lazier [and] peters out in the clichés of the day before yesteryear, which Kupfer doubtless thinks the last word in modernity". Kupfer premiered several operas, including Udo Zimmermann's at the Staatstheater Dresden in 1973, conducted by Siegfried Kurz. He staged the GDR premiere of Schönberg's Moses und Aron there, also conducted by Kurz in 1975. In 1979, he directed there the world premiere of Zimmermann's Der Schuhu und die fliegende Prinzessin, conducted by Max Pommer, also the premiere of Georg Katzer's Antigone oder die Stadt at the Komische Oper Berlin in 1991, conducted by Jörg-Peter Weigle, the musical Mozart by librettist Michael Kunze and composer Sylvester Levay at the Theater an der Wien in 1999, conducted by , and in 2000 Reimann's Bernarda Albas Haus, at the Bavarian State Opera, conducted by Zubin Mehta. Kupfer co-wrote the libretto with composer Krzysztof Penderecki of Penderecki's opera Die schwarze Maske. He directed the 1986 world premiere production in Salzburg and the US premiere production at the Santa Fe Opera in 1988. Kupfer and his wife, the music teacher and soprano , had a daughter, , who is an actress. He died on 30 December 2019 in Berlin. Style Kupfer worked in the tradition of realistic directing, as developed by Walter Felsenstein and practised especially at the Komische Oper Berlin. The works are interpreted with a focus on implications drawn from them; actions on stage, conflicts and the development of drama are related to the score and to the logic of relationships between the characters. Kupfer always worked individually with the singers, including the choir members, requesting talent for acting and rendering credibility to the actions. Kupfer supported Giorgio Strehler's belief in a "human theatre" ("menschliches Theater"). The characters are, in the tradition of Bertolt Brecht's method of dialectic theatre, always placed in historic political context, which determines their actions at least partly. Productions The Akademie der Künste lists several of his productions, including: 1958: Dvořák: Rusalka, Halle 1971: Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten, Staatsoper Berlin, Otmar Suitner 1972: Mozart: Die Hochzeit des Figaro, Staatstheater Dresden, Siegfried Kurz 1972: Verdi: Otello, Staatsoper Berlin, Wolfgang Rennert 1973: Udo Zimmermann: , premiere, Staatstheater Dresden, Siegfried Kurz 1975: Schönberg: Moses und Aron, GDR first performance, Staatstheater Dresden, Siegfried Kurz 1975: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Staatstheater Dresden, Marek Janowski 1975: Berg: Wozzeck, Opernhaus Graz, Gustav Erny 1976: Borodin: Prince Igor, Det Kongelige Teater, Wolfgang Rennert 1976: