Gerard Mortier
Gerard Mortier (full name Gerard Alfons August Mortier, born November 25, 1943 in Ghent, † March 9, 2014 in Brussels) was a Belgian opera and theater director.
Life and work
Mortier was the son of a baker and came from the Flemish city of Ghent. He grew up there in the Muidekwartier, a working class neighborhood in the north of the city. After completing his schooling at Sint- Barbara College, a Jesuit college in the Savaanstraat, he studied from 1960 to 1965 at the University of Ghent Jura and was subsequently awarded a PhD. From 1966 to 1967 he completed a second degree in Communication Sciences.
He began his career in 1968 as assistant to the director of the Flanders Festival. From 1973 to 1980 he directed the operations offices of Christoph von Dohnányi and Rolf Liebermann in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Paris.
In 1981 he became head of the Brussels opera house La Monnaie / De Munt for ten years. Together with the musical director Sylvain Cambreling he developed a new opera understanding, modernized it and so did the opera house known internationally.
1991 appointed one Mortier to directors and artistic director of the Salzburg Festival. It should open up the festival to a younger audience and prepare the festival programmatically for the 21st century. Under his era experienced 25 operas of the 20th century, their performance in Salzburg. 2011 ended his term in office.
At the invitation of the state government of North Rhine -Westphalia, he designed the first cycle of the Ruhr Triennale 2002 to 2004. From the season 2004/ 05 he led until July 2009, the Paris Opera.
A week before the meeting of the Board of Trustees for the appointment of a new head of the Bayreuth Festival on September 1, 2008, he competed together with Nike Wagner. In the event of an exposure in Bayreuth he wanted out of the six-week Bayreuth Festival also lead the New York City Opera, Bayreuth would, however, given the priority in case of a time conflict. However, the contract for the line received unexpectedly unanimously Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner- Pasquier.
As of 2009, Mortier was to take over the management of the New York City Opera General Manager and Artistic Director. Due to serious financial loss to the New York City Opera by the financial crisis from 2007 Mortier saw despite a two-year preparation no longer able to offer an artistically ambitious program, and took of the upcoming line spacing. In 2010 he became the successor of Antonio del Moral in the Madrid opera house, Teatro Real. In September 2013 he was released.
Gerard Mortier was a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
Mortier died at the age of 70 from pancreatic cancer, which the year before had been diagnosed.
Ghent University announced on March 10, 2014 announced that it had decided to stick to the planned for 21 March awarding of an honorary doctorate to Gerard Mortier and an honorary doctorate from now posthumously award.
Awards
Writings
- Karin Kathrein, Hans country, Gerhard Rohde (eds.): opera, theater. Salzburg Festival from 1992 to 2001. Zsolnay, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-552-05170-8.
- (Ed.): Herbert von Karajan and the Salzburger Festspiele. Documentation of a partnership in 1933, 1948, 1957-1989. With an introduction by Joachim Kaiser. Residenz, Salzburg 1994, ISBN 3-7017-0844-4.
- Dramaturgy a passion. For a theater as a religion of humanity. Aout the French by Sven Hartberger, JB Metzler, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-476-02546-3.
Movies
- Gerard Mortier at the Paris Opera. A multi-faceted look back at his last opera season in Paris. Documentation, France, 2009, 91 min, Director: Richard Copans, Production: ARTE France, Les films d' ici, German Original Air Date: September 21, 2009, Summary of arte
- Gerard Mortier: Occupation? Opera! Documentation, Belgium, 2001, 55 min, Director: Christian Leblé, Production: Belair Media, RTBF, Summary of arte
- Mortier Katharina Wagner and the succession process. Bayreuth, 1 September 2008 Production: FAZ, online video, 1:41 min