 include La traviata for Angers Nantes Opéra.   In addition Barbara continues to work on numerous revivals of her existing designs, including Cendrillon at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (2011), La Monnaie, Brussels (2011), Opéra de Lille (2012) and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (2013) and Hänsel und Gretel for Opera National de Lyon.

She has also assisted designer Chantal Thomas on Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (L’Opéra national de Paris, Bastille and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) and La Fille du Régiment (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, New York), directed by Laurent Pelly.

May 2013