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After studying music and theater, as well as singing, Soelter was engaged by the Wiener Staatsoper as a director for five seasons. Responsible for repertoire and revival rehearsals as well as assisting with new productions, he received important inspiration from directors such as Harry Kupfer, Marco Arturo Marelli, Adolf Dresen, David Pountney, John Dew and Franco Zeffirelli. This was followed by an engagement as Resident Director at the Swiss premiere of Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in Basel as personal assistant to Harold Prince.

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In 2000, Soelter and his set designer Frank Lichtenberg won the audience prize at the International Ring Award in Graz.

Since 1998, Soelter has worked as a freelance opera director on over 50 productions throughout Europe.

His directorial debut with Telemann's Pimpinone or Die Ungleyche Heyrath with the Zürcher Kammerorchester under Howard Griffith in 1998 was a huge success with audiences and press. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung described him as having “humor combined with dramatic sensitivity”. This was followed by, among others, Madama Butterfly at the Immling Festival, Handel's Orlando at the Zwingenberg Festival and Musique Anodine at Rossini in Wildbad.

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In 2003, Soelter's sensational international debut came with a production of Puccini's Turandot at the Lithuanian National Opera in Vilnius. This successful production remained in the house's repertoire for 10 seasons and was invited as a guest production at the Royal Center Nottingham in 2004.

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In 2006, Soelter's first production of a Mozart opera took place: Le Nozze di Figaro at the Lübecker Musikhochschule. This production received an invitation to the Teatro Manoel Valletta Malta and the Opera Thailand Bangkok.

This was followed by productions of baroque operas for the Steglitzer Tage für Alte Musik Berlin - a collaboration that continues to this day with productions of, among others, Lully's Cadmus et Hermione, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, Handel's Semele and Hasse's L'Olimpiade and most recently: Keizer's Der lächerliche Prinz Jodelet.

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In 2010, a fruitful collaboration lasting several years began with the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg. Always a passionate supporter of operetta, Soelter staged Frau Luna, Der Vogelhändler, Der Bettelstudent and Der Zigeunerbaron here. These productions were included in the repertoire of the Staatstheater Braunschweig. The Rheinsberg collaborations were completed by a production of Rusalka, which received rave reviews in the Berlin press.

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In 2012, another international debut took place: Soelter received an invitation for two productions at the Slovenian National Opera Ljubljana: first Monteverdi's L'Orfeo as a Slovenian premiere with live TV broadcast and then, as a gala premiere for the reopening of the renovated opera house, Nabucco. This was followed by a production of Rigoletto, which was also broadcast live on TV. L'Orfeo had a spectacularly successful guest performance in Venice at the invitation of the Società Monteverdiana di Venezia. Rigoletto and Nabucco still play in the Slovenian State Opera's repertoire today.

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At the Steglitzer Tagen für Alte Musik Berlin, Soelter realized a long-held wish: namely a scenic elaboration of Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine. In 2016, Detlef began a fruitful and successful artistic collaboration with the Festival of the Aegean on the island of Syros, which continues to this day. Productions included Pagliacci, Starbird, La Cenerentola and Ariadne auf Naxos. His production of Don Giovanni was internationally praised for its innovative conception.

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After the pandemic-related cancellation of three productions in 2020, Soelter was pleased that the Immling Festival was able to realize the production of Rossini's La Cenerentola in summer 2021. His concept, which is set in the US silent film milieu of the 1920s, received national praise. Hänsel und Gretel at the Trentino Music Festival and Alcina at the Steglitzer Tage für Alte Musik Berlin were audience favorites.

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A successful premiere of Elektra followed in 2023 at MusikFürMusik Künstler Kollaborativ. This production will be repeated at several venues in Germany. In July 2024 he worked at the Festival of the Aegean for the fifth time, directing Don Pasquale.