Laurent Pelly
© Carole Parodi
Scintillating and brilliant
‘A Poulenc double bill that will first turn you into an emotional wreck then have you laughing all the way home. There’s not a foot put wrong’
The Times, Poulenc La Voix Humaine / Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Glyndebourne
French opera and theatre director Laurent Pelly is sought after by the world’s most prestigious houses. With a natural affinity for Italian and French repertoire, his creative curiosity has led him in recent years towards other composers including Russian and Czech. He brings theatrical insight to his work with singers and his concepts often contain surreal invention and a dark sense of humour. A master of detail, he designs the costumes for all his productions, as well as occasionally the sets.
New opera productions in the 2024–25 season include Gassman’s L’Opéra Seria at Teatro alla Scala Milan and a semi-staging of Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim’s Gypsy for the Paris Philharmonie, as well as numerous revivals. His most recent work includes Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Teatro Real Madrid and Le Chauve Souris for Opéra de Lille, as well as Il Turco in Italia at Teatro Real Madrid, Eugene Onegin at La Monnaie de Munt and Royal Danish Opera and La périchole at Théâtre des Champs Elysées.
His artistic drive leads him to an ever-expanding catalogue. He has long worked with French repertoire, as well as Russian and Czech masterpieces. Plans include works by Smetana, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Strauss. He is also drawn to musical theatre; stagings include Bernstein’s Candide, Brecht–Weill’s Threepenny Opera and Weill’s Mahagonny, with more in the pipeline.
He was Co-Director of Théâtre national de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (2008–2018) where creations included Ionesco’s La cantatrice chauve, Aristophane’s Les oiseaux, Goldoni’s L’oiseau vert and Hugo’s Mangeront-ils? as well as Shakespeare’s Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. His most recent work in the theatre includes Goldoni’s L’Impresario de Smyrne (Scènes de la vie d’opéra), and the first French theatrical production of Mary Chase’s Harvey, with acclaimed French actor Jacques Gamblin.
‘The characters must come from inside the music and not necessarily real life. Opera is not real in any way, and to help people understand the story the singers need to have the music inside their bodies’
