Name David Pountney | Role Opera Director | |
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Education St John's College, Cambridge Movies The Fairy Queen: Purcell: English National Opera, Simplicius Libretti Kommilitonen!, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk, The Doctor of Myddfai Similar People Peter Maxwell Davies, Richard Van Allan, Yvonne Kenny, Martina Jankova, Oliver Widmer | ||
Invitation from david pountney director of the passenger onstage at lyric opera feb 24 mar 15
David Willoughby Pountney CBE (born 10 September 1947) is a British theatre and opera director and librettist internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works. He has directed over ten world premieres, including three by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for whom he wrote the librettos of The Doctor of Myddfai, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk and Kommilitonen!
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Singing and directing with david pountney at the teatr wielki pno
Biography
Pountney was born in Oxford and educated at St John's College, Cambridge. His first major breakthrough came in 1972 with his production of Kata Kabanova for the Wexford Festival. From 1975 to 1980, he was the Director of Productions at Scottish Opera, and, from 1982 to 1993, Director of Productions at English National Opera, where he directed over twenty operas. From 1993 to 2004, he worked as a free-lance director at the Zurich Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and other houses in America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. He has also directed at De Nederlandse Opera and Opera Australia. In December 2003 he became the Intendant of the Bregenz Festival, a post he holds until 2014. In April of that year [WHEN?] he was named head of the Welsh National Opera with his appointment as chief executive and artistic director to begin in September 2011.
He has worked as a librettist for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies on The Doctor of Myddfai, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk and Kommilitonen!, and has translated opera librettos into English from Russian, Czech, German, and Italian.
He wrote the libretto for, and will direct, Elena Langer's opera Figaro Gets a Divorce, which will be premiered at the Welsh National Opera in February 2016.
Honors
Pountney is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (a French civilian honor), and a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire).