Chéreau, Patrice (1944-2013)

Chéreau, Patrice

OPERA DIRECTOR, THEATRE DIRECTOR, ACTOR, PRODUCER (FRANCE)

BORN 2 Nov 1944, Lézigné, Maine-et-Loire - DIED 7 Oct 2013, Paris
CAUSE OF DEATH lung cancer
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 16)

Patrick Chéreau was the son of the painter Jean-Baptiste Chéreau. His mother Marguerite Pelicier was a graphic designer. He started designing stage sets when he was twelve year old and he was the manager of the school theatre at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. During his studies at the Sorbonne he worked as a professional theatre director. After he staged Victor Hugo's "L'Intervention" he left the university.

In 1966 he was appointed artistic director of the thatre of Sartrouville. In 1969 he staged Rossini's "L'italiana in Algeri" for the Spoleto festival. His first production for the Paris Opera was Offenbach's "Les contes d'Hoffmann" in 1974. In 1975 he directed his first movie "La Chair de l'orchidée", starring Simone Signoret, Alida Valli and Charlotte Rampling.

In 1876 he staged Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival in collaboration with Pierre Boulez. Because it was the centenary of the festival as well as the Ring, this was known as the Jahrhundertring (Centenary Ring). After René Kollo broke his leg in 1977, Cherey acted the part of Siegfried on the stage with Kollo singing from the wings. In 1979 he directed the first performance of the three-act version of Alban Berg's "Lulu".

He directed further movies, among them "L'Homme Blessé" (1983) and "La Reine Margot" (1994). chéreau also staged Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" and it was performed in Paris and Berlin from 1993 to 1999. In 2007 he staged Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" at La Scala with Daniel Barenboim as the conductor.

For a long time he was the lover of the actor Pascal Greggory, but he was never interested in gay topics. he died in 2013 in Paris of lung cancer and as buried at Père Lachaise.

Related persons
• performed work of Berg, Alban

Events

20/7/1977	Patrice Chéreau performs the part of Siegfried on the stage in Bayreuth. Chéreau was the director. The singer was René Kollo, but he had broken his leg. Chéreau took the stage and Kollo sang the part from the wings.
24/2/1979	Premiere of the three-act version of Alban Berg's "Lulu" at the Opera in Paris. After Berg's widow Helene Berg had died in 1976 a new completed version was made by Friedrich Cerha. Patrick Chéreau produced the performance and Pierre Boulez was the conductor. Teresa Stratas sang the part of Lulu and other singers were Yvonne Minton and Hanna Schwarz. [Berg, Alban][Nahowski, Helene]