Jorge Lavelli | |
|---|---|
 Lavelli in 1982 | |
| Born | (1932-11-11)11 November 1932 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Died | 9 October 2023(2023-10-09) (aged 90) Paris, France |
| Occupations |
|
| Organizations | |
| Awards | |
Jorge Lavelli (11 November 1932 – 9 October 2023) was an Argentine-born French theatre andopera director. He staged first plays and then opera, and in both fields, he was open to contemporary pieces without neglecting the classic repertoire.
Lavelli was first recognised when he directedWitold Gombrowicz'sThe Marriage for a 1963 drama competition. He was head of theThéâtre national de la Colline in Paris from 1987 to 1996, focusing on 20th-century plays. As an opera director, he worked mainly for theParis Opera and for leading opera houses and festivals internationally. His 1975 production of Gounod'sFaust for Paris, set during World War I, was played until 2003.
Jorge Lavelli was born in Buenos Aires on 11 November 1932 to parents who had immigrated from Italy.[1] He moved to France in 1960, having received a scholarship from the National Fund for the Arts for classes at both theCharles Dullin school and theJacques Lecoq school.[2][3]
In 1961, Lavelli joined theThéâtre des Nations in Paris.[4] In 1963, he took part in a national competition for young companies, stagingWitold Gombrowicz'sThe Marriage. He won the competition,[1] and introduced the Polish playwright to the French public.[5] Lavelli later staged Gombrowicz'sYvonne, Princess of Burgundy [pl] (1965) andOperetta (1971).[6]
In 1967, Lavelli began a collaboration withJean Vilar to stageGoethe'sTriumph der Empfindsamkeit (Triumph of Sensitivity)[7] andOskar Panizza'sThe Love Council [de] (1969; sets and costumes by the surrealist painterLeonor Fini).[8]
From 1987 to 1996, Lavelli was head of theThéâtre national de la Colline in Paris and gave it a focus on contemporary plays.[5][6] He introduced French audiences to works byFernando Arrabal (Pique-nique en campagne,La Princesse et la Communiante),Edward Bond,Peter Handke,Lars Noren (La Veillée),René de Obaldia (Le Cosmonaute agricole),Harold Pinter, andSerge Rezvani.[4] He stagedGarcía Lorca'sLe Public in 1987, andCopi'sUne visite inopportune in 1988.[4]
Lavelli also staged plays byShakespeare,Corneille,Ramón del Valle-Inclán,Schnitzler,Brecht,Eugène Ionesco,Pirandello,Dürrenmatt,Thomas Bernhard,O'Neill,George Tabori,Chekhov, andBulgakov.[1] Lavelli directed Copi'sL'Ombre de Venceslas at theThéâtre du Rond-Point in 2001, Arthur Miller'sMr. Peters' Connections at theThéâtre de l'Atelier in 2002,CalderónLa hija del aire (The Daughter of the Air) in Madrid in 2004,Tankred Dorst 'sMerlin oder das wüste Land at the FestivalNuits de Fourvière in 2005, three works byJuan Mayorga, a young Spanish playwright at the Théâtre de la Tempête (Chemin du ciel in 2007,Le Garçon du dernier rang in 2009,Lettres d'amour à Staline in 2011),Oedipus Rex by Sophocles at the 2009 Mérida Festival, and Molière'sL'Avare in Madrid in 2010.[5]
The first opera that Lavelli directed wasOrden, a political opera with a libretto byPierre Bourgeade and music byGirolamo Arrigo [fi], at the 1969Aix-en-Provence Festival.[1][9]
He directed 20th-century operas, such asRolf Liebermann'sMedea,Maurice Ohana'sLa Célestine,Salome by Richard Strauss, Stravinsky'sOedipus Rex, and works byBartók,Gottfried von Einem,Luigi Nono,Prokofiev andHeinrich Sutermeister. He staged the world premiere ofCécilia byCharles Chaynes at theOpéra de Monte-Carlo in 2000. He also directed at theParis Opera classical repertoire such as Gounod'sFaust; the 1975 production set during World War I was reprised 13 times until 2003.[4] He directed there Verdi'sLa traviata, Bellini'sNorma, Handel'sAlcina, and Mozart'sDie Entführung aus dem Serail,Le nozze di FigaroL andDie Zauberflöte.[4] He also staged there Debussy'sPelléas et Mélisande, Puccini'sMadame Butterfly, Ravel'sL'enfant et les sortilèges, and Handel'sAriodante.[5]
He staged Handel'sSiroe atLa Fenice in Venice in 2000),Xavier Montsalvatge'sBabel 46 at theTeatro Real in Madrid in 2002, Wagner'sDer fliegende Holländer at theTeatro di San Carlo in Naples in 2003, the world premiere ofZygmunt Krauze'sPolieukt in Warsaw in 2010 and theCapitole de Toulouse in 2011, Wagner'sRienzi in Toulouse in 2012, Mozart'sIdomeneo at theTeatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 2014, the world premiere ofMartín Matalon'sL'Ombre de Venceslas, an opera based on Copi's play, at theOpéra de Rennes in a coproduction with Toulouse in 2016, and Janáček'sJenůfa at theMunicipal Theatre of Santiago in 2017.[5]
Lavelli was married to Dominique.[2] He died in Paris on 9 October 2023, at age 90.[6][2][10][11]
Lavelli won theatrical prizes in France, Spain, and Italy. He was nominated for theMolière Award for Best Director five times. He was made Commander of theOrder of Arts and Letters in 1993, Commander of the Order of theLegion of Honor in 1994, and Chevalier (in 1992) and Officer (in 2002) of theNational Order of Merit.[1]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
