Pountney, David (1947– )

English stage director. He studied at Cambridge, where he produced Scarlatti's Trionfo dell'Onore, in 1967. He directed Káta Kabanová at the 1972 Wexford Festival. Between 1975 and 1980 he was director of productions at Scottish Opera, where he produced Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Yevgeny Onegin, Jenůfa, and Don Giovanni. He staged the premiere of Satyagraha by Glass for Netherlands Opera (1980), and was principal producer of the English National Opera ensemble (1982–93), with Rusalka, The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Macbeth, and Wozzeck. He also directed the UK stage premieres of Osud and Busoni's Doktor Faust (1986), and the first performances of Harvey's Inquest of Love, and Janáček's The Excursions of Mr Brouček to the Moon (which was also performed at Munich, in 1994). He made his US debut with Macbeth at Houston (1973), returning there in 1976 for the first performance of Bilby's Doll by Floyd. He staged The Voyage by Glass at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, in 1992. He was noted for his technical resourcefulness and imaginative visual style.