Sir David Willoughby Pountney (born 10 September 1947) is a British-Polish theatre and opera director and

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, 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 ...

internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works. He has directed over ten world premières, 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! ''Kommilitonen!'' (''Young Blood!'', or ''Student Activists'', literally ''Fellow Students!'') 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. Gen ...

''Baumgartner (22 July 2009)

Biography

Pountney was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and was a chorister at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

(1956–61). He was then educated near Oxford at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

(1961–66) before returning to

to read for his degree. His first major breakthrough came in 1972 with his production of ''

Káťa Kabanová ''Káťa Kabanová'' (also known in various spellings including ''Katia'', ''Katja'', ''Katya'', and ''Kabanowa'') is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by the composer based on ''The Storm (Ostrovsky), The Storm'' ...

'' for the Wexford Festival. From 1975 to 1980, he was the Director of Productions at

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...

, and, from 1982 to 1993, Director of Productions at

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British 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. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

, 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 Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

, the

Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...

in Munich, and other houses in America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. He has also directed at

De Nederlandse Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

and

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

. In December 2003 he became the Intendant of the

Bregenz Festival Bregenzer Festspiele (; Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz in Vorarlberg (Austria). It features a large floating stage which is situated on Lake Constance. History The Festival becam ...

, a post he held until 2014. In April 2011 he was named head of the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

with his appointment as chief executive and artistic director to begin in September 2011.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(1 April 2011) He has worked as a librettist for Sir

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

on '' The Doctor of Myddfai'', '' Mr Emmet Takes a Walk'' and ''

'', and has translated opera librettos into English from Russian, Czech, German, and Italian. He wrote the libretto for and directed Elena Langer's opera '' Figaro Gets a Divorce'', which was premiered at the

in February 2016. To great critical acclaim he directed Zandonai's ''Francesca da Rimini'' at La Scala Opera House, Milan in 2018. Later that year at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

he directed

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

in ''Das Mahagonny Songspiel, Pierrot Lunaire'' and ''Die 7 Todsunden.''

Honours

Pountney is a Chevalier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(a French civilian honour), has the Cavalier's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and was awarded the Ehrenkreuz des Bundes Österreich in 2014. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1994 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to opera. He is a Patron of

Bampton Classical Opera Bampton Classical Opera is an opera company based in Bampton, Oxfordshire and founded in 1993. It specialises in the production of lesser known opera from the Classical period. Performances are always sung in English. ''Opera today'' called the ...

Selected productions

* Janáček cycle: ''

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the Play (theatre), play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was ...

'', '' From the House of the Dead'', '' The Makropulos Case'', ''

'', and ''

The Cunning Little Vixen ''The Cunning Little Vixen'' (original title ''Příhody lišky Bystroušky'' or ''Tales of Vixen Sharp-Ears'' in English), is a three-act Czech-language opera by Leoš Janáček completed in 1923 to a libretto the composer himself adapted from a ...

'' (Scottish Opera, in collaboration with the

) * '' Toussaint'' (by David Blake; 1977, English National Opera, première) * ''

Rusalka In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalki; , plural: русалки; , plural: ''rusałki'') is a female entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water. It has counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as th ...

'' (English National Opera) * '' Osud'' (English National Opera) * '' The Midsummer Marriage'' (English National Opera) * '' Doktor Faust'' (English National Opera) * '' Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk'' (English National Opera) * '' Königskinder'' (English National Opera) * '' Hänsel und Gretel'' (English National Opera) * '' The Adventures of Mr Broucek'' (English National Opera) * '' The Fairy Queen'' (English National Opera) * ''

Julietta ''Julietta'' is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, in French, based on the play ''Juliette ou la Clé des songes'' (''Juliette, or The Key of Dreams)'' by the French author Georges Neveux. A libretto in Czech was later pr ...

'' ( Opera North) * '' The Greek Passion'' (Bregenz Festival) * '' Masquerade'' (Bregenz Festival, and also

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Covent Garden Covent 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 sit ...

, in Fall 2005) * '' Der Kuhhandel'' / ''Arms and the Cow'' (Bregenz Festival and Opera North) * ''

King Roger King Roger (, Op. 46) is an opera in three acts by Karol Szymanowski to a Polish libretto by the composer himself and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, the composer's cousin. The score was finished in 1924. The opera received its world premiere on 19 Jun ...

'' (Bregenz Festival and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona) (2009) * '' The Passenger'' (Bregenz Festival 2010) * ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' ( Zurich Opera) (2001) * ''The Masque of Might'' ( Opera North) (2023)"Brilliantly Bonkers" ''The Times'' 7 October 2023

References

Sources

*Baumgartner, Edwin (22 July 2009)
"David Pountney, der Herr der Seebühne" ("David Pountney, The Lord of the Lake Stage")
''

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...

'' *

(1 April 2011)
"David Pountney to head Welsh National Opera"
*Clements, Andrew (21 January 2002)
"Review: ''Mr Emmet Takes a Walk''"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' * Christiansen, Rupert (22 March 2011)
"Review: ''Kommilitonen!'', Royal Academy of Music
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' *''

Der Standard ''Der Standard'' () is an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile ''Der Standard'' was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and published its first editio ...

'' (11 March 2004)
"Wider die kulturelle Polarisierung" ("Against Cultural Polarization")
*White, Michael (14 July 1996)

''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

External links

Lecture by Pountney on "The Future of Opera"
given on 13 February 2000 at The Royal Over-Seas League, London (republished with permission at rodoni.ch)
Pictures of David Pountney
at

IMG Artists IMG Artists is a performing arts management company. The company manages the careers of classical and contemporary artists, dance companies, film with orchestra presentations and shows and attractions as well as produce and manage tours and events ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pountney, David 1947 births Living people British opera directors British opera managers English opera librettists People from Oxford Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge English theatre directors Naturalized citizens of Poland Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English male dramatists and playwrights Knights Bachelor People educated at Radley College