Keith Warner

Keith Warner (born 6 December 1956) is a British opera director, designer and translator. He is noted for his flamboyant stagings of Richard Wagner's operas.

Early years

Warner was born in London and went to Woodhouse School in Finchley, North London and then studied English and drama at the University of Bristol from 1975-78. He subsequently worked briefly as an actor, a teacher of drama therapy and a fringe theatre director. He joined English National Opera in 1981, working as revival director, staff director and finally associate director until 1989. In 1985, he also worked as associate director for Scottish Opera. He set up the first education unit within a British opera house at ENO in the early 1980, taking versions of operas to schools, workplaces and out into the communities. Establishing workshops too. Teaching, especially acting, has been a constant feature throughout his career, and lecturing at university level. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Bristol University in 2019.

Career

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Warner combined the roles of director of productions for New Sussex Opera, artistic director for Nexus Opera and, later, became associate artistic director of Opera Omaha.

Warner worked extensively in the USA throughout the 1990s. His production of Carmen, which marked the debut of Denyce Graves in the title role, and was considered an important milestone in re-assessing the role and the piece within a feminist interpretation, was bought by seven other opera houses in the US and Europe. His revival of "My Fair Lady" starring Frank Langella, Bernard Cribbins, Lee Merrill and Geoffrey Bayldon also toured extensively during that period. He has worked at Glimmerglass (Le Comte Ory), Santa Fé (Tosca), Spoleto (Il Trittico) and St Louis (Transformations) festivals.

He is particularly associated with the operas of Richard Wagner, and has directed all of the composer's mature works several times.

Warner is the only living British Director to be invited to direct at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany ("Lohengrin"). He has directed two separate productions of The Ring Cycle in both Tokyo (New National Theatre) and at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Recently his production of "Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg" at the Wiener Staatsoper received almost unanimously rave reviews and a thirty-five minute standing ovation from the premiere audience.

His production of "Wozzeck" at the ROH, London, won an Olivier Award for Best Production. He has also directed Rossi's "Orfeo" and "Otello" for the company.

Recently (2024) his promenade production of Tippett's "New Year" for Birmingham City Opera won great approval and succeeded in reinstating this disregarded piece in the estimation of many.

In the last two decades, he has done over a dozen productions at the Theater an der Wien, and fifteen at Oper Frankfurt, both becoming his artistic 'home'. Warner undertook a trio of Faust-based operas (by Gounod, Berlioz and Busoni), the brainchild of Intendant, Gerd Uecker, as well as "The Great Gatsby" (Harbison) and "La Forza del Destino" at the Semperoper Dresden. He has directed at all three of the Berlin opera houses, "Andrea Chenier" on the lake stage in Bregenz, and the world premiere of André Tchaikovsky's "The Merchant of Venice" there. This production came to WNO and the ROH. He has always championed contemporary opera: World premieres include "The Gardens of Adonis ("Weisgall) in Omaha, "Wahnfried" (Dorman) in Karlsruhe, "Egmont" (Jost) in Wien, and a second, new version of "The Devils of Loudon" (Penderescki) amongst others.

Since directing "Pacific Overtures" at the ENO in the 1980s, he developed a close relationship with the works of Stephen Sondheim, undertaking workshops with the composer. In 2019, his production of "Passion" at the Montepulciano Festival in Tuscany was named one of the best four productions in Europe that year by the New York Times.

In all, he has directed close to two hundred operas, musicals, plays, and community events over a forty-five year span.

Warner was appointed artistic director of the Royal Danish Opera, taking up the post in July 2011, but resigned after six months, along with conductor and music director Jakub Hrůša, as a result of problems with funding.

He lives in London and Vienna.