David Pountney
Encyclopedia
David Pountney 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!
and educated at St John's College, Cambridge
. His first major breakthrough came in 1972 with his production of Káťa Kabanová
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 held until 2011. In April of that year 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.
(a French civilian honor), and a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire
).
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
director and librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
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
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
for whom he wrote the librettos of The Doctor of Myddfai
The Doctor of Myddfai
The Doctor of Myddfai is an opera in two acts composed by Peter Maxwell Davies to a libretto by David Pountney. The work premiered at the New Theatre in Cardiff on 5 June 1996, performed by the Welsh National Opera and conducted by Richard Armstrong. The libretto was adapted from an ancient Welsh...
, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk
Mr Emmet Takes a Walk
Mr Emmet Takes a Walk is a chamber opera by the English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by David Pountney. The work is self-described as a "dramatic sonata"....
and Kommilitonen!
Kommilitonen!
Kommilitonen! is an opera by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The libretto is by David Pountney, who was also the director of the premiere performances in March 2011.-Genesis:...
Biography
Pountney was born in OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and educated at St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
. His first major breakthrough came in 1972 with his production of Káťa Kabanová
Káta Kabanová
Káťa Kabanová is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by Vincenc Červinka, based on The Storm, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. The opera was also largely inspired by Janáček's love for Kamila Stösslová...
for the Wexford Festival
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
. From 1975 to 1980, he was the Director of Productions at Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
, and, from 1982 to 1993, Director of Productions at English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, where he directed over twenty operas. From 1993 to 2004, he worked as a free-lance director at the Zurich Opera
Zurich Opera
Oper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
, the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
, the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, and other houses in America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. He has also directed at De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera , in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986....
and Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
. In December 2003 he became the Intendant of the Bregenz Festival
Bregenzer Festspiele
Bregenzer Festspiele is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz, Austria.Founded in 1946, the festival presents a wide variety of musical and theatrical events in several venues:...
, a post he held until 2011. In April of that year he was named head of the Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
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
The Doctor of Myddfai
The Doctor of Myddfai is an opera in two acts composed by Peter Maxwell Davies to a libretto by David Pountney. The work premiered at the New Theatre in Cardiff on 5 June 1996, performed by the Welsh National Opera and conducted by Richard Armstrong. The libretto was adapted from an ancient Welsh...
, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk
Mr Emmet Takes a Walk
Mr Emmet Takes a Walk is a chamber opera by the English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by David Pountney. The work is self-described as a "dramatic sonata"....
and Kommilitonen!
Kommilitonen!
Kommilitonen! is an opera by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The libretto is by David Pountney, who was also the director of the premiere performances in March 2011.-Genesis:...
, and has translated opera librettos into English from Russian, Czech, German, and Italian.
Honors
Pountney is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
(a French civilian honor), and a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
).
Selected productions
- Janáček cycle: JenůfaJenufaJenůfa is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed at the Brno Theater, Brno, 21 January 1904...
, From the House of the DeadFrom the House of the DeadFrom the House of the Dead is an opera by Leoš Janáček, in three acts. The libretto was translated and adapted by the composer from the novel by Dostoyevsky...
, The Makropulos Case, Káťa KabanováKáta KabanováKáťa Kabanová is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by Vincenc Červinka, based on The Storm, a play by Alexander Ostrovsky. The opera was also largely inspired by Janáček's love for Kamila Stösslová...
, and The Cunning Little VixenThe Cunning Little VixenThe Cunning Little Vixen is an opera by Leoš Janáček, with a libretto adapted by the composer from a serialized novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.-Composition history:When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's...
(Scottish Opera, in collaboration with the Welsh National OperaWelsh National OperaWelsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
) - Toussaint (by David BlakeDavid Blake (composer)David Blake is a British composer born in London in 1936. Following National Service Blake learnt Mandarin Chinese and spent one year in Hong Kong. He went on to read music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where his teachers were Patrick Hadley, Peter Tranchell and Raymond Leppard...
; 1977, English National Opera, premier) - RusalkaRusalka (opera)Rusalka is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses...
(English National Opera) - OsudDestiny (Janácek)Destiny is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer and Fedora Bartošová. Janáček began the work in 1903 and completed it in 1907. The inspiration for the opera came from a visit by Janáček in the summer of 1903, after the death of his daughter Olga, to the spa...
(English National Opera) - The Midsummer MarriageThe Midsummer MarriageThe Midsummer Marriage is an opera in three acts, with music and libretto by Michael Tippett. The work's first performance was at Covent Garden, 27 January 1955, conducted by John Pritchard...
(English National Opera) - Doktor FaustDoktor FaustDoktor Faust is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer himself, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time of his death. His pupil Philipp Jarnach finished it...
(English National Opera) - Lady Macbeth of MtsenskLady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is an opera in four acts by Dmitri Shostakovich, his Op.29. The libretto was written by Alexander Preis and the composer, and is based on the story Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov. The opera is sometimes referred to informally as Lady Macbeth...
(English National Opera) - KönigskinderKönigskinderKönigskinder is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a Märchenoper...
(English National Opera) - Hänsel und Gretel (English National Opera)
- The Adventures of Mr BroucekThe Excursions of Mr. Broucek on the Moon and in the 15th CenturyThe Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century is the complete title of Leoš Janáček’s fifth opera, based on two Svatopluk Čech novels, Pravý výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce and Nový epochální výlet pana Broučka, tentokráte do XV...
(English National Opera) - The Fairy Queen (English National Opera)
- JuliettaJuliettaJulietta is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, which is based on the play Juliette, ou La clé des songes by the French author Georges Neveux. The opera received its first performance at the National Theatre, Prague on 16 March 1938, with Ota Horaková in the title role and...
(Opera NorthOpera NorthOpera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
) - The Greek PassionThe Greek PassionThe Greek Passion or Christ Recrucified is a 1948 novel by Nikos Kazantzakis.-Plot summary:...
(Bregenz Festival) - Masquerade (Nielsen)Masquerade (Nielsen)Maskarade is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg....
(Bregenz Festival, and also Royal Opera HouseRoyal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent GardenCovent GardenCovent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, in Fall 2005) - Der KuhhandelDer KuhhandelDer Kuhhandel is an operetta by Kurt Weill. The German libretto was written by Robert Vambery.-Genesis:...
(Bregenz Festival and Opera North) - King RogerKing RogerKing Roger is an opera by the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski set to a libretto by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. It was first performed on 19 June 1926 in Warsaw, Poland...
(Bregenz Festival and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona) (2009) - MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(Zurich OperaZurich OperaOper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
) (2001)
Sources
- Baumgartner, Edwin (July 22, 2009). "David Pountney, der Herr der Seebühne" ("David Pountney, The Lord of the Lake Stage"). Wiener ZeitungWiener ZeitungWiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...
- BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
(April 1, 2011). "David Pountney to head Welsh National Opera" - Clements, Andrew (January 21, 2002). "Review: Mr Emmet Takes a Walk". The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Christiansen, RupertRupert ChristiansenRupert Christiansen is an English writer, journalist and critic, grandson of Arthur Christiansen and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen . Born in London, he was educated at Millfield and King's College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English...
(March 22, 2011). "Review: Kommilitonen!, Royal Academy of Music. The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B... - Der StandardDer StandardDer Standard is an Austrian national daily newspaper which is published in Vienna . It was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and the first edition was published on 1988-10-19...
(March 11, 2004). "Wider die kulturelle Polarisierung" ("Against Cultural Polarization") - White, Michael (July 14, 1996). "Hits, myths and a pair of icons". The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
External links
- Lecture by Pountney on "The Future of Opera" given on February 13, 2000 at The Royal Over-Seas League, London (republished with permission at rodoni.ch)
- Pictures of David Pountney at IMG ArtistsIMG ArtistsIMG Artists LLC is a top universal performing arts management corporation that was acquired by International Management Group in 1984. Chairman and CEO of IMG, Mark McCormack, bought out Hamlen/Landau, a small, New York based artist-management music agency, founded by Charles Hamlen and Edna...