Luc Bondy, Rest in Peace

Swiss director Luc Bondy has died, age 67, after a protracted illness. Likely best known in the United States as the director of a disastrous Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, he was director of the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe since 2012. Armelle Heliot has an appreciation (Luc Bondy, la mort du phénix, November 28) in Le Figaro (my translation):

There was something of an unending childhood about him. Nothing could keep him down. Nothing kept him from dreaming, planning, sharing, directing. Whether he was directing actors according to his very fine interpretations, writing his own novels, essays, short stories, poems, or making films, he always had this strength in him, and this honesty, that made it seem that nothing could ever stop him.

And then the sad news came this morning. Luc Bondy died on this beautiful sunny late autumn day, a lovely Chekhov day, a beautiful day that will not soothe the tears of all those who love him forever. He turned 67 this past July 18, when his production of Chekhov's Ivanov had triumphed at the Odéon, which he has directed for a few seasons. The staging was repeated at the start of this season and has known again a triumphant reception. Then he was hospitalized. His wife, Marie-Louise, had taken up the work. One thinks of her first and her children, beautiful twin sons.

There was no mention in the article of his work directing opera, but after that Tosca, Bondy went on to direct the premiere production of Marc-André Dalbavie's opera Charlotte Salomon at the Salzburg Festival last year.