Hans Toelstede, lighting designer, was born in Germany. He studied electronics and theatre technique before working at the opera houses of Hamburg and Wiesbaden and the Bayreuth Festival. He was head of lighting in the Koln Opera between 1980-1995 and between 2006-2010. He has deigned lighting for numerous production in opera houses all over the world including Paris, Barcelona, Brussels, Amsterdam, Bregenz, Salzburg, Warsaw, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Florence, Venice, Athens, Oslo, Buenos Aires as well as the Vienna Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. This is his first work for the Israeli Opera.