Word is coming in that David Pountney, once of the Powerhouse trio (with Peter Jonas, Mark Elder) that ran English National Opera in the 1980s, is being called back as chief executive and artistic director of floundering Welsh National Opera.
Pountney has been doing great things of late on the lake at Bregenz, quite the most spectacular opera fest in the world. But whether he has the energy and innovation to raise Welsh from the mire of poor funding and weak ideas …. well, it’s going to be a big challenge.
The news broke here in German. More follows.
photo: ©VOL Live / Klaus Hartinger
Pountney is due to direct Lulu in Wales in two years’ time. He recently wrote the Libretto for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ chamber opera Kommilitonen, which was staged last month at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
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