Patrice Chéreau

Patrice Chéreau (French: [pa.tʁis ʃe.ʁo]; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer.

Biography

Chéreau was born in Lézigné, Maine-et-Loire, and attended school in Paris. At a young age he became well-known to Parisian critics as director, actor, and stage manager of his high-school theatre (lycée Louis-le-Grand). At 15, he was enthusiastically celebrated as a theatre prodigy. In 1964, at the age of 19, he began directing for the professional theatre. In 1966 he created a very busy Public-Theatre at the Parisian suburb of Sartrouville.

In 1969, he staged his first opera. The following year he established a close artistic relationship with the leadership of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, Paolo Grassi and Giorgio Strehler. In 1975 he worked in Germany for the first time directing Edward Bond's Lear. He often collaborated with Claude Stratz.

He began his personal relationship with his lover and favorite actor Pascal Greggory in 1987.

Death

Patrice Chéreau died in Paris on 7 October 2013 from lung cancer. He was 68 years old.

Theatre (directed)

• Peer Gynt by Ibsen (1981) at Amandiers - Taped for TV
• La Fausse suivante by Marivaux (1985) at Amandiers - Taped for TV
• Combat de Nègre et de Chiens by Bernard-Marie Koltès (1985) at Amandiers
• Quai Ouest (1985) by Bernard-Marie Koltès at Amandiers
• Dans la solitude des champs de coton by Bernard-Marie Koltès (1986) at Amandiers - Taped for TV
• Le Retour au Désert (1988) by Bernard-Marie Koltès at Amandiers
• Hamlet (1989) at Amandiers - Taped for TV
• Le Temps et la Chambre by Botho Strauss (1992) at Odéon - Taped for TV
• Dans la solitude des champs de coton (1995–96) at Ivry, Wiener Festwochen and Brooklyn Academy of Music - Taped for TV
• I Am the Wind by Jon Fosse, English language version by Simon Stephens (2011) at Young Vic Theatre, London. With Tom Brooke and Jack Laskey.

Opera (directed)

• Les Contes d'Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach (1973–1980) at Opéra National de Paris - Tape for TV
• Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner at Bayreuth Festival - Filmed for TV
  • Das Rheingold (1976–1980) : prologue
  • Die Walküre (1976–1980) : first day
  • Siegfried (1976–1980) : second day
  • Götterdämmerung (1976–1980) : third day
• Lulu by Alban Berg (1979) at Opéra National de Paris - Taped for TV
• Lucio Silla by Mozart (1984) at Amandiers, La Monnaie and Teatro alla Scala - Taped for TV
• Wozzeck (1993–1999) at Châtelet and Berlin Staatsoper - Taped for TV
• Don Giovanni (1994–1996) at Salzburg Festival
• Così fan tutte (2005-6) at Aix-en-Provence, Opéra National de Paris and Wiener Festwochen - Taped for TV/DVD
• From the House of the Dead by Leoš Janáček (2007 spring and summer) at Wiener Festwochen, Holland Festival, Aix-en-Provence, Teatro alla Scala and Metropolitan Opera
• Tristan und Isolde (2007 winter) at Teatro alla Scala

Filmography

Director

• La Chair de l'orchidée (1975)
• Judith Therpauve (1978)
• L'Homme blessé (1983) - won César Award Best Screenplay
• Hôtel de France (1986)
• Contre l'oubli (1991)
• Queen Margot - won the 1994 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize
• Dans la solitude des champs de coton (1996, TV version)
• Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998) - won César Award Best Director
• Intimacy (2001) - won the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear for Best Film
• His Brother (2003) - won a Golden Bear for best director at the Berlin Film Festival
• Gabrielle (2005)

Producer

(for his company "Azor Films")

• L'Homme blessé (1983)
• Chéreau - L'envers du théâtre (1986, TV documentary)
• Patrice Chéreau, Pascal Greggory, une autre solitude (1995, TV documentary)
• Intimacy (2001)
• Son frère (2003)
• Gabrielle (2005)
• Così fan tutte (2005, TV)

Actor

• Danton (1982) by Andrzej Wajda - Camille Desmoulins
• Adieu Bonaparte (1985) by Youssef Chahine, as Napoléon Bonaparte
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) by Michael Mann, as General Montcalm
• Bête de scène (1994, short) by Bernard Nissille - Le metteur en scène
• Dans la solitude des champs de coton (1996, TV version) - Le dealer
• Lucie Aubrac (1997) by Claude Berri, as Max
• Le Temps retrouvé (1999) by Raoul Ruiz, as Voice of Marcel Proust
• Nearest to Heaven (2002) by Tonie Marshall, as Pierre
• Time of the Wolf (2003) by Michael Haneke, as Thomas Brandt

Himself

• Chéreau - L'envers du théâtre (1986)
• Il était une fois dix neuf acteurs (1987) (TV)
• Patrice Chéreau, Pascal Greggory, une autre solitude (1995) (TV)
• Freedom to speak (2004)

Notable TV guest appearances

• Bleu, blanc, rose (2002) (TV)
• Claude Berri, le dernier nabab (2003) (TV)
• Thé ou café 14 September 2003