Elke Neidhardt

Elke Cordelia Neidhardt AM (5 July 194125 November 2013 ) was a German-born actress and opera and theatre director. She spent most of her career after 1967 in Australia and became an Australian citizen in 2007. She appeared in theatre, television and feature films in Germany, Austria, France and Australia, and directed operas in Zurich, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Vienna, Cologne and Australia. She is best known in Australia for directing operas with Opera Australia, and most particularly for directing the first full modern Australian production of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, in Adelaide in 2004.

Early life Elke Neidhardt was born in Stuttgart, on July 5, 1941, the youngest of three children to father, Karl (a physician, Latin scholar and intellectual) and mother, Vilma (also a doctor). At the age of three, Neidhardt survived an Allied bombardment in Ludwigsburg, which decimated her family's neighbouring home.

Following in the footsteps of her parents and brother, Neidhardt studied medicine at Berlin University for a year, but hated it, so her father sent her to a finishing school, to study deportment and domestic undertakings. Concurrently, she took private lessons in dramatic art (much to the disapproval of her mother), beginning the trajectory of her acting career. She then studied at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart.

Career Neidhardt directed operas in Zurich, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg and Vienna. Other Australian television appearances included The Link Men (1970) and Shannon's Mob (1975). She was also in a small number of Australian feature films, including Libido (1973) in which she appeared nude), Alvin Purple (1973) and The True Story of Eskimo Nell (1975). Her last film was Inside Looking Out (1977).

From 1977 to 1990 Neidhardt was the resident director for Opera Australia. In 2004 she directed the first full modern Australian production of the Ring Cycle, in Adelaide, which attracted worldwide critical acclaim and won several Helpmann Awards in 2005. She lectured at NIDA and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Neidhardt had a reputation for clashing with the conductors she worked with. She was also known for her bluntness and frankness, describing Australian culture as "quite massively behind"; criticising the prudishness of theatrical authorities about things such as nudity; regarding the Sydney Opera House as "awful to work in"; and criticising the decision of arts minister Peter Garrett not to repeat her 2004 Adelaide production of the Ring Cycle despite its overwhelming success.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Type 1963 Der Schatten: Ein Märchen für Erwachsene Feature film 1965 Mordnacht in Manhattan Sophie Latimore Feature film 1967 She TV play 1973 Libido Penelope Feature film 1973 Alvin Purple Woman in Blue Movie Feature film 1975 The True Story of Eskimo Nell Feature film 1976 Illuminations Feature film 1977 Inside Looking Out Marianne Feature film

Television Year Title Role Type 1967 Skippy the Bush Kangaroo Dr. Anna Steiner TV series 1970 The Link Men TV series 1975 Shannon's Mob TV series 2006 Operatunity Oz Judge TV documentary series

Theatre

As actor Year Title Role Venue / Co. 1960s Uncle Vanya Principal role Theater in der Josefstadt, Austria

As director/producer Year Title Role Venue / Co. Various operas Director Zurich, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Vienna 1975 Jenůfa Assistant Producer Canberra Theatre 1977: 1984; 2002 Fidelio Director Princess Theatre Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, Sydney Opera House with Opera Queensland 1977; 1987 The Flying Dutchman Director Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, Melbourne with Victoria State Opera 1978; 1979; 1984 The Merry Widow Resident Director Sydney Opera House, Festival Theatre, Adelaide, Palais Theatre, Melbourne 1978 Fra Diavolo Producer Canberra Theatre 1978 Pagliacci / Suor Angelica Producer Canberra Theatre 1978 Don Giovanni Associate Director Princess Theatre, Melbourne with Opera Australia 1978; 1979 Don Giovanni Resident Director Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre, Palais Theatre, Melbourne with Opera Australia 1978; 1979 Norma Resident Director Sydney Opera House, Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane 1978; 1979; 1982 Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci Director Sydney Opera House, Princess Theatre, Melbourne 1979 Albert Herring Stage Director Sydney Opera House 1980 Fra Diavolo Re-Stager Sydney Opera House 1980 The Girl of the Golden West Re-stager Canberra Theatre 1980 Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) Re-Stager Sydney Opera House 1980; 1983 Don Giovanni Producer Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre with Opera Australia 1980 Káťa Kabanová Resident Director Sydney Opera House 1980 A Midsummer Night's Dream Resident Director Sydney Opera House 1981 Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) Director Palais Theatre, Melbourne 1982 Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Producer Sydney Opera House 1982 Salome Producer Sydney Opera House with State Opera of South Australia & Opera Australia 1982 Hamlet Resident Producer Sydney Opera House with Opera Australia 1983 Otello Resident Director Sydney Opera House 1984 Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) Resident Director Palais Theatre, Melbourne 1984 Das Rheingold Producer Sydney Opera House 1985 Norma Producer Sydney Opera House 1985 Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) Producer Sydney Opera House 1985 Káťa Kabanová Director Sydney Opera House 1985; 1986; 1990; 1996; 1999; 2002; 2004; 2007 Il trovatore (The Troubadour) Director Sydney Opera House, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, State Theatre, Melbourne, Festival Theatre, Adelaide, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth with Opera Queensland, State Opera of South Australia, Opera Australia & West Australian Opera 1985; 1987; 1990 Lohengrin Director State Theatre, Melbourne, Sydney Opera House with Victoria State Opera & Opera Australia 1986 I puritani Director State Theatre, Melbourne with Victoria State Opera 1986; 1994 Salome Director State Theatre, Melbourne, Adelaide Festival Centre with State Opera of South Australia & Opera Australia 1987 La fille du régiment Director Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, Melbourne 1987 Alcina Director State Theatre, Melbourne, Sydney Opera House 1987; 1988; 1994; 1998 La Cenerentola (Cinderella) Director Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, Melbourne 1988; 1992; 1993 Tosca Director State Theatre, Melbourne, Sydney Opera House 1989 Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) Associate Director Sydney Opera House 1989; 2002 Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) Stage Director Sydney Opera House with Opera Australia 1989; 1994 La traviata Cologne Opera Studio (Oper der Stadt Koln) 1990; 2009 Werther Director Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, Melbourne 1990 Eugene Onegin Director Sydney Opera House 1990 Les Huguenots Repetiteur Sydney Opera House 1990s The Ring: Der Ring des Niebelungen Resident Director Cologne State Opera (Oper der Stadt Koln) 1990s Tosca Cologne Opera Studio (Oper der Stadt Koln) 1993 La finta semplice Producer Cologne Opera Studio (Oper der Stadt Koln) 1993 Die Fledermaus Cologne Opera Studio (Oper der Stadt Koln) 1997 A Weekend with The Ring Director Scott Theatre, Adelaide 1997 Werther Stage Director Sydney Opera House 1998; 2007 Tannhauser Stage Director Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, Melbourne with Opera Australia 1999; 2002 Fidelio Stage Director Opera Australia 2000 A Midsummer Night's Dream Director Sydney Opera House, Playhouse, Canberra, Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal, Hobart, Princess Theatre, Launceston, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Geelong Arts Centre, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth with Bell Shakespeare 2001; 2002 Andrea Chénier Stage Director Sydney Opera House, Festival Theatre, Adelaide with State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland & Opera Australia 2001 Parsifal Stage Director Festival Theatre, Adelaide with State Opera of South Australia 2004 The Ring: Der Ring des Niebelungen – Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) Stage Director Festival Theatre, Adelaide with State Opera of South Australia 2005 The Ringleaders Director Sydney Opera House 2008 Don Giovanni Stage Director Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre, Palais Theatre, Melbourne with Opera Australia 2009 Werther Stage Director Opera Australia 2013; 2014 Il trovatore (The Troubadour) Stage Director West Australian Opera

Awards Year Title Awards Category Result 2005 The Ring Cycle Helpmann Awards Best Direction of an Opera 2011 Elke Neidhart Order of Australia Service to the performing arts as an opera director and producer, and through the tuition and mentoring of young emerging artists

Personal life

Neidhardt met future husband Christopher Muir, an Australian television director, in Munich in 1965, when he was studying European TV, films and theatre for the ABC. Originally they were to marry when Neidhardt first arrived in Australia in early 1966, but Muir contracted tuberculosis, so Neidhardt returned to Europe to resume her acting contracts until he recovered. She arrived back in Australia with plans to marry before Christmas, only to be hospitalised with appendicitis, so the wedding was postponed a second time. They eventually married in 1967, at 'Athanor', an old stone house, on a property in Narrewarren, outside Melbourne.

Neidhardt subsequently had a 35-year relationship with Australian actor and musician Norman Kaye, nursing him through the final stages of Alzheimer's disease until his death in May 2007. He had frequently proposed marriage to her, but she always declined, feeling that marriage was unnecessary.

Australian citizenship and honours Neidhardt became an Australian citizen in early 2007.

Death She died on 25 November 2013, aged 72, three months after being diagnosed with cancer. Her death occurred during Neil Armfield's new staging of the Ring Cycle in Melbourne.