The Grand Théâtre regrets to announce the death of Hugues Gall, director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève from 1980 to 1995, who passed away during the night of 24 to 25 May 2024.
During his tenure, Hugues Gall brought particular glory to the institution, endowing it with a genuine reputation and underlining its excellence with remarkable productions such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni conducted by Horst Stein with Ruggero Raimondi (1980), Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera conducted by Riccardo Chailly with Luciano Pavarotti (1984), the premiere of Girolamo Arrigo’s The Return of Casanova conducted by Reynald Giovaninetti (1985) and the premiere of Rolf Lieberman’s The Forest conducted by Jeffrey Tate (1987).
Xavier Oberson, Chairman of the Foundation Board: “Hugues Gall was an exceptional director of the Grand Théâtre for 15 years. He gave it a great deal of artistic openness and contributed enormously to its development as a global opera house, a blend of all artistic expressions, particularly opera, theatre and music. I still remember, in particular, an absolutely breathtaking Parsifal and Don Giovanni! We will always remember him with gratitude and admiration for his contribution to culture in the broadest sense of the term, and to the Grand Théâtre in particular”.
Aviel Cahn, General Director: “I had the good fortune to meet Hugues Gall on a number of occasions, and I found him to be a great man of culture, theatre and opera. At the Grand Théâtre, we will remember the number of extraordinary productions he gave to this institution. The operatic world has lost a remarkable personality”.