Michel Franck's Modernity, Diversity, Continuity at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

Michel Franck, appointed director of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 2008, has revitalized the historic venue by expanding its lyric department and programming. The 2013 centenary of Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' will feature a multidisciplinary fusion of opera, theater, and visual arts. Franck, a former piano student, was initially resistant to opera until a performance of Strauss's 'Elektra' at the Opéra Garnier with Birgit Nilsson and Astrid Varnay, conducted by Karl Böhm, transformed his perspective. He later partnered with producer Jeanine Roze to create a lyric department at the theater, launching in 1997 with a Da Ponte-Mozart trilogy conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire and directed by Pierre Constant. After Dominique Meyer left for the Vienna State Opera, Franck succeeded him. The theater, with major shareholder Caisse des Dépôts providing €8 million of a €19 million budget, averages 230 performances annually. Upcoming productions include a 'Centenary Rite' conducted by Valery Gergiev (May 29, 2013), a Medea trilogy by Charpentier, Dusapin, and Cherubini, and works directed by Stéphane Braunschweig, Bruno Podalydès, and Clément Hervieu-Léger. Franck also champions young talents like Jérémie Rhorer, Philippe Jaroussky, and Alexandre Tharaud, and introduces emerging Italian singers Francesco Demuro and Gabriele Viviani to French audiences.