Georges Prêtre was born in Douai in Northern France and completed his musical studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris. In 1946 he made his debut at Marseilles Opera aged 22.
From there, his engagements brought him via the Opéra Comique in Paris to the Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and to La Scala in Milan.
In 1966 he was appointed Music Director of the Paris Opera and led the foremost European orchestras: Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic, the big American and the London orchestras, etc. In 1986 he was appointed for a period of five years Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. During this period he led several tours through Europe, Japan and USA and today he remains its Honorary Conductor on lifetime.
In July 1989 Georges Prêtre inaugurated the new Bastille Opera in Paris. He has been Honorary Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra since 1995. During 1999, for the commemoration of Francis Poulenc’s 100th birthday, he conducted several programmes with works this composer. In 2001, upon the 100th year of Giuseppe Verdi’s death he conducted various performances of the Verdi Requiem. In the same year he returned with an enourmos succes to conduct Turandot at the Scala in Milan. Since 2002 he has been closely collaborating with the Staatskapelle Dresden.
In 2004, the year of his 80th birthday, Georges Prêtre returned to conduct his preferred European orchestras: Santa Cecilia di Roma, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra filarmonica della Scala, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Wiener Symphoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, SWR-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Staatskapelle Dresden as well as to his favourite French Orchestras: Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
The 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons see, among other engagements, concerts and tours with the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Wiener Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Dresden and the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin
Georges Prêtre is one of the few French Artists to have received the highest decorations in France and abroad. In 2004 he became Commander of the French Légion d’honneur and decorated with the Austrian Cross for Services Rendered to Science and the Arts, 1st Class. He also became Honorary Member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna - the highest decoration an artist can obtain in Vienna.
