Born in Waziers (Nord) on August 14, 1924, and died in Navès (Tarn) on January 4, 2017, French conductor Georges Prêtre led some of Europe's greatest orchestras from the 1960s onwards: the Orchestre de l'Opéra Garnier in Paris, La Scala Opera in Milan and the Vienna Philharmonic (1986-1991), among others. His operatic and symphonic repertoire includes the great Italian lyric dramas(Lucia di Lammermoor, Tosca), Frenchoperas (Bizet'sCarmen, Les Pêcheurs de perles; Gounod's Faust ; Massenet's Werther ) and works by composers of the first half of the 20th century, especially Francis Poulenc, whose La Voix humaine he recorded in 1959 and whose Gloria he premiered in 1961. The following year, he conducted Gilbert Bécaud's L'Opéra d'Aran. In 1997, he won the Victoire de la musique classique award for best conductor. Maria Callas' favorite conductor was also the first Frenchman to conduct the New Year's Concert in Vienna, in 2008 and again in 2010. He was made Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur in 2009, and died at the age of 92.
