Bio / CV

Stage Director

At the age of six Arnaud Bernard began studying the violin, which he continued at the Strasbourg Conservatory, joining the Strasbourg Philarmonic Orchestra, an experience undertaken with the precise intention of preparing himself for the career of an opera director.

In 1989 he was hired as stage director and assistant director at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. In this role he worked not only in Toulouse but also – as assistant to Nicolas Joel – in numerous theaters in France and abroad, including prestigious stages such as the Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in New York, the Scala in Milan and the Theater Colón of Buenos Aires.
In 1996 he was appointed associate director and director of productions at the Théâtre du Capitole, a role he left in order to dedicate his life entirely to staging on his own.. In Toulouse he staged Il Trovatore , The Barber of Seville, L’Elisir d’amore, and the The Queen of Spades .

His international career started with Falstaff in Charleston USA for the Festival dei Due Mondi and with  Roméo et Juliette by Gounod at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Will follow, Il Trittico by Puccini in Nantes and Les Huguenots and Werther at the Martina Franca Festival, Lakmé in  Palermo, Roméo et Juliette in Tokyo, Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor by Nicolai in Nantes, Luisa Miller in Amsterdam and Venice , Le Roi de Lahore by Massenet at the Fenice in Venice, Rigoletto in Lausanne., La Traviata by Verdi in Prague and Lausanne; Falstaff for the opening of the San Carlo season in Naples and in Buenos Aires, Bilbao, Lausanne and Budapest; Rigoletto in Marseille and at the San Carlo in Naples; Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni in St. Gallen and Ancona; Carmen by Bizet in Helsinki, Lausanne, Tokyo and St. Petersburg, Thaïs of Massenet in Athens; The Trittico by Puccini in Zagreb; La Juive by Halévy and La Bohème in St. Petersburg, San Paolo and Rio, The Magic Flute in Athens, Roméo et Juliette in Lausanne, Marseilles, Bilbao, Liège and Hong Kong, Tosca at the Opera of Rome; Bellini’s Capulets and Montecchi in Verona, Venice, Oman, Athens and Oviedo, Manon in Lausanne, Monte-Carlo and Bilbao, Tosca in Prag and Oviedo, Carmen in Helsinki, Guglielmo Tell in Como (Aslico), Il Trovatore and Carmen in Zagreb I Capuleti and Montecchi in Lisbon, Simon Boccanegra in Lausanne and Bari, Carmen at Oper im Steinbruch, L’Elisir d’amore at Astana Opera.

Among the most recent projects: I Vespri Siciliani , La Fanciulla del West , Cavalleria Rusticana  at the Mariinsky Theatre , The Queen of Spades in Oslo , Adriana Lecouvreur in Liège, Adelaide di Borgogna at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (ROF), The trilogy of the three Manon (Puccini, Massenet , Auber) for the Teatro Regio in Torino, Fedora in Genève.

Among the future projects:  The Wagner‘s Ring at the Teatro Colon in Buenos-Aires, The Merry Widow for Macerata Opera Festival, Rigoletto for Astana Opera.

Arnaud Bernard is the youngest director having staged an opera at the Arena of Verona with La Bohème in 2005, then Nabucco in 2017, broadcast in the UGC Cinemas in France.

Arnaud Bernard received the Abbiati Prize from Italian critics for his three Manon (Puccini, Massenet and Auber)  at the Teatro Regio in Turin.

Arnaud Bernard is “Chevalier” dans l’ordre des Arts et Lettres.

Portraits / Répétitions

Toutes les productions d'Arnaud Bernard

  • 2018 : Manon / ABAO Bilbao
  • 2018 : I Capuleti e I Montecchi / Teatro Sao Carlos Lisbonna
  • 2018 : Simone Boccanegra / Opéra de Lausanne
  • 2018 : Nabucco / Arena di Verona
  • 2018 : Rigoletto / Teatro Petruzzelli Bari
  • 2018 : The Queen of spades (Pikovaya Dama) / Oslo Opera
  • 2018 : Tosca / Opera de Oviedo
  • 2019 : Simone Boccanegra / Teatro Petruzzelli Bari
  • 2019 : Il Trovatore / HNK Zagreb
  • 2019 : La Fanciulla del West / Mariinsky Theatre (White Nights Festival)
  • 2019 : La Bohème / Teatro Sao Carlos Lisbona
  • 2019 : Carmen / Helsinki / Finnish National Opera
  • 2019 : Guglielmo Tell / Aslico / Teatro Sociale Como
  • 2020 : l’Elisir d’Amore / Capitole de Toulouse
  • 2020 : Andrea Chénier / Mariinsky Theatre
  • 2020 :  Carmen / HNK Zagreb
  • 2020:   Nabucco / Arena di Verona
  • L’Elisir d’amore / Astana Opera
  • 2020 :  Cavalleria Rusticana / Mariinsky Theatre
  • 2021 : Samson et Dalila  / KNO Seoul
  • 2021 : La Traviata / KNO Seoul
  • 2022 : Das Ring des Nibelungen / Teatro Colòn  Buenos-Aires
  • 2023 : Adrianna Lecouvreur / ORW Liège
  • 2023 : Carmen / Sankt-Margarethes Festival
  • 2023 : Adelaide di Borgogna / ROF Pesaro
  • 2024 : Roméo et Juliette / Hong-Kong Opera
  • 2024 :  Manon Lescaut – Puccini / Teatro Regio Torino
  • 2024 : Manon – Massenet  / Teatro Regio Torino
  • 2024 : Manon Lescaut – Auber  / Teatro Regio Torino
  • 2024 :  La Traviata / Teatro Verdi Trieste
  • 2024 : Fedora / Grand Théâtre de Genève
  • 2025 :  La Vedova Allegra / Macerata Opera Festival
  • 2025 :  Rigoletto / Astana Opera