| Noted German director, administrator and actor MICHAEL HAMPE made his San Francisco Opera debut in 1987 with Fidelio (revived here in 1992 and directed by him), and staged the Company premiere of Il Ritorno d�Ulisse in Patria in 1990. Born in Heidelberg, he studied cello at Syracuse University in the U.S., acting at the Falckenberg Academy in Munich, as well as philosophy, literature and musicology at the universities of Munich and Vienna, where he received a doctorate in philosophy. He has worked as an actor and director in a large number of German theaters, and from 1965 to 1970 was deputy-director of Zurich�s Schauspielhaus. Additional positions have included general director of the National Theater of Mannheim (1972-75), general director of the Cologne Opera (1975-95), and a member of the directorate at the Salzburg Festival (1985-89). He is currently general director of the Dresden Music Festival. Hampe has directed nearly 200 productions for theater, television and opera houses around the world. His operatic credits include stagings at Milan�s La Scala, London�s Royal Opera, Paris Opera, the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the festivals of Salzburg and Edinburgh, as well as for the companies of Munich, Stockholm, Venice, Cologne, Geneva, Zurich, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Sydney and Tokyo. He has also directed dramatic productions for German and Swiss television, and for such prestigious theaters as the Bavarian State Theater in Munich, the Zurich Schauspielhaus, as well as for the festivals of Schwetzingen and Lucerne. As an actor, he has earned praise for leading roles in German television features. Honors he has received include the First Class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana; Goldenes Ehrenzeichen, Land Salzburg; and a West End (Olivier) Award. Recent directorial highlights include the original St. Petersburg version of La Forza del Destino at the Maryinsky Theatre, Paisiello�s Il Re Teodoro in Venezia at the Dresden Music Festival, Fidelio for Opera Australia, and Handel�s Serse for the Cologne Opera.-SFO Profile |
