Jorge Lavelli
Encyclopedia
Jorge Lavelli is a French theater director of Italian ethnicity and Argentine origin.
The son of Italian immigrants in Argentina, Lavelli has lived in France since the early 1960s. He became a French citizen in 1977.
In 1963 he staged Witold Gombrowicz
's play The Mariage
, introducing this playwright to the French public. Lavelli later staged Gombrowicz's Yvonne, Princess of Burgundy (1965) and Operetta (1971).
In 1967, Lavelli began a collaboration with Jean Vilar
to stage Goethe's Triumph der Empfindsamkeit (Triumph of Sensitivity) and Oscar Panizza's The Cathedral of Love (1969; sets and costumes by the surrealist painter Leonor Fini
). From 1987 to 1996 he was head of the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris.
Lavelli has staged plays by Calderón, Shakespeare, Corneille
, Ramon del Valle-Inclan
, García Lorca, Arrabalya, Ionesco, Schnitzler
, Brecht
, Pirandello, Dürrenmatt, T. Bernhard, O'Neill
, Arthur Miller
, Harold Pinter
, Peter Handke
, Edward Bond
, George Tabori
, Chekhov
, Bulgakov
, and Mrocze, and operas by Gottfried von Einem
, Gounod, Bizet, Debussy, Stravinsky, Bartók, Prokofiev, Janáček
, Luigi Nono
, and Maurice Ohana
. As an opera director he worked mainly for the Paris Opera
, but also for the Vienna State Opera
, La Scala
, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival
.
for best director
, although he has never won.
The son of Italian immigrants in Argentina, Lavelli has lived in France since the early 1960s. He became a French citizen in 1977.
In 1963 he staged Witold Gombrowicz
Witold Gombrowicz
Witold Marian Gombrowicz was a Polish novelist and dramatist. His works are characterized by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and an absurd, anti-nationalist flavor...
's play The Mariage
The Marriage (Gombrowicz play)
The Marriage is a play by the Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz, written in Argentina after World War II. The narrative takes place in a dream, where the dreamer transforms into a king and plans to marry his fiancée in a royal wedding, only as a means to save their integrity. A Spanish translation...
, introducing this playwright to the French public. Lavelli later staged Gombrowicz's Yvonne, Princess of Burgundy (1965) and Operetta (1971).
In 1967, Lavelli began a collaboration with Jean Vilar
Jean Vilar
Jean Vilar was a French man of the theatre, who created in 1947 the Avignon theatre festival.After he gave up his literature studies, in 1932 he followed in Paris a course of philosophy of Alain and the theatre courses of Charles Dullin...
to stage Goethe's Triumph der Empfindsamkeit (Triumph of Sensitivity) and Oscar Panizza's The Cathedral of Love (1969; sets and costumes by the surrealist painter Leonor Fini
Leonor Fini
Leonor Fini was an Argentine surrealist painter.-Life and work:Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she was raised in Trieste, Italy. She moved to Milan at the age of 17, and then to Paris, in either 1931 or 1932...
). From 1987 to 1996 he was head of the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris.
Lavelli has staged plays by Calderón, Shakespeare, Corneille
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
, Ramon del Valle-Inclan
Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña , Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98, is considered perhaps the most noteworthy and certainly the most radical dramatist working to subvert the traditionalism of the Spanish...
, García Lorca, Arrabalya, Ionesco, Schnitzler
Schnitzler
There have been several people named Schnitzler :* Barbara Schnitzler , a German actress * Claude Schnitzler , an Alsatian-French organist * Conrad Schnitzler * Dierk H...
, Brecht
Brecht
Brecht is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Brecht proper, Sint-Job-in't-Goor and Sint-Lenaarts. On January 1, 2006 Brecht had a total population of 26,464...
, Pirandello, Dürrenmatt, T. Bernhard, O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
, Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, Peter Handke
Peter Handke
Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
, Edward Bond
Edward Bond
Edward Bond is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them Saved , the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK...
, George Tabori
George Tabori
George Tabori was a Hungarian writer and theater director.-Life and career:Tabori was born in Budapest as György Tábori, a son of Kornél and Elsa Tábori. His father died in Auschwitz in 1944, but his mother and his brother Paul managed to escape the Nazis. His son Peter Tabori and again his son...
, Chekhov
Chekhov
- People :* Alexander Chekhov, older brother of Anton Chekhov* Anton Chekhov , Russian writer** Chekhov Gymnasium, school, and now museum in Taganrog** Chekhov Library, public library in Taganrog** Anton Chekhov class motorship...
, Bulgakov
Bulgakov
Bulgakov is a common Russian family name and may refer to:*Gediminid family of Princes Bulgakov*Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bulgakov, Soviet politician, USSR Minister of Education 1978 to 1983*Aleksandr Viktorovich Bulgakov Bulgakov is a common Russian family name and may refer to:*Gediminid family...
, and Mrocze, and operas by Gottfried von Einem
Gottfried von Einem
Gottfried von Einem was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ.-Biography:...
, Gounod, Bizet, Debussy, Stravinsky, Bartók, Prokofiev, Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
, Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and remains one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century.- Early years :Born in Venice, he was a member of a wealthy artistic family, and his grandfather was a notable painter...
, and Maurice Ohana
Maurice Ohana
Maurice Ohana was an Anglo-French composer of Sephardic Jewish origin.Ohana was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He was a British citizen until 1976, as his father had been born in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. He originally studied architecture, but abandoned this in favour of a...
. As an opera director he worked mainly for the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
, but also for the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
, La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival
Aix-en-Provence Festival
The festival international d'art lyrique is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in the month of July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music.-Establishment:The...
.
Recognition
Lavelli has won theatrical prizes in France, Spain, and Italy. He was made Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1993, Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor in 1994, and Chevalier (in 1992) and Officer (in 2002) of the National Order of Merit. He has been nominated seven times for the Molière AwardMolière Award
The Molière Award is the national theatre award of France decided by the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre and given out every April or May since 1987, during a ceremony called La Nuit des Molières . The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the...
for best director
Molière Award for Best Director
Molière Award for Best Director. Winners and nominees.* 1987 : Jean-Pierre Vincent for The Marriage of Figaro **Robert Hossein, for Kean...
, although he has never won.