Laurent Campellone Explained

Laurent Campellone
Birth Date:January 23, 1972
Birth Place:Ollioules, France
Genre:Classical music
Occupation:Conductor, General Manager of the Opéra de Tours
Website:https://www.laurent-campellone.com

Laurent Campellone (born January 23, 1972) is a French conductor.
Known around the world for his expertise in the French opera of the Romantic era,[1] he is often compared to Michel Plasson. Critics consider him today as "one of the best defenders in the world" of this repertoire. [2]
He is currently the General Manager of Opéra de Tours.[3]

Biography

Studies

Campellone first studied violin, tuba, percussion and singing.[4] While completing his Philosophy studies, he trained as a conductor at the Conservatoire Frédéric Chopin in Paris. In 2001, he was awarded, by unanimous vote, the First Prize at the 8th edition of the EU Young Conductors international Competition, in Spoleto, Italy.[5]

Guest conductor

Campellone has conducted over 300 different orchestra and lyric works[6] in prestigious opera houses and with renowned orchestras, amongst which the Bolshoi of Moscow, where he made his debut in 2012 with a new production of La Traviata staged by Francesca Zambello ; the Deutsche Oper Berlin ; the Théatre national de l’Opéra Comique, the Opéra national de Lorraine ; the Monte Carlo Opera ; the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ; the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra ; the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra ; the Toulouse Capitole National Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a regular guest conductor at the Berlioz Festival, the La Chaise-Dieu Festival and other French festivals.

Director

Opéra de Saint-Etienne

From 2004 to 2015, Campellone was music director of the Opéra de Saint-Etienne. During his term, he carried on the Opera's policy of rediscovering forgotten 19th century French masterpieces, thus conducting many rare lyric works by Massenet (Le Mage, Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, Sapho, Ariane…), Gounod (Polyeucte, La Reine de Saba), Lalo (Le Roi d’Ys) and Saint-Saëns (Les Barbares),[7] a repertoire in which he has been said to "have no equals".[8] This passion for the lesser-known parts of the French romantic repertoire did not preclude his offering noted interpretations of such operatic staples as Madama Butterfly[9] or Rigoletto.

Opéra de Tours

In September 2020, he was appointed General manager and music director of the Opéra de Tours. His first season (2021), which was commended for its quality and novelty, breathed new life into a house that had suffered greatly from years of mismanagement and from the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Continuing his exploration of the French repertoire, he conducted the first stagings of Saint-Saëns' La Princesse Jaune and Bizet's Djamileh after years of neglect.[11] He is also the first to hire formally Glass Marcano, the first black woman conductor in France: she is principal guest conductor for the 2022 season.[12]

Discography

Among his recordings, three were particularly acclaimed by the critics :

Honors

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alain Cochard . "Massenet est un peu le Méliès de la musique" une interview de Laurent Campellone chef d'orchestre . concertclassic.com . 18 November 2021 . french . 5 October 2012.
  2. Richard Martet . Frédégonde poursuit sa renaissance à Tours . Opéra Magazine . 30 June 2022 . French.
  3. Web site: Laurent Borde . Laurent Campellone nouveau directeur de l'Opéra de Tours . francemusique . 18 November 2021 . french . 21 September 2020.
  4. Web site: Laurent Campellone, caught by the mysteries of music . archive.com . 18 November 2021 . 14 December 2020.
  5. Web site: A Spoleto un'inedita "Cleopatra" di Cimarosa . giornaledellamusica.it . 18 November 2021 . italian . 2005.
  6. Web site: Laurent Campellone . francemusique.fr . 24 November 2021 . French.
  7. Web site: Laurent Bury . Les Barbares - Saint-Etienne . forumopera.com . 18 November 2021 . french . 14 February 2014.
  8. Web site: Les Mousquetaires au Couvent . OperaNews . 18 November 2021 . 6 June 2015.
  9. Web site: Fabrice Malkani . Une Cio-Cio sans chichis . furomopera.com . 18 November 2021 . french . 29 April 2012.
  10. Web site: Tours 2021 : sortie de crise et opéra français . forumopera.com . 24 November 2021 . French . 15 December 2020.
  11. Web site: Sophie Bourdais . Avec "Idoménée", "La Princesse jaune" et "Lamento", rendez-vous lyrique en terre inconnue . Télérama . 24 November 2021 . French . 8 October 2021.
  12. Web site: L'Opéra de Tours accueille la première cheffe d'orchestre noire en France . huffingtonpost.fr . 18 November 2021 . french . 8 February 2021.
  13. Web site: Benoît Fauchet . Diapason d'or de l'année : Offenbach par Jodie Devos . diapasonmag.fr . 18 November 2021 . french . 26 December 2019.
  14. Web site: Benoît Fauchet . Py, Rhorer, Campellone et Sokhiev au palmarès du Syndicat de la critique . diapasonmag.fr . 18 November 2021 . 23 June 2014.