RETURN

Luis Erlo

Director
He was born in Lyon, on 26/4/1929. He gained operatic experience next to his uncle, Paul Camerlo, principal musician for many years, director and manager of the Lyon Opera (1949/69). He became artistic director at the Lyon Opera (1968/73), the Paris Opera’s Atelier (1973/79) and the Aix-en-Provence Festival (1982/96). Upon beginning his duties at the Lyon Opera, he invited Françoise André to found a new ballet theater company devoted to modern dance, hence commencing a tradition which is preserved until this day with Yorgos Loukos. As a director he kept collaborating with the Lyon Opera until 1995, while he shared director’s duties with Jean-Pierre Brossman since 1982. At the Lyon Opera, he staged many lyric works ranging from Monteverdi, Cavalli and Rameau to contemporary composers. His productions distinguished for their accuracy and modern spirit, without being provocative. They had a critical effect on the development of opera directing in France, in the second half of the twentieth century. He also collaborated with other lyric theaters apart from Lyon’s. He directed Iphigenia in Tauris [Iphigenie en Tauride] (1965) and Don Giovanni (1981) at the Paris Opera and Carmen (1961) and Atlantida by de Falla (1963) in Buenos Aires. He also directed in San Fransisco, Venice, Brussels, Frankfurt, etc. The French Republic appointed him Knight of the Legion of Honor. He collaborated with the Greek National Opera once and directed the work The Damnation of Faust [Le damnation de Faust] (Odeon of Herodes Atticus, 1974/75).