Kupfer, Harry (1935- )

German stage director. He made his debut with Russalka at Halle in 1958 and worked at various East German opera houses 1958-70. He then directed Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Berlin Staatsoper in 1971. He became chief producer at the Dresden State Opera 1971-81, and after that at the Komische Oper, Berlin, where there was a notable revival of Goldschmidt's Der gewaltige Hahnrei in 1992. Other work has included Der fliegende Holländer (1978) and a Ring cycle (1988, with laser-directed perspectives) for the Bayreuth Festival; Elektra for the Welsh National Opera (1978); Pelléas et Mélisande at the English National Opera (1981); and Orfeo at the Komische Oper, Berlin, also seen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he returned to stage La Damnation de Faust (1993). He staged and co-wrote the libretto for Penderecki's Die schwarze Maske (Salzburg, 1986). He is at the forefront of technology: his Parsifal at the Berlin Staatsoper in 1992 replaced the Flowermaidens with television monitors.