The Bavarian State Ballet congratulates Jürgen Rose on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Opera! Awards. Born in 1937, the stage and costume designer has close ties to the Bavarian State Ballet. His sets for John Cranko's and John Neumeier's narrative ballets form cornerstones of the company's repertoire. The current season's program includes productions of Onegin (John Cranko), The Nutcracker, Illusions – like Swan Lake, and – as a revival from May 2026 – The Lady of the Camellias (John Neumeier). 

Rose's collaboration with John Cranko began in 1962 at the Württemberg State Theatres in Stuttgart, where the two conceived Romeo and Juliet and turned it into a worldwide success. In Munich, the dance adaptation of Shakespeare's drama was added to the repertoire of the Bavarian State Opera Ballet in November 1968, followed by Cranko's version of Swan Lake in 1970, Onegin in 1972, and The Taming of the Shrew in 1976. A year later, the first result of the collaboration between Rose and John Neumeier was presented – the narrative ballet The Nutcracker. This was followed in 1993 by A Midsummer Night's Dream, in 1997 by The Lady of the Camellias, in 2000 by A Cinderella Story, and finally in 2011 by Illusions – like Swan Lake.

The prize, awarded annually by the Berlin-based magazine Oper!, is divided into 18 categories. The jury members were specialist journalists Manuel Brug, Eleonore Büning, Uwe Friedrich, Georg Kasch, Kai Luehrs-Kaiser, Stephan Schwarz-Peters, Franziska Stürz, and Christian Wildhagen. The jury was chaired by Ulrich Ruhnke, editor-in-chief of Oper!, who launched the award in 2019. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, February 23, 2026, at the Theater Regensburg.