Lombard, Alain
Lombard, Alain
Lombard, Alain, French conductor; b. Paris, Oct. 4, 1940. He was only 9 when he entered Poulet’s conducting class at the Paris Cons., making his debut with the Pasdeloup Orch. when he was 11; later studied with Fricsay. He conducted at the Lyons Opera (1960-64), and won the gold medal at the Mitropoulos Competition in N.Y. (1966). He then was music director of the Miami Phil. (1966-74). He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. conducting Faust on Dec. 24, 1966, and continued to appear there until 1973. He was chief conductor of the Strasbourg Phil. (1972-83), artistic director of the Opera du Rhin (1974-80), and music director of the Paris Opéra (1981-83). From 1988 to 1995 he was artistic director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire