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Barrie KoskyAustralian theater and opera director.
Country:
 Australia |
Content:
- Biography of Barrie Kosky
- Early Career
- Gilgul Theatre
- Operatic Works
- Later Career
- Recent Works
- Komische Oper Berlin
Biography of Barrie Kosky
Barrie Kosky, born in 1967 in Melbourne, Australia, is an Australian theater and opera director. He is the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Europe. Kosky attended Melbourne Grammar School, where he participated in a production of Bertolt Brecht's play "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" in 1981 and first tried his hand at directing.
Early Career
Like many other renowned Australian artists, Kosky also worked at St Martins Youth Arts Centre. In 1985, he began studying music history and piano at the University of Melbourne. In 1989, Kosky became the director of the Australian premiere of Michael Tippett's opera "The Knot Garden" in a shortened version at the Melbourne International Arts Festival.
Gilgul Theatre
In 1990, Kosky founded the Gilgul Theatre, where three years later, his troupe staged the trilogy "The Exile Trilogy," which included the famous play "The Dybbuk" by Jewish writer and playwright S. An-sky. Kosky served as the artistic director of the Gilgul Theatre until 1997.
Operatic Works
In 1991, Kosky directed "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Barber of Seville" for the Victorian State Opera. He also directed Larry Sitsky's opera "The Golem" for Opera Australia, which was later released on ABC Classics. In the same year, he directed Goethe's "Faust" for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" for Opera Queensland.
Later Career
In 1996, Kosky directed "Nabucco" and "The Flying Dutchman" for the Australian Opera and toured with the production at the Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen, Germany. Additionally, he was appointed as the director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, becoming the youngest person ever to hold this position. As a result, a documentary film titled "Kosky In Paradise" was released, showcasing the work of the young director.
Over the following years, Kosky worked on productions such as Moliere's "Tartuffe" and "Mourning Becomes Electra" for the Sydney Theatre Company, "King Lear" for Bell Shakespeare, Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" and Seneca's "Oedipus" at the Sydney Opera House. From 2001 to 2005, Kosky was one of the directors at the Schauspielhaus Wien in Vienna.
Recent Works
Kosky directed various productions, including Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" combined with Cole Porter's songs, "The Tales of Hoffmann," an all-female version of "Macbeth," and "Boulevard Delirium" with Australian actor Paul Capsis, which toured internationally. He also directed Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo" at the Staatsoper Berlin and Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the Vienna State Opera.
In 2006, Kosky's eight-hour production "The Lost Echo" based on Ovid's "Metamorphoses" and Euripides' "The Bacchae" received five Helpmann Awards. The same year, he directed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Theater Bremen.
In 2007, Kosky showcased "L'incoronazione di Poppea" at the Edinburgh Festival, directed Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes" and "Tristan und Isolde" in Hannover, and worked on the opera "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny," the premiere of Liza Lim's "The Navigator," and Euripides' "The Women of Troy" in Sydney.
Kosky has also directed productions of "Rigoletto," "Rusalka," "Dido and Aeneas," "Die schweigsame Frau," and Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen."
Komische Oper Berlin
Kosky was appointed as the artistic director of the Komische Oper Berlin for the 2012-2013 season.
