Axel Kober has been its Music Director since 2009. The resident orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, play both opera and symphonic repertoire.

After the 1875 construction of what became the Düsseldorf Opernhaus, a strong connection between the two cities’ opera houses existed from 1887 to 1920, and was not re-established until 1955 with the creation of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

The company performs in the Opernhaus Düsseldorf, built in 1875. It was partially destroyed during World War II, and reconstructed to officially re-open in 1956. Theater Duisburg, built in 1912, was destroyed, and rebuilt in 1950. For the 25th anniversary of the house, Alexander Goehr was commissioned to compose an opera. He wrote Behold the Sun with a libretto by John McGrath about the anabaptists in Münster.

In 2006 and 2007, a major reorganization and renovation of the Opera House in Düsseldorf took place.