Gérard Mortier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gérard Mortier
Gérard Mortier
Birthdate November 25, 1943

Gérard Mortier (b. november 25, 1943) is a Belgian opera director. He was born in Ghent, and, despite his French name, is Flemish.
In 2009, he will become the general director of the New York City Opera.

Mortier made his mark at the La Monnaie in Brussels, transforming it from an operatic hinterland into a postmodernist temple during his tenure there through the 1980s, although he left large debts behind.

The Salzburg Festival stunned the musical world by hiring him to succeed the hallowed Herbert von Karajan, and Mortier spent the 1990s there scandalizing many of its tradition-minded, well-heeled opera patrons, the most notorious provocation being a production of Johann Strauss’s Fledermaus laced with cocaine and fornication and aimed at Austria’s far-right political forces. After a stint as founding director of the RuhrTriennale arts festival in Germany, he went to the Opéra National de Paris.

A recent production of Mozart’s Zauberflöte there caused an uproar with its air-mattress décor, video projections and costumes, including glittering, neon-lit silver jumpsuits and long black wigs adorning the Queen of the Night and her Three Ladies.

The New York cultural world is now speculating on a competition in original contemporary opera approach between the New York City Opera when Mortier will take over in 2009, and Peter Gelb's Metropolitan Opera.[1]


Contents

[edit] Academic career and awards

[edit] Quotes

  • "There was no reason for another Wagner Ring after Patrice Chéreau’s cycle at Bayreuth."
  • "Art is anything but entertainment and unrelated to box office receipts."
  • "If talking is expression of the mind, singing is expression of the soul.”

[edit] Current and past positions

[edit] Reference

  • The New York Times, Daniel J. Wakin, Febr. 28th, 07 [2]
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/%C3%A9/r/G%C3%A9rard_Mortier_b82e.html"
In other languages