Yves Abel


Yves Abel is a Canadian conductor whose focus is Italian and French opera, which he has conducted at major opera houses in Europe and the United States. He is the founder and conductor of the Opéra Français de New York, which focuses on rarely performed French operas. He is also the chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, a position he has held since 2015.

Career

Abel was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of French parents. He made his professional debut as a boy, singing solo in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Canadian Opera Company. He studied piano and conducting at The New School for Music of the Mannes College in New York City.
He was principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2005 to 2011. He conducted Bizet's Carmen and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Vienna State Opera, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and Un ballo in maschera, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri at the Vienna State Opera, Donizetti's Don Pasquale and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gounod's Faust at the Paris Opera, Donizetti's La fille du régiment at La Scala in Milan, and Hamlet by Abroise Thomas at the San Francisco Opera. He also conducted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, in Bilbao and Lisbon, and at the Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival and Pesaro Festival. Abel conducted at the Liceu in Barcelona, first Donizetti's Roberto Devereux in 2004, then Madama Butterfly in 2005 and La fille du régiment in 2009. He conducted Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Bavarian State Opera, Verdi's La Traviata and La Fille du Regiment at the Royal Opera House in London, and Madama Butterfly at the New National Theatre Tokyo.
In 1988, Abel founded the company Opéra Français de New York, which is focused on rarely played French operas. Also its musical director, he presented there the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin's To be sung.
Since 2015, Abel has been chief conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, where his contract of initially three years was extended to 2020.

Awards

In 2009, the French government appointed him Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2017, Abel received the Rubies Award from the Opera Canada, for his services to opera in Canada.