Keith Reginald Warner (born 6 December 1956) is a British
opera director
Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums before disbandi ...
, designer and translator.
Early years
Warner was born in Finchley, North London and then studied English and drama at the
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
from 1975-78.
He subsequently worked as an actor, a teacher of
drama therapy
Drama therapy is the use of theatre techniques to facilitate personal growth and promote mental health. Drama therapy is used in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, schools, mental health centers, prisons, and businesses. Drama ther ...
and a
fringe theatre
Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...
director. He joined
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 ...
in 1981, working as revival director, staff director and associate director until 1989. In 1985, he also worked as associate director for
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 ...
.
Career
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Warner combined the roles of director of productions for New Sussex Opera, artistic director for Nexus Opera and associate artistic director of
Opera Omaha.
Warner was associated with the production of The Ring at Covent Garden between 2004 and 2007. In 2005, Warner staged Wagner's ''
Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265.
His name ...
'' at the
Stadttheater Minden
Stadttheater Minden is a municipal theatre in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The theatre has no ensemble, but stages some productions of its own. It became known for a Richard Wagner, Wagner project culminating in ''Der Ring in Minden''. ...
, with the
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie
The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (North West German Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. Founded in 1950, the orchestra is one of the ''Landesorchester'' of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, along with the ''Philhar ...
conducted by
Frank Beermann.
In addition, Warner was appointed artistic director of the
Royal Danish Opera
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...
, taking up the post in July 2011,
but resigned after six months, along with conductor and music director
Jakub Hrůša
Jakub Hrůša (born 23 July 1981 in Brno) is a Czech conductor. He is chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony.
Education
Hrůša is the son of the architect . There were no professional musicians in his family who were drawn mainly from technica ...
, as a result of problems with funding.
In the 2014/15 Season he directed Welsh National Opera's production of ''Peter Pan'' at the Royal Opera House and on tour.
In 1999 Warner began work on his first opera,
Scoring A Century, commissioned but never performed by Portland Opera.
It eventually premiered at in 2010 at Birmingham Conservatoire.
In 2019 a revival in London, directed by Warner divided critics, some of whom called it 'pretentious', embarrassing, and 'unwieldy, overlong and stylistically diffuse'.
Other Operas followed: an operetta-like version of Bergmann's ''Fanny and Alexander'' and ''Icarus'', which was performed at the 2016 Montepulciano Festival.
His theater work also includes La Voix Humaine and Krapp’s Last Tape as a double bill, Old Times, Henry IV, Silverlake, and My Fair Lady.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
listed his 2019 production of Passion in Montepulciano as one of Europe's four best theater productions.
References
British opera directors
Living people
1956 births
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