Göran Gentele

Who was Göran Gentele?

Göran Gentele was a Swedish actor, director, and opera manager.

Born in Stockholm, Gentele studied from 1944 until 1946 at the Dramatens elevskola, beginning a brief career as a film actor not long afterwards. He soon turned to directing, working for a time at the Royal Dramatic Theatre and then at the Royal Swedish Opera, where his more notable productions included Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul and Karl-Birger Blomdahl's Aniara. He became director of the company in 1963, remaining in that post until being named to succeed Sir Rudolf Bing as director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1972. Soon after assuming the post Gentele died in an automobile accident while on vacation in Sardinia; he was killed along with two of his daughters when the car in which they were riding collided head-on with a truck. A third daughter was injured, as was Gentele's wife, Marit. Schuyler Chapin, Gentele's assistant, was named acting director almost at once.

Despite the fact that he had been in office only a few weeks at his death, several of Gentele's plans for the company were implemented under Chapin. The most notable of these was a new production of Georges Bizet's Carmen designed for Marilyn Horne; this was used to open the 1972-73 season.