Simon Williams is a Professor in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His book Shakespeare on the German Stage (Cambridge University Press, 1990) was a pioneering work that brought English-speakers' attention to a powerful but largely unknown tradition of Shakespeare performance. In addition to his scholarship in theatrical and operatic history, he has directed award-winning productions of opera and spoken drama in Santa Barbara and is a practising professional critic. His future research projects include the study of 'Romantic Virtuosity', which will examine from the point of view of performance theory the technically complex works of late… Romanticism, and the history of acting in opera.