Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon

Founded in 1983 to be devoted exclusively to opera and ballet music , it is distinguished by this specificity from the other orchestra of the capital of Gaul , the Orchester national de Lyon , which is dedicated to the symphonic repertoire. . Lyon is the only French city to share with Paris the privilege of having more than one symphony orchestra . When it was created, the musical direction of the orchestra (as of the National Opera) was entrusted to John Eliot Gardiner who remained at its head until 1988. Kent Nagano (1988-1998), Louis Langrée (1998 ) followed one another. -2000), Iván Fischer (2000-2003). After five years without a titular conductor, the Japanese Kazushi Ōno was the principal conductor of the orchestra fromSeptember 2008. Sinceseptember 2017, the main chef is Daniele Rustioni .

Recent but very active, the orchestra has a rich discography (more than sixty sound and video recordings) which includes world premieres ( Rodrigue et Chimène by Debussy , La Mort de Klinghoffer by John Adams , Susannah (opera) (en) by Carlisle Floyd , Trois Sœurs by Peter Eötvös ), operas performed in previously unseen versions ( Salomé by Richard Strauss , Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti ) or little-performed works ( L'Étoile de Chabrier, Dialogues des Carmélites by Poulenc , Arlecchino , Turandot and Doktor Faust de Busoni ). The orchestra, often invited abroad (Edinburgh, Ravenna, San Francisco, London, Vienna, Tokyo, Pesaro) and to French festivals, received in 1999 the Victoire de la musique for the best lyric or symphonic formation.