Claus Helmut Drese (25 December 1922, in Aachen – 10 February 2011,[1] in Horgen, Switzerland) was a German opera and theatre administrator, and author.
Drese also engaged conductors who had never conducted at the State Opera before, such as Harnoncourt (Idomeneo in 1987, followed by Die Zauberflöte staged by Otto Schenk in 1988, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Così fan tutte in 1989), Colin Davis (Werther staged by Pierluigi Samaritani), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Seiji Ozawa (Eugene Onegin in 1988; a critically acclaimed production with Mirella Freni and Nicolai Ghiaurov).
Though Drese's term was internationally acknowledged as a very successful one, he received criticism for aspects of his work, such as excessive expenditure on 'star' opera singers.
[4] In June 1988, just days after the acclaimed first night of Pellèas et Mélisande, then Social Democratic culture minister Hilde Hawlicek met with Drese.
His final premiere in June 1991 was Der ferne Klang by Franz Schreker, conducted by Gerd Albrecht and staged by Jürgen Flimm.