David Alden was born in New York City and studied at the University of Pennsylvania. One of the leading directors of opera on both sides of the Atlantic, he has recently received the Bavarian Theatre Prize for Individual Artistic Achievement, marking his particular association with the Bavarian State Opera, where his productions include Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea, Handel's Rinaldo, Rodelinda and Ariodante, Wagner's Tannhäuser, Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Berg's Lulu, Cavalli's La Calisto, Verdi's La forza del destino and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.
In Britain, David Alden has directed for the regional companies, including Berg's Wozzeck and Verdi's Rigoletto for Scottish Opera; Poppea, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and Strauss' Elektra for Welsh National Opera. For English National Opera, his productions include Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and Un ballo in maschera, Handel's Ariodante, Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Janácek's Jenufa .
He also directed a new production of Thomas Ades' Powder her Face for the Aldeburgh Festival. Elsewhere in Europe, he has directed Gounod's Faust and Johann Strauss' Der Zigeunerbaron for the Vienna Volksoper; Dallapiciccola's Il prigioniero and Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg for the Netherlands Opera; Handel's Tamerlano and Alcina for the Komische Oper Berlin; Mozart's Don Giovanni in Cologne; Schrecker's Der Schatzgräber for his debut in Frankfurt; Ariodante for the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp; and Parsifal in Graz. With the New Israeli Opera, he has directed Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Mozart's Idomeneo, Puccini's La Bohème, Faust, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Kat'a Kabanová, L'incoronazione di Poppea and the world premiere of Gil Shohat's Alpha and Omega .
His productions in the USA include Rodelinda for San Francisco Opera; La Traviata, Wozzeck, Janácek's Vec Makropoulos, Weill's Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny and Verdi's Macbeth for the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Wozzeck and Beethoven's Fidelio at the Metropolitan New York; Werther, Don Giovanni, Macbeth, Ariodante and Janácek's Kat'a Kabanová and Jenufa for Houston Grand Opera; Kat'a Kabanová for Dallas Opera; Britten's The Turn of the Screw and the American premiere of Matthus' Judith at Santa Fe Opera; Les Contes d'Hoffmann and the American premiere of Szymanowski's King Roger at Long Beach Opera; Susa's Transformations and Cavalli's Giasone at Spoleto USA; and the world premiere of Bolcom's Casino Paradise at the American Music Theatre Festival. Together with his brother Christopher Alden, he also directed semi-staged versions of the three Mozart / Da Ponte operas with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Film and television projects include a version of Schubert's Die Winterreise with Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake, Weill's Die Sieben Todsünden and a documentary on Verdi for BBC Television. He also directed a world concert tour for the Pet Shop Boys.
In 2005/6 season his projects included Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria for the Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen, and Orlando and several major revivals in Munich. In 2006/7 season his projects included Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria for Welsh National Opera, Salome for Lithuanian Opera and a new production of Jenufa for English National Opera (which was awarded the prestigious Olivier Award) and Washington National Opera. David recently had a huge success at ENO with his new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Other major new productions in 2008 include Il Turco in Italia for Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin, Radamisto for Santa Fe Opera and La Calisto for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In 2009 David will direct Cavalli’s Ercole l’amante for De Nederlandse Opera, debut at Barcelona's Teatro Liceo with his production of L'Incoronazione di Poppea followed by a return to ENO for a new production of Peter Grimes.
David Alden is represented by Intermusica in Europe
May 2008 / 596 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.