Gabriel Dussurget

Gabriel Dussurget was born on 1 January 1904 in Aïn M'lila near Biskra in French Algeria.[1] He attended public schools in Constantine and learned to play the piano.[1] He moved to France with his parents shortly after World War I to receive treatment for malaria.[1][2] He passed his Baccalauréat in Paris.[2]

He worked as a dancer in Paris in the 1930s.[2] During World War II, he founded a drama school in Paris with his partner, Henri Lambert.[2] His students included Jean-Louis Barrault, Ginette Neveu, Madeleine Renaud, Yvonne Loriod, Olivier Messiaen, Raymond Rouleau, etc.[2] In 1945, shortly after the war, he established Les Ballets des Champs-Elysées, a Paris-based ballet company, with Roland Petit and Boris Kochno.[1][2]

A few years later, in 1948, he co-founded the Aix-en-Provence Festival with Countess Lily Pastré and businessman Roger Bigonnet, Director of the casino in Aix.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Countess Pastré stepped out of the board of trustees in 1949, when Dussurget wanted the festival to become more "professional."[3] Over the years, he hired opera singers Teresa Berganza, Gabriel Bacquier, Renato Capecchi, Roger Soyer, Graziella Schiutti, José Van Dam, Marcello Cortis, Teresa Stich-Randall and orchestra directors Hans Rosbaud, Lorin Maazel, all of whom went on to have global careers.[1] He served as Director of the Aix Festival until 1973.[1] As a result, he became known as the "Magician of Aix."[5] In 1986, a documentary about his life, Le Magicien d'Aix, directed by Pierre Jourdan, was released.[2]

From 1959 to 1972 he also served as Artistic Director of the Paris Opera.[1][8] He retired in Paris in 1973, where he mentored young artists.[1] For example, he "discovered" Roberto Alagna.[1][2]

He was a homosexual.[2] His first relationship was with Maurice Escande of the Comédie-Française.[2] In 1928, he became the life partner of Henri Lambert, a wealthy antiques dealer.[2][9] They resided in Paris and owned a house in Venice from 1928 to 1938.[2] Henri Lambert died in 1959.[2]