David Pountney

British Polish theatre and opera director and librettist

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Sir David Willoughby Pountney (born 10 September 1947) is a British Polish theatre and opera director and librettist internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works. He has directed over ten world premières, including three by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for whom he wrote the librettos of The Doctor of Myddfai, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk and Kommilitonen!

Pountney was born in Oxford and was a chorister at St John's College, Cambridge (1956 61). He was then educated near Oxford at Radley College (1961 66). And then returned to St John's College, Cambridge to read his degree. His first major breakthrough came in 1972 with his production of Káťa Kabanová for the Wexford Festival. He has worked as a librettist for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies on The Doctor of Myddfai, Mr Emmet Takes a Walk and Kommilitonen!, and has translated opera librettos into English from Russian, Czech, German, and Italian. He wrote the libretto for and directed Elena Langer's opera Figaro Gets a Divorce, which was premiered at the Welsh National Opera in February 2016. To great critical acclaim he directed Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini at La Scala Opera House, Milan in 2018. Later that year at Strasbourg he directed Kurt Weill and Arnold Schoenberg in Das Mahagonny Songspiel, Pierrot Lunaire and Die 7 Todsunden.

Pountney is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (a French civilian honour), has the Cavalier's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and was awarded the Ehrenkreuz des Bundes Österreich in 2014. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1994 and was knighted in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to opera. He is a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera.