Obituary: Elijah Moshinsky Dies at 75

By Dejan Vukosavljevic
(Credit: Opera Australia official website)

Celebrated Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky has died at the age of 75.

Moshinsky graduated from the University of Melbourne and made his operatic debut in 1975 at the Royal Opera House with a production of Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes.”

The famed director went on to stage a number of highly successful productions at the Royal Opera House, including Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” and “Lohengrin;” Verdi’s “Macbeth,” Otello,” “Atilla,” and “Simon Boccanegra;” Saint-Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila;” Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail;” and Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress,” among others.

He also directed Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades;” Verdi’s “Nabucco,” “Otello,” “Un Ballo in Maschera,” and “Luisa Miller;” Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos;” and Leoš Janáček’s “The Makropulos Affair” for the Metropolitan Opera.

He also directed productions at such major companies as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, English National Opera, Welsh Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera Australia, Adelaide Festival, Teatro alla Scala and Wiener Staatsoper, among others. His productions also included Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana,” Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci,” Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” Berlioz’s “Béatrice et Bénédict” and “Benvenuto Cellini,” Berg’s “Wozzeck,” Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” “Rigoletto,” “Stiffelio,” “La Traviata,” “Il Trovatore,” “I vespri siciliani” and “Don Carlo,” “Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” Massenet’s “Werther,” Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride,” and Puccini’s “La bohème,” among others.

In 2015 he directed Verdi and Solera’s “Giovanna d’Arco” for the Buxton Festival. Moshinsky was also a very successful theater and television director.

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