Nicola Raab has gained international recognition as a director with a great deal of sensitivity, detailed character work and visual flair. Her production of »Written on Skin« for Teatro Comunale Bolzano received the coveted Premio Abbiate of the Guild of Italian Music Critics in 2016. In 2013, she received the Arets Reumert Prize for the best Danish opera production for »Otello« at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen.
She created highly acclaimed productions with »La Traviata« at Komischen Oper Berlin, »Rusalka« at Opéra national du Rhin and Opéra de Limoges, »Ariodante« at Drottningholms Slottsteater, »Jenůfa« at the Greek National Opera in Athen, »Il Corsaro« at Palau de les Arts in Valencia, »Lakmé« at Malmö Opera, »Francesca da Rimini« at Opéra National du Rhin in Straßburg, »Elektra« at Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lissabon, »Semiramide« at Opéra national de Lorraine and »La Wally« at Teatro Comunale Bozen.
In the 2021/22 season, Nicola Raab's directed of Verdi's »Macbeth« for the Opéra de Dijon as well as Puccini's »Turandot« for Theater Regensburg and Carlo Pallavicino's »Le Amazzoni nell'isole fortunate« together with the ensemble Les Talens Lyriques. The latter was conducted by Christophe Rousset and premiered at Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci. Audiences and the specialist press celebrated all of them with great enthusiasm. This led to a close collaboration with Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique Paris, where she directed »Die Fledermaus« together with conductor Lucy Legay in collaboration with Philharmonie de Paris.
Other works of the director are the productions of »I Capuleti e i Montecchi« in Bergen, von Einem’s »Jesu Hochzeit« at Carinthian Summer Festival, »Written on Skin« at Theater St. Gallen, John Adams‘ »A Flowering Tree« at Göteborg Opera and Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lissabon, »Boris Godunov« at Savonlinna Operafestival, »Lohengrin« at the Royal Danish Opera in Kopenhagen, »Beatrice and Benedict« by Berlioz and »A Flowering Tree« at the Chicago Opera Theatre, »Death and the Maiden and The Cunning Little Vixen« at Theater St. Gallen, »Don Chisciotte« by Francesco Conti and »Artaxerxes« by Leonardo Vinci at Musikwerkstatt Wien, »The Marathon« by Isidora Zebeljan at Bregenzer Festspiele, »Parsifal« for the Estonian National Opera, »Tristan und Isolde« at Novaya Opera Moskau, as well as Massenet’s »Thaïs« at Göteborg Opera, the Finnish National opera, the Los Angeles Opera and in Valencia.
At the beginning of her career, Nicola Raab produced a number of modern works for Kammeroper Wien, namely »Moskau, Tscherjomuschki« by Schostakowitsch, »When she died …« by Jonathan Dove and »Eight Songs for a Mad King« by P. Maxwell Davies, »The Io Passion« by Harrison Birtwistle and Britten’s »Owen Wingrave«.