Georges Prêtre

Georges Prêtre, born in the northern French town of Douai, gave his conducting debut at Marseille Opera House at 22 years of age. From there his career took him to Paris’s Opéra Comique, New York’s Metropolitan Opera (where he conducted the re-opening celebrations of 1966) and La Scala in Milan. In 1970 he became music director of Paris Opera. From 1986 to 1991 he was principal guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. In addition he is regularly invited to work with top European and US symphony orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2008 and 2010, when he conducted the famous New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, he became the oldest maestro to have directed this event. For the past ten years Georges Prêtre has been a regular and highly popular guest conductor of the Staatsapelle.