Peter Konwitschny
Director
Peter Konwitschny was born in Frankfurt/Main in 1945 and grew up in Leipzig. He studied opera, directing in Berlin, followed by 9 years as assistant director at the Berliner Ensemble under Ruth Berghaus, before directing his first plays and operas. He has taught at various universities (including Rostock, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Graz, Zurich and Tokyo). From 1980 onwards worked as a freelance director in Montepulciano, Kassel, Nuremberg, Basle, Graz, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Moscow, Lisbon and Tokyo.
Career Highlights
His engagements include 6 productions in Halle (1984–90), including Rinaldo, Orfeo ed Euridice and Carmen; 7 productions in Graz (1991–2001), among them The Bartered Bride, Aida and Falstaff; 7 productions at Dresden’s Semperoper (1992–2000); 11 productions in Hamburg with Ingo Metzmacher (1998–2005), including Wozzeck, Rosenkavalier, Meistersinger, Lulu, Moses und Aron and Don Carlos. Among his other productions are Intolleranza (Deutsche Oper Berlin); Götterdämmerung, Zauberflöte (Stuttgart); Al gran sole (Hanover); Elektra, Lady Macbeth from Mzsensk (Copenhagen); Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Land of Smiles (Komische Oper Berlin); King Lear, Faust (Schauspielhaus Graz); Salome (Amsterdam); La traviata (Graz/Vienna/ENO), From the House of the Dead (Zurich/Vienna) and Attila (Vienna). He was Chief Director of the Leipzig Opera House (2008–12), where his new productions included Pierrot lunaire, Bach’s Cantata Es ist genug, Alceste and Iphigénie en Aulide.
Last updated: 9th August 2023