[ 75 YEARS IN PICTURES ] BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE FESTIVAL

A festival has an entire life outside the public eye, before the theatre opens its doors and the last call rings out to announce the rise of the curtain. There are the intense work sessions, the friendships forged, and the moments of rest and relaxation.
Here are some snapshots of life behind the scenes at the Festival!

Summer 1953, Gabriel Dussurget, first director of the Festival, walking down rue de l’Opéra surrounded by stage director Marcello Cortis and singers from the production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte: Teresa Stich-Randall (soprano), Graziella Sciutti (soprano) and Renato Capecchi (baritone).

July 1970, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich rehearsing Henri Dutilleux’s Cello Concerto No. 1 at the Théâtre de l’Archevêché (July 1970), with conductor Serge Baudo and the Orchestre de Paris.

Balthus, who designed the costumes and the sets for the 1950 production of Così fan tutte, taking a cigarette break with stagehands.

Balthus et les machinistes 1950 © Coll. Kathleen Fonmarty-Dussurget

In 1998, stage director Peter Brook marked his return to opera with a new production of Don Giovanni, which remains today one of the legendary stagings of a work by Mozart.

He is seen here during a rehearsal at the Théâtre de l’Archevêché with the young conductor Daniel Harding and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. The Orchestra is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this summer and will be accompanying George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s Picture a day like this.

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 1998 © Elisabeth Carecchio

Deep in rehearsal for George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, for its world premiere in 2012. Stage director Katie Mitchell working on the character of Agnès with soprano Barbara Hannigan.

Répétitions de Written on Skin, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2012 © Pascal Victor

A work session on the score of the new creation by Kaija Saariaho (centre) alongside conductor Susanna Mälkki (right), for the production of the opera Innocence.