Elke Cordelia Neidhardt AM was a West German born actress and opera and theatre director.
25 Facts About Elke Neidhardt
1.
2.
Elke Neidhardt spent most of her career after 1967 in Australia and became an Australian citizen in 2007.
3.
Elke Neidhardt 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.
4.
Elke Neidhardt 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.
5.
Elke Neidhardt was born in Stuttgart, on July 5,1941, the youngest of three children to father, Karl and mother, Vilma.
6.
At the age of three, Neidhardt survived an Allied bombardment in Ludwigsburg, which decimated her family's neighbouring home.
7.
Elke Neidhardt then studied at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart.
8.
Elke Neidhardt directed operas in Zurich, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg and Vienna.
9.
In 1963, Elke Neidhardt moved to Vienna, where she landed numerous stage roles at Theater in der Josefstadt, and made regular appearances in film and television.
10.
From 1977 to 1990 Elke Neidhardt was the resident director for Opera Australia.
11.
Elke Neidhardt returned to Germany in 1990, after being headhunted for the role of principal resident director for Cologne State Opera.
12.
Elke Neidhardt worked there for six years, directing several operas including three productions of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, before again returning to Australia.
13.
In 2001 Elke Neidhardt directed the first fully staged Australian production of Wagner's Parsifal, for the State Opera of South Australia.
14.
Elke Neidhardt directed a touring production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Bell Shakespeare Company.
15.
Elke Neidhardt lectured at NIDA and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
16.
Elke Neidhardt had a reputation for clashing with the conductors she worked with.
17.
Elke Neidhardt was 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.
18.
Elke 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.
19.
Originally they were to marry when Elke Neidhardt first arrived in Australia in early 1966, but Muir contracted tuberculosis, so Elke Neidhardt returned to Europe to resume her acting contracts until he recovered.
20.
Elke Neidhardt arrived back in Australia with plans to marry before Christmas, only to be hospitalised with appendicitis, so the wedding was postponed a second time.
21.
Elke 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.
22.
Elke Neidhardt had frequently proposed marriage to her, but she always declined, feeling that marriage was unnecessary.
23.
Elke Neidhardt was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours 2011, "for service to the performing arts as an opera director and producer, and through the tuition and mentoring of young emerging artists".
24.
Elke Neidhardt died on 25 November 2013, aged 72, three months after being diagnosed with cancer.
25.
Elke Neidhardt's death occurred during Neil Armfield's new staging of the Ring Cycle in Melbourne.