French opera director and designer who mounted unorthodox and often controversial productions for opera houses throughout Europe and the United States.

Ponnelle studied philosophy and art history at the Sorbonne in Paris and took art lessons from the painter Fernand Léger. He designed the sets and costumes for the premiere of Hans Werner Henze's opera Boulevard Solitude in Hannover, W.Ger. He worked as a designer, served with the military in French Algeria (1959–61), and began directing plays. After both designing and directing the opera Tristan und Isolde in Düsseldorf (1962), he began to handle multiple aspects of opera staging, frequently mounting productions in different cities simultaneously. He was also an early supporter of international coproductions, in which a successful new staging was shared by two or more opera companies. He adapted several operas for motion pictures and television, notably Madame Butterfly and Rigoletto.