Hans Neuenfels

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Hans Neuenfels (born May 31, 1941 in Krefeld) in Deutschland writer, poet, film producer, Librettist, theatre director and opera director.

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[edit] Biography

Hans Neuenfels studied at Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. There he became acquainted with his wife, the Austrian actress Elisabeth Trissenaar, with whom he is married and has a son.

[edit] Writings

  • poems (1960)
  • mouth-of age (1963)
  • Isaakaros (1991)
  • Neapel or the journey to Stuttgart (2001)

[edit] Filmography

  • 1983: Heinrich Penthesilea of Kleist. The family or Schroffenstein
  • 1984: The Schwärmer
  • 1988: Europe and the second apple. The rabid dog (TV)
  • 1990: The blind ear of the opera
  • 1999: The kidnapping from the Serail (TV)
  • 2001: The bat (La chauve souris) (TV)

[edit] Controversy

Neuenfels has been criticised for creating extremely sexually explicit opera scenes.

Soprano Karita Mattila criticised Neuenfels in 2000 for the Salzburg Festival production of Mozart's Così Fan Tutte, where huge insects and background videos (some of which were erotic) distracted attention from the singers. Furthermore, during Fiordiligi's fiery aria, "Come Scoglio," she arrived onstage walking two men, in leather and chains, as if they were dogs. She called it the worst experience, and believed he crossed the line in such productions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/13/arts/13MATT.html

In Neuenfels' production of Mozart's Idomeneo which premiered in December 2003 at the Deutsche Opera Berlin, there is a scene in the epilog in which Idomeneo staggers on stage carrying the decapitated heads of Neptune, Jesus, Buddha and Muhammad. Following a warning by the police that the production might present a security risk, the opera house cancelled performances planned for September 2006. Following protests that the opera house was engaging in self-censorship, the director of the opera house Kirsten Harms subsequently announced that the production would be presented in December 2006.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Neuenfels, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Krefeld, Germany
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages