The world premiere of the Yiddish operetta MAZELTOV RACHEL'E became a sensational success at the Cologne Opera in June 2021. For this piece, the director and author Christian von Götz had musically collaged various numbers from the era of the New York YIDDISH OPERETTA between 1900 and 1920, given them new Yiddish lyrics and placed them in their own play context. Christian von Götz studied opera directing at the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater“ in Vienna and the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin. He staged productions at Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Köln, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Oper Leipzig, Gärtnerplatztheater München, the opera houses in Lisbon and Odessa as well as at the Edinburgh International Festival, amongst others. His productions were repeatedly nominated as the seasons’s “Best production” in polls by the journal Opernwelt. In addition, he is one of the founding members of the ensemble MUSIKDEBATTE KÖLN, which presents contemporary cross-cultural issues on the opera stage. Christian von Götz and Musikdebatte Köln were nominated as “Young Artists of the Year” in the critics’ poll by the journal Opernwelt.