Kasper Holten (born 29 March 1973) is a Danish stage director. From 2011 until 2017 he was Director of Opera for the Royal Opera House in London. He is Vice President of the Board of the European Academy of Music Theatre.
Born in Copenhagen, Holten began his career in opera as a director's assistant to such figures as Harry Kupfer, John Cox and David Pountney. In 2000, at age 27, Holten became artistic director of the Royal Danish Opera. His work there included a highly acclaimed production of Der Ring des Nibelungen , which was released on DVD as "The Copenhagen Ring". This DVD won the Gramophone Award in 2009 for Best DVD. He held this post until 2011.
In March 2011, Holten was named the new Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and formally assumed the post in the autumn of 2011 with an initial contract of 5 years. [1] His directorial debut at Covent Garden was in February 2013. [2] In December 2015, the company announced the scheduled departure of Holten as Director of Opera in March 2017, to return with his family to Denmark, after declining an offer of a 5-year extension to his contract. [3] [4]
Holten is the director and writer (alongside Mogens Rukov) of Juan, a movie based on Mozart's Don Giovanni , shot in 2009 and starring Christopher Maltman and Mikhail Petrenko. [5]
He and his partner have two children. [4]
Sir Colin Rex Davis was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom he was particularly associated were Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett.
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro, Leporello and Don Giovanni, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Puccini and Wagner.
The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, the company had that title until 1968. It brought a long annual season and consistent management to a house that had previously hosted short seasons under a series of impresarios. Since its inception, it has shared the Royal Opera House with the dance company now known as The Royal Ballet.
Sir Antonio Pappano is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He is scheduled to become chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2024.
Sir Thomas Boaz Allen is an English operatic baritone. He is widely admired in the opera world for his voice, the versatility of his repertoire, and his acting—leading many to regard him as one of the best lyric baritones of the late 20th century. In October 2011, he was appointed Chancellor of Durham University, succeeding Bill Bryson.
Sir Jeffrey Philip Tate was an English conductor of classical music. Tate was born with spina bifida and had an associated spinal curvature. After studying medicine at the University of Cambridge and beginning a medical career in London, he switched to music and worked under Georg Solti at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, before making his conducting debut in 1979 at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. He held conducting appointments with the English Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, among others, and was the first person to be appointed principal conductor of the Royal Opera House. He was knighted for his services to music in 2017.
Otto Schenk is an Austrian actor, and theater and opera director.
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