With Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre, German director Peter Konwitschny will stage "Eugene Onegin" in Tokyo from Sept. 12 to 15.

Raised in Leipzig and going on to study in postwar Berlin, the 63-year-old director, a son of the famous conductor Franz Konwitschny, started his career as assistant director at the Berliner Ensemble theater founded by famed playwright Bertolt Brecht. But now, having worked for many opera houses around Germany and beyond, Konwitschny is one of today's most notable directors, who makes fresh and surprising operas that confound and polarize capacity audiences.

One such opera was a production of Carl Maria von Weber's "Der Freischutz" in Hamburg in 1999. The story tells of a ranger, Max, who makes a pact with the Devil to help him win a contest and by extension his lover's hand. Driven by regret, Max publicly confesses that he cheated, but is spared banishment when a religious hermit convinces Duke Ottokar to give the ranger a softer punishment.