John La Bouchardière
Encyclopedia
John La Bouchardière BMus MA
(born 1969) is a British opera, film and television director.
He was a chorister at Magdalen College, Oxford
, studied at the University of Birmingham
(1989–1994) and was a staff director at English National Opera
(1996–2001). He also spent several years working internationally as an assistant and revival director in opera, for such companies as the BBC, Channel 4, New Israeli Opera, Opera Graz, Opéra National du Rhin, Opera North, Scottish Opera, Teatro Liceu (Barcelona), Vlaamse Opera, Teatro São Carlos (Lisbon), La Fenice and Opera Zurich.
His recent productions include Semele (Scottish Opera
and Florentine Opera
, Milwaukee), Eugene Onegin
, Tamerlano
(Scottish Opera), Rigoletto
(Opera Holland Park), Don Giovanni
(Varna, Bulgaria), Carmen
(Nordfjord, Norway) and Cavalli's Giasone
(Royal Academy of Music
). He is scheduled to direct Mozart's Idomeneo
for Florentine Opera in 2012.
He is best known for The Full Monteverdi
, his acclaimed reworking of Monteverdi's Fourth book of Madrigals with I Fagiolini
, winning a Royal Philharmonic Society
Award in 2006; it toured widely as a live production, including a run of performances at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, New York
. This was released in a film
version in 2007 and has been awarded a Choc du Monde de la Musique.; La Bouchardière is creative director at Polyphonic Films and recently created Music Room
, a classical music television series for the specialist cable channel Sky Arts
.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(born 1969) is a British opera, film and television director.
He was a chorister at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, studied at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
(1989–1994) and was a staff director at English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
(1996–2001). He also spent several years working internationally as an assistant and revival director in opera, for such companies as the BBC, Channel 4, New Israeli Opera, Opera Graz, Opéra National du Rhin, Opera North, Scottish Opera, Teatro Liceu (Barcelona), Vlaamse Opera, Teatro São Carlos (Lisbon), La Fenice and Opera Zurich.
His recent productions include Semele (Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
and Florentine Opera
Florentine Opera
The Florentine Opera Company is Wisconsin's oldest fully professional performing arts organization and the sixth-oldest opera company in the United States. The company presents on three staged productions per season largely from the standard operatic repertoire...
, Milwaukee), Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin (opera)
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
, Tamerlano
Tamerlano
Tamerlano is an opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music , with music by George Frideric Handel to an Italian text by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Agostin Piovene's Tamerlano together with another libretto entitled Bajazet after Nicolas Pradon's Tamerlan, ou La Mort de...
(Scottish Opera), Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
(Opera Holland Park), Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
(Varna, Bulgaria), Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
(Nordfjord, Norway) and Cavalli's Giasone
Giasone
Giasone is an opera in three acts and a prologue with music by Francesco Cavalli and a libretto by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini. It was premiered at the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice on 5 January 1649, during carnival. Giasone was "the single most popular opera of the 17th century"...
(Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
). He is scheduled to direct Mozart's Idomeneo
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
for Florentine Opera in 2012.
He is best known for The Full Monteverdi
The Full Monteverdi (film)
The Full Monteverdi is a British film , written and directed by John La Bouchardière and based on his live production of the same name, itself based on Claudio Monteverdi's fourth book of madrigals which, in turn, is a collection of settings of poems by such Italian renaissance poets as Giovanni...
, his acclaimed reworking of Monteverdi's Fourth book of Madrigals with I Fagiolini
I Fagiolini
I Fagiolini is a British vocal ensemble specialising in early music and contemporary music. Founded by Robert Hollingworth at Oxford in 1986, the group won the UK Early Music Network’s Young Artists’ Competition in 1988 and a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2006...
, winning a Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
Award in 2006; it toured widely as a live production, including a run of performances at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. This was released in a film
The Full Monteverdi (film)
The Full Monteverdi is a British film , written and directed by John La Bouchardière and based on his live production of the same name, itself based on Claudio Monteverdi's fourth book of madrigals which, in turn, is a collection of settings of poems by such Italian renaissance poets as Giovanni...
version in 2007 and has been awarded a Choc du Monde de la Musique.; La Bouchardière is creative director at Polyphonic Films and recently created Music Room
Music Room (TV series)
Music Room is an innovative British television music series that presents classical musicians and the pieces they play in a manner normally associated with popular music programming. Filmed in a bare studio with only a scaffold cube for a set, the programme strips away the glamour that often marks...
, a classical music television series for the specialist cable channel Sky Arts
Sky Arts
Sky Arts and Sky Arts HD is the brand name for a group of art-oriented television channels offering 18 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music...
.