Draft:Ilya Shagalov

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Ilya Shagalov
Илья Шагалов
Born
Ilya Yuryevich Shagalov

(1986-12-14) December 14, 1986
Krasnodar, Russia
Alma materKrasnodar State Institute of Culture and Arts;
Moscow Art Theatre School
Occupations
  • Video designer
  • Multimedia artist
  • Stage director
  • Film director
Years active2004–present

Ilya Yuryevich Shagalov (Russian: Илья Юрьевич Шагалов; born 14 December 1986) is a Russian video designer and multimedia artist based in Berlin. He works across opera, theatre, ballet, and concert performance, using cinematic visual language—including still-image sequences, documentary aesthetics, and large-scale projection—as an integral element of live performance.

Shagalov has worked with institutions including the Vienna State Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, the Hamburg State Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Ruhrtriennale, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Salzburg Festival, Staatsballett Berlin, and the Southbank Centre in London. He has been a long-term collaborator of director Kirill Serebrennikov.

Early life and education

Shagalov was born in Krasnodar in 1986. From childhood he showed an interest in fine arts and technology and received a musical education in piano. In 2008, he graduated from the Krasnodar State Institute of Culture and Arts, where he studied theatre direction in the course of Vladimir Rogulchenko, a student of Anatoly Vasiliev.

Following graduation, he enrolled in a directing course led by Kirill Serebrennikov at the Moscow Art Theatre School, which became the foundation of Serebrennikov's celebrated "Seventh Studio" company. His classmates included Evgenia Berkovich, Alexander Gorchilin, and Filipp Avdeyev.[1] He graduated from the Moscow Art Theatre School in 2013.

Career

Video design

Shagalov began working as a video artist in 2004. From 2008 onward he served as a regular video designer on productions directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, spanning dramatic theatre, opera, and large-scale multimedia performance. He became a permanent member of the Gogol Center ensemble in 2013, the year of its opening under Serebrennikov's artistic direction, contributing video design to many of its landmark productions.

He left Russia in 2022 and has since worked internationally across European opera houses, festivals, and performance venues.

His opera credits include Salome and Hänsel und Gretel at the Staatsoper Stuttgart,[2] Così fan tutte (2018) and Leben mit einem Idioten (2024) at Opernhaus Zürich,[3] Nabucco at the Hamburg State Opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia (2016) and Così fan tutte (2023) at Komische Oper Berlin,[4] Decameron at Deutsches Theater Berlin,[5] and Don Carlo at the Vienna State Opera—all directed by Serebrennikov.

In 2024, he created video design for Serebrennikov's outdoor spectacle Legende at Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord as part of the Ruhrtriennale festival, and for Barocco at Thalia Theater Hamburg.[6]

In 2025, Shagalov served as video designer on Der Schneesturm (The Snowstorm), directed by Serebrennikov, a new production co-produced by the Salzburg Festival and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, and on Hamlet / Fantômes, a world premiere created by Serebrennikov for the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with music by Blaise Ubaldini and performed by the Ensemble intercontemporain.[7]

In 2026, his work included the Nureyev ballet by choreographer Yuri Possokhov and composer Ilya Demutsky, directed by Serebrennikov, in its first staging outside Russia, performed by Staatsballett Berlin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.[8] Also in 2026, he worked on Le nozze di Figaro at Dutch National Opera, and created the visual concept for Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us at the Southbank Centre, London (see below).

Stage direction

As a stage director, Shagalov has worked in theatre and opera in Russia and Europe. His productions include We after Yevgeny Zamyatin at the Théâtre des 2 Rives in Normandy (2015), Venus in Furs after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch at Vene Teater in Estonia (2016), and the music-theatre work Die Einsamen (composer Sergej Newski), presented in Stuttgart and at the Venice Music Biennale (2021).[9]

He also directed the online performance Kleines Requiem (text by Valeriy Pecheykin) for Deutsches Theater Berlin (2020),[10] and the screen-life performance The Fairies (after Ronan Chéneau) for the Gogol Center.[11]

Film

In 2020, Shagalov directed his first short film, The Fairies. In 2022 he directed the feature film Aquarium, which received the Special Jury Prize at the Kaliningrad International Film Festival in 2023.[12]

Platforma Project (2012–2014)

Shagalov was a contributing artist and media designer on the experimental Platforma Project, co-curated by Serebrennikov at the Gogol Center. He contributed to its season openings and its closing event The End of a Beautiful Era (2014), alongside the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble.

Exhibitions

Shagalov's video art has been shown at several institutional exhibitions:

  • 2018: Metronom, «25Kadr» Gallery, Moscow
  • 2020: Demidova. Gesture, GROUND Solyanka Gallery, Moscow
  • 2021: The Room with Special Purpose, Moscow North River Station
  • 2022: The Ironic Man. Anniversary of Poet Levitansky, A.V. Shchusev Museum of Architecture, Moscow
  • 2022: Always. Today. After Tomorrow, Museum of Transport at VDNKh, Moscow

Assistant work

Shagalov has worked as assistant director to several prominent directors:

Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us (2026)

In April 2026, Shagalov created the visual concept and semi-staging for Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us, a concert performance of Alban Berg's Wozzeck with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner, at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Southbank Centre's Multitudes festival.

The visual layer consisted of a large-scale sequence of projected still images — a "photo-film" structure developed with visual co-creator Nina Guseva — reframing the opera's story through the lens of a contemporary migrant worker, drawing on British social realism. The production was performed on 25 April 2026 with Stéphane Degout (Wozzeck), Annette Dasch (Marie) and Peter Hoare (Captain) as the principal soloists.

The production received coverage across the British classical press. The Times awarded it five stars.[13] The Guardian,[14] the Financial Times,[15] and Bachtrack each gave four stars.[16] TheArtsDesk described Shagalov as a video artist whose work "really deserves the often-used term 'visionary'".[17] MusicOMH awarded three stars, arguing that the density of the images at times competed with the opera's dramatic structure.[18] Further reviews appeared in Classical Source,[19] The Reviews Hub,[20] and Seen and Heard International.[21]

Critical discussion of the production reflected a wider debate about the role of large-scale visual media in opera and concert performance.

Selected video design credits

YearWorkVenue / CompanyDirector
2008Deus ex machina (scenic cantata)WinzavodKirill Serebrennikov
2008Station (opera)WinzavodKirill Serebrennikov
2009Hamlet-MachineMoscow Art TheatreKirill Serebrennikov
2010Requiem (symphonic performance)Moscow Art TheatreKirill Serebrennikov
2012WoyzeckLatvian National TheatreKirill Serebrennikov
2015Salome (opera)Staatsoper StuttgartKirill Serebrennikov
2016Il barbiere di Siviglia (opera)Komische Oper BerlinKirill Serebrennikov
2017Hänsel und Gretel (opera)Staatsoper StuttgartKirill Serebrennikov
2018Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (opera)Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko TheatreKonstantin Bogomolov
2018Così fan tutte (opera)Opernhaus ZürichKirill Serebrennikov
2019Nabucco (opera)Hamburg State OperaKirill Serebrennikov
2020DecameronDeutsches Theater BerlinKirill Serebrennikov
2023Così fan tutte (opera)Komische Oper BerlinKirill Serebrennikov
2023BaroccoThalia Theater HamburgKirill Serebrennikov
2023I Capuleti e i Montecchi (opera)DNT WeimarJossi Wieler
2024Le nozze di Figaro (opera)Komische Oper BerlinKirill Serebrennikov
2024LegendeLandschaftspark Duisburg-Nord (Ruhrtriennale)Kirill Serebrennikov
2024Don Carlo (opera)Vienna State OperaKirill Serebrennikov
2024Leben mit einem Idioten (opera)Opernhaus ZürichKirill Serebrennikov
2025Der SchneesturmSalzburg Festival / Düsseldorfer SchauspielhausKirill Serebrennikov
2025Hamlet / FantômesThéâtre du Châtelet, ParisKirill Serebrennikov
2026Nureyev (ballet)Staatsballett Berlin / Deutsche Oper BerlinStaging: Kirill Serebrennikov; Choreography: Yuri Possokhov
2026Le nozze di Figaro (opera)Dutch National Opera—
2026Wozzeck: Wretches Like UsRoyal Festival Hall, LondonConcert / semi-staging; conducted by Edward Gardner

Filmography

  • The Fairies (2020, short film)
  • Aquarium (2022, feature film)

Awards

  • Special Jury Prize, Kaliningrad International Film Festival, for Aquarium (2023)

References

  1. "Ilya Shagalov". Gogol Center. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  2. "Ilya Shagalov". Staatsoper Stuttgart. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  3. "Così fan tutte". Opernhaus Zürich. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  4. Nalepa, Lutz (16 October 2016). "Komische Oper Berlin: Il barbiere di Siviglia". GBOPERA. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  5. "Bringing Plague Tales Into Modern Times". The New York Times. 9 March 2020.
  6. "Barocco". Thalia Theater Hamburg. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  7. "Hamlet / Fantômes". Théâtre du Châtelet. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  8. "Nureyev". Staatsballett Berlin. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  9. "Biennale Musica 2021 – Neue Vocalsolisten". La Biennale di Venezia. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  10. "Kleines Requiem". Deutsches Theater Berlin. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  11. "Fées de Ronan Chéneau, les versions confinées de David Bobée et Kirill Serebrennikov". Sceneweb. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  12. "Aquarium". FestAgent. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  13. "Wozzeck: London Philharmonic Orchestra review". The Times. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  14. Clements, Andrew (26 April 2026). "Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us review – Berg opera becomes a grimly cinematic nightmare". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  15. "Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  16. "Wretches like us: the LPO's concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick". Bachtrack. 28 April 2026. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  17. "Wozzeck, LPO, Gardner, RFH review". TheArtsDesk. 27 April 2026. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  18. "Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us review". MusicOMH. 27 April 2026. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  19. "Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us". Classical Source. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  20. "LPO: Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us – Southbank Centre, London". The Reviews Hub. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  21. "LPO's Wozzeck loses its core power". Seen and Heard International. Retrieved 29 April 2026.

Category:Russian theatre directors Category:Russian video artists Category:Russian film directors Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:People from Krasnodar Category:Moscow Art Theatre School alumni Category:Russian emigrants to Germany