Gilbert Blin

Gilbert Blin was born in 1960 in Brittany, France. He studied theatre history and stage direction at the Sorbonne. After graduating in 1986, he concentrated on Rameau’s operas and their relation to the stage, an interest that has since broadened to encompass French opera and its relationship to Baroque theater. Blin has been assistant or collaborator with some of the great directors of the world: Göran Järvefelt, Vittorio Rossi, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Volker Schlöndorff, Robert Altman and a host of others. In 1991, Blin directed and designed Massenet’s Werther for the Opéra de Nancy. Three years later, with Laurent Petitgirard conducting, he presented a new version of that production for Alfredo Kraus’ farewell performances at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. In 1995, he directed Delibes’ Lakmé with Elisabeth Vidal for the Opéra-Comique. At the Operastudion of Stockholm, Gilbert Blin gave master classes on Baroque gesture in Handel’s Alcina. In Paris, he directed R. Furieux, a happening based on Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Charpentier’s Actéon, and plays of Shakespeare and Moliere. Empassioned by the works of Gluck, Gilbert Blin was French style adviser for David Radok’s production of Iphigénie en Tauride (Drottningholm, 1990) and Arnold Östman’s version of Alceste (Concertgebouw, 1993). For Drottningholm Court Theatre in Sweden, Gilbert Blin directed a production of Orfeo ed Euridice in 1992, and, in 1998, for the Gluck Festival, staged a new version of the show. Since 1999, Gilbert Blin is artistic director of the Académie Desprez – Association Française pour le Rayonnement du Théâtre du Château de Drottningholm. Recent realisations include a new production of Lully’s Thesée for the Boston Early Music Festival in June 2001, and, in September, a workshop about XVIIIth century acting style for the University of Leiden. For the Prague State Opera, he directed Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable (1999) and Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso (2001).