Harry Kupfer
Age: 89
Harry Kupfer (born 12 August 1935) is a German opera director. He studied theatre in Leipzig and directed his first opera, Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka, in 1958.
Kupfer was a protégé of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin. From 1981 to 2002, Kupfer was chief director of the Komische Opera. Since the 1970s, he has also directed productions of Richard Wagner at the Bayreuth Festival, including Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Kupfer co-wrote the libretto with composer Krzysztof Penderecki of Penderecki's opera The Black Mask. He directed the 1986 world premiere production in Salzburg and the US premiere production at Santa Fe Opera in 1988.
Kupfer and his late wife, the music teacher and soprano Marianne Fischer-Kupfer, have a daughter, Kristiane, an actress.
Recordings
Among his productions available on DVD:
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten
- Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer (Bayreuth 1985)
- Wagner"s Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayreuth)
- Wagner"s Der Ring des Nibelungen (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 2005)
- Elisabeth, Das Musical (Theater an der Wien)