The critics also cited the Hamburg company's former general music director Ingo Metzmacher for his work with stage director Peter Konwitschny in creating unconventional new productions of standard repertoire works—some 11 productions over nine years, including Lohengrin, Wozzeck, and La clemenza di Tito. Metzmacher stepped down at the end of the 2004-05 season.
The singers of the year were tenor Rolando Villaz‹n, for his performance in La traviata in Salzburg, and soprano Nina Stemme, for her performance in Tristan und Isolde at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth.
A production of Busoni's Doktor Faust, directed by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, was voted production of the year. Composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was voted conductor of the year for his Parisfal at Bayreuth.