Giorgio Strehler (August 14 1921 – December 25 1997) was one of the most influential directors of Italian opera and theatre.
Strehler was born in Barcola (province of Trieste) to an Austria father and a French/Slovene mother, he grew up speaking Italian, but spoke French well and his German was passable. Suddenly becoming fatherless at the age of three, his grandfather, Olimpio Lovric, became his father figure. Olimpio was one of the finest horn players of his day and the impresario of the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi, Trieste's Opera House. When he was seven, his grandfather died and he moved to Milan with his mother and grandmother. Milan was to become Giorgio's home until the end of his life.
As a child, Giorgio was not impressed by theater. He found it "false" and decided it did not have the power to stirs one's emotions as film did. His opinions changed one hot, summer night while on his way to the cinema. He noticed a sign advertising the Air-Conditioning posted by the...
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