DETAILED BIOGRAPHY

Born in Toulon Eric Vigié grew up in the United States, then in Switzerland, and completed his schooling in Nice where he obtained a baccalaureate at the Lycée Albert Calmette. At the same time, he studied music at the National Regional Conservatory of Nice, playing horn (Paul Warin’s class), singing (Rémy Corazza’s class) and chamber music (Jean Lapierre’s class). In 1983 he obtained a music theory medal, a chamber music diploma, a music history diploma and an instrument medal.

In the summer of 1982, he traveled to the United States to study opera directing in Boston at Southeastern Massachusetts University, under the guidance of Boris Goldowsky, a renowned professor at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. This masterclass opened new opportunities for him: Giancarlo Menotti hired him as a trainee assistant at the Spoleto Festival and the Paris Opera for the 1982 season opening of “Eugène Oneguine.” Following this, Eric Vigié was the first recipient of new scholarships from the Ministry of Culture (1982) for opera director training. He then joined the Nice Opera, directed by Pierre Médecin, becoming his assistant in November 1982 while also studying at the Nice University of Law. As assistant director and director at the Nice Opera until June 1992, he restaged many productions of this esteemed lyrical theater. During this period, he worked with prominent opera figures such as Margarita Wallmann, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Nicolas Joël, Felipe San Just, Pier Luigi Samaritani, Daniel Mesguish, and Georges Lavaudant. Between 1986 and 1990, he managed the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

From 1986 to 1995, he worked as a personal assistant to the famous set and costume designer Pet Halmen, assisting in numerous international projects, including at the Pretoria Opera, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Nice Opera, Grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Slovenian National Opera, and Staatstheater Darmstadt. In 1988, he began his career as a stage director and scenographer at the Nice Opera, creating the staging and decor for the liturgical drama “The Game of Daniel” (Ludus Danielis) with the renowned medieval ensemble Venance Fortunat at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Nice. This was followed by a touring production in Provence-Côte d’Azur of Pergolesi’s “La Serva Padrona” and Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” with the Nice Opera troupe.

In January 1991, he directed and designed a new production of “Lakmé” at the Grand Théâtre de Limoges, followed by a new production of Mozart’s “Ascanio in Alba” in 1991 for the Mozart commemoration at the Nice Opera, marking the French premiere of this youth opera. Other notable works include Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Acropolis in Nice and “La Bohème” at the Théâtre National de Nice. In 1991, he staged “Die Zauberflöte” at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile, and Puccini’s “La Bohème” at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen in 1991 and 1995. His career as a director and scenographer then accelerated, with productions such as Vivaldi’s “Dorilla in Tempe” in 1992, hailed as one of the baroque shows of the year, Haydn’s “La Canterina” and “L’Isola Disabitata” in 1992, Handel’s “Poro, re dell’Indie” in 1993, and Rossini’s “Otello” in 1995.

He also directed “Die Zauberflöte” for the Strasbourg Music Festival in 1995 and 1997, Puccini’s “Tosca” in 1995 (in co-production with Rouen, Dublin, Rennes, and Opera Zuid in the Netherlands), and Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at the Dublin Opera in 1993. In Paris, he directed Rossini’s “Le Comte Ory” at the Opéra-Comique in 1994, Nicolaï’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” and two “Falstaff” operas by Salieri and Verdi in a Triptych produced over three seasons (1995-1996). He also directed “La Serva Padrona” with the Ensemble Baroque de Nice on a tour of Île-de-France, “Carmen” by Bizet at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg and on tour in Japan in 1996.

In 1997, Eric Vigié was appointed as Artistic Administrator (Coordinador Artistico) and assistant to the General Director at the Teatro Real in Madrid (Juan Cambreleng Roca), with the objective of reopening the theater on October 11, 1997. His mission was to organize the artistic planning of the seasons. He was responsible for selecting productions, managing the financial and budgetary aspects of co-productions, handling contracts for artistic teams, and overseeing productions and rehearsals on site. He was also in charge of the dance programming. Concurrently, in 2001, he directed “Le Revenant” by Melchior Gomis, the first fantastic opera in the repertoire, at the Teatro Nacional de la Zarzuela in co-production with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. This opera was created in 1832 at the Opéra-Comique. At the Teatro Real, he developed shows for young audiences starting in 2001, including a production of Donizetti’s “Rita.” He also staged the 150th-anniversary concert-show of the institution, broadcast worldwide by RTE on July 11, 2001.

From 2002 to 2004, he was the Artistic Director of the Teatro Verdi in Trieste—the sixth-largest opera house in Italy—becoming the first foreign director in the history of Italian opera. He also directed the Festival internazionale dell’operetta, held annually in June and July, restoring its prestige with a program of four productions. Additionally, he created a permanent company of five young Italian opera singers to train and retain throughout the season, which included nine annual productions and the operetta festival. He also organized regional tours in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. Finally, he artistically directed the theater’s first tour to Japan (Tokyo – Biwako – Kyoto – Osaka).

In June 2004, Eric Vigié was appointed Director of the Lausanne Opera, effective July 1st. From September 2004 to May 2005, he served as the personal assistant to the Generalintendant of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf-Duisburg. In Lausanne, Vigié’s contract was renewed three times (2009, 2013, and 2017). Since 2005, the Lausanne Opera has developed a group of young singers graduated from the music schools of French-speaking Switzerland (EnVOL). Vigié launched an entire generation of opera artists trained on the Lausanne stage. Deeply committed to professional training, he staged chamber operas such as Donizetti’s “Rita,” Menotti’s “The Telephone” and “Amelia al Ballo,” which toured to the Opéra-Comique in 2007 and the Vichy Opera.

He developed a close collaboration with the Vichy Opera, performing there every September as part of their opera festival for ten years. He directed productions in Lausanne such as “Don Giovanni,” “Madama Butterfly,” “Die Zauberflöte,” “La Bohème,” and “Eugène Onéguine.” In 2010, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Avenches Opera Festival until 2017, directing seven editions. There, he staged “La Bohème,” “Carmen,” and “Madama Butterfly.” Concurrently, starting in 2010, Vigié created La Route Lyrique, a unique biennial opera decentralization operation in Switzerland and French-speaking regions. This initiative aimed to train young singers for their future solo careers. La Route Lyrique presented around twenty performances, with about forty artists and technicians on tour for each edition. Within this framework, Vigié staged Telemann’s “Pimpinone” and Pergolesi’s “La serva padrona,” as well as Offenbach’s “Monsieur Choufleuri” and “Croquefer.” The Lausanne Opera was the first French-speaking opera house to tour Japan, presenting fifteen performances of “Carmen” in eleven Japanese cities in November 2008. It was also the first opera house worldwide to present an opera in Bhutan in 2008. With his troupe of young singers and musicians, Vigié staged “La serva padrona” in October 2018 for the inauguration of the Royal Textile Museum, in the presence of Queen Sangay Choden. He directed “Parsifal” in September 2023 at the Wagner Festival in Minden (Germany) and a new production of “Die Zauberflöte” in March 2024 at the Lausanne Opera in co-production with the Tours Opera.

In 2016, the Lausanne Opera, in conjunction with the Royal Opera of Wallonia, received the French Critics’ Award for the best lyric production in French-speaking co-production for Otto Nicolaï’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” In 2018, the Lausanne Opera, together with the Opéra-Comique in Paris and the ORW, won the French Critics’ Award for the best lyric show of the year for Daniel Auber’s “Le Domino Noir.”

In 2019, the Lausanne Opera, together with the Teatro de la Zarzuela and the Teatro del Liceu, received the Premio Max for the best lyric show in Spain for the world premiere of “Dona Francisquita” by A. Vives in French (translated by Eric Vigié).

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