Laurent Pelly
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.
Projects in 2025-26 include new productions of Offenbach’s Robinson Crusoé at Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Smetana’s La Fiancée Vendue at Teatro Real and Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos for the Glynebourne Festival, as well as numerous revivals including Falstaff (La Monnaie/de Munt, Teatro San Carlo Napoli, Teatro del Liceu Barcelona), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Teatro de la Maestranza Seville) EugeneOnegin (Palau de les Arts, Valencia) and Gypsy (Opéra national du Rhin).
Recent productions include Gassman’s L’Opéra Seria at Teatro alla Scala Milan and a new staging of Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim’s Gypsy for the Paris Philharmonie, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Teatro Real Madrid and Royal Danish Opera, 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.
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’
