About Laurent Pelly

French-born Laurent Pelly enjoys a career as one of France’s most sought after directors of both theatre and opera.

Laurent Pelly enjoys a distinguished career in the theatre – in 2007 he was appointed Director of the Théâtre National de Toulouse, having previously been Director of Cargo / Centre Dramatique National des Alpes in Grenoble from 1997-2007.

Read our reviews

Date and venue	Title
1-Mar-2013 Het Muziektheater	Colorful and juicy: Prokofiev's L'amour des trois oranges with The Netherlands Opera
The Netherlands Opera’s revival production of Prokofiev’s L’amour des trois oranges is sweet, juicy, and just a bit bitter in the right moments. Read full review...
6-Dec-2012 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden	120 years on: Meyerbeer's Robert le diable returns to Covent Garden
Robert le diable’s 1831 opening was perhaps the most successful opera première of all time. Meyerbeer was lauded by luminaries like Chopin, Dumas, Balzac and Heinrich Heine, the opera was played in 69 cities in its first two years and spawned an entire genre of French Grand Opera. Why, then, has it fallen from grace, last night’s Covent Garden production being the first since 1890? Read full review...
13-Nov-2012 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden	Donizetti's elixir is still a winning formula at Covent Garden
Take one hapless but lovable hero, one capricious but ultimately vulnerable heroine, a doctor and an army officer straight out of commedia dell’arte, a couple of basso buffo patter songs, at least one memorable romantic ballad, and stir the lot into a good lashing of boisterous Italian music with a sprinkling of furtive tears. Donizetti’s formula for L’Elisir d’Amore may not have made all the girls fall at his feet, it did bring him money and enduring fame beyond even the wildest predictions that could have been made by the quack Dr. Dulcamara. Read full review...
21-Oct-2012 Opéra Bastille	An operatic high-note: Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment comes home to Paris
From time to time, audiences are presented with what I consider to be a rare event, a “dream” performer: one so convincing in his or her role that they become an ideal, establishing a standard to which all following interpretations will inevitably be compared – for example, Jacqueline du Pré’s interpretation of Elgar’s Cello Concerto has become a timeless benchmark. Read full review...

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