Yannis Kokkos - director

Yannis Kokkos made his debut as set and costume designer working with stage director Antoine Vitez. Appreciated for the elegance of his productions, in 1987 he began to dedicate himself to directing opera productions.

At the Teatro alla Scala, he directed Götterdämmerung for the opening of the 1998/1999 season; subsequently he was re-invited to stage Iphigénie en Aulide for the opening season 2002-2003. Among his past engagements it is worth mentioning Hänsel und Gretel at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Re Ruggero at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Tristan und Isolde at the Welsh National Opera; Tristan at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels; Iphigénie en Tauride and Giulio Cesare at the Opéra de Nancy; Cherubini’s Medea at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and in a new production at the Epidaurus Festival in Athens; Death in Venice in Liège; Tristan und Isolde at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London; Nabucco at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; Idomeneo in Bordeaux and Nancy; Ariadne, Barbe-bleue and Janacek’s The excursions of Mr.Bruceck at the Grand Theâtre de Genève; Pizzetti’s Assassinio nella cattedrale at Teatro alla Scala in Milan; Die Frau ohne schatten at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Boris Godounov (original version) at Wiener Staatsoper; Zelmira at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; Pelleas et Melisande in Toulouse; Tancredi in Madrid and in Turin; Iphigenie en Aulide in Rome; Massenet’s Don Quichotte at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg; Giulio Cesare in Egitto in Bilbao.

Yannis Kokkos is “Commandeur des Arts et Lettres” in France, he was awarded by the «Prix du Syndacat de la Critique», two Molières and by the “Laurence Olivier Prime” as best lyrical work for La Clemenza di Tito, staged at the Welsh National Opera. He obtained the “Critic Prize 2004” directing the first integral version of Berlioz’s Les Troyens at Théatre du Chatelet in Paris.

Future plans include revivals of Les Troyens in St. Petersburg and Don Quichotte at the Chicago Opera and new productions such as Otello in Athens and Jérusalem at the Teatro Regio in Parma.