[1] Lehnhoff began his career working as a stage director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and as an assistant to Wieland Wagner at the Bayreuth Festival in the 1960s.
He served as stage director for several more Met productions through 1970, including Ariadne auf Naxos, La bohème, The Flying Dutchman, and Simon Boccanegra.
He returned many times to direct for the SFO over the next three decades, including Salome (1982 & 1987), The Ring Cycle (1983-1985, 1990, & 1999), Die Walküre (1995), Parsifal (1999-2000), and The Flying Dutchman (2004-2005).
[2] In 1988 Lehnhoff directed Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the Hamburg State Opera in a production that utilized pop video art by Suzan Pitt.
[4] In 1989 he made his debut at the Santa Fe Opera directing The Flying Dutchman with James Morris in the title role.