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Elijah MoshinskyAustralian opera, theatre and television director
Date of Birth: 08.01.1946
Country:  Australia |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Opera Career
- Theatre Work
- - 1987: "Three Sisters," "Light Up the Sky" by Robert Storey
- Personal Life
Early Life and Education
Elijah Moshinskywas born in the French Concession of Shanghai, where his Russian-Jewish parents had emigrated from Vladivostok. When he was five years old, his family relocated to Melbourne, Australia.
Moshinsky graduated from the University of Melbourne and earned a scholarship to St. Antony's College, Oxford, in 1973. While at St. Antony's, he directed a production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" with the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company. After seeing this performance, John Tooley, the Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, offered Moshinsky the position of Staff Producer at the Royal Opera.
Opera Career
Moshinsky's operatic debut at the Royal Opera House came in 1975 with a scaled-down, low-budget version of "Peter Grimes" that garnered critical and public acclaim. Subsequent productions at Covent Garden included "Lohengrin," "Tannhäuser," "The Rake's Progress," "Macbeth," "Samson et Dalila," "Samson," "The Abduction from the Seraglio," "Otello," "Attila," "Simon Boccanegra," and "Stiffelio."
At the Metropolitan Opera, Moshinsky staged "Otello," "Samson et Dalila," and "Samson," as well as "Un Ballo in Maschera," "Ariadne auf Naxos," "The Queen of Spades," "The Makropulos Affair," "Nabucco," and "Luisa Miller."
He directed the British premiere of "The Grand Macabre" at the English National Opera in 1982, as well as productions of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" and "The Bartered Bride." Moshinsky created productions of "Wozzeck" for the Adelaide Festival, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for the Australian Opera, and productions in Paris, Geneva, and Florence.
Theatre Work
Moshinsky's work in the dramatic theatre included productions of "Troilus and Cressida" and Thomas Bernhard's "The Force of Habit" at the Royal National Theatre in 1976. For other London theaters, he directed:
- 1987: "Three Sisters," "Light Up the Sky" by Robert Storey
- 1989: "Ivanov," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Another Time"- 1991: the musical "Matador," Jean Anouilh's "Becket"
- 1992: "Reflected Glory" by Ronald Harwood
- 1993: "Cyrano de Bergerac"
- 1999: "Richard III"
In New York, Moshinsky directed "Shadowlands" in 1990-91.
Television Work
Moshinsky created several television productions, mostly of operas. Between 1980 and 1985, he directed Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Cymbeline," "Coriolanus," and "Love's Labour's Lost" for the BBC. He also produced "Ghosts" by Henrik Ibsen (1986), "The Rivals" by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1987), and a three-part adaptation of Kingsley Amis's novel "The Woodlanders."
Personal Life
Elijah Moshinsky married Ruth Dittmann in 1970, and they had two sons. Moshinsky and his family resided in London.
