Christoph Waltz debuts his ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ in Belgium

For opera fans in Southern California, Christoph Waltz has become a semi-regular presence in the audience of Los Angeles Opera productions at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. On Sunday, the two-time Academy Award winning actor officially made his debut as an opera director with a new production of “Der Rosenkavalier” in Belgium.

Waltz’s production premiered at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp with plans to travel to the Royal Opera in London in 2016. (The London cast is expected to include Renee Fleming.)

“My prime responsibility is to get out the way of the piece,” Waltz says in the video trailer for the opera, which can be viewed above. The production debuted on Sunday and is scheduled run through Dec. 28 before opening at the company’s location in Ghent, Belgium, where it will run Jan. 9-19.

“Der Rosenkavalier,” by Richard Strauss, is a comic opera that follows the romantic desperation of two couples in 18th century Vienna. The production marks the first time that Waltz has directed an opera production, though he was a veteran of the German-language theater before making movies in the U.S.

The Austrian-born Waltz has won two supporting-actor Oscars for his performances in two Quentin Tarantino movies -- “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained.”

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