Göran Gentele (29 September 1917 – 18 July 1972) was a Swedish actor, director, and opera manager. He was briefly the general manager of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in New York City in 1972.

Biography

Born in Stockholm, Gentele studied from 1944 until 1946 at the

Royal Dramatic Training Academy The Royal Dramatic Training Academy ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teaterns Elevskola, also known as ''Dramatens elevskola''), was the acting school of Sweden's national stage, the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and for many years (1787–1964) seen as the ...

, 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 The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

and then at the Royal Swedish Opera, where his more notable productions included Gian Carlo Menotti's ''

The Consul ''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Performance history Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as t ...

'' and Karl-Birger Blomdahl's ''

Aniara ''Aniara'' ( sv, Aniara : en revy om människan i tid och rum) is a book-length epic science fiction poem written by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson from 1953 to 1956. It narrates the tragedy of a large passenger spacecraft carrying a ...

''. He became director of the company in 1963. He also directed films during approximately the same period (1947 to 1969), making at least 15 feature films and television movies. His 1951 film '' Leva på 'Hoppet''' was awarded the Silver Bear for comedy at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

.IMDB
Filmography
Accessed April 29, 2016 He succeeded Sir

Rudolf Bing Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE (January 9, 1902 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born British opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably being General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

as director of the

in New York City in 1972. Soon after assuming the post, on 18 July 1972, Gentele died in a car crash while on vacation in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

; 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 Schuyler Garrison Chapin (February 13, 1923 – March 7, 2009) was a General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and later Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City during the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He also served as the de ...

, Gentele's assistant, was named acting director almost at once.

Legacy

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 Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

; this was used to open the 1972-1973 season. Gentele was the second general director of the Metropolitan, behind Herbert Witherspoon in 1935, to die before the opening night of his first season as general manager of the company.

Awards

Gentele won the Silver Bear (Comedies) award at the

1st Berlin International Film Festival The 1st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 17 June 1951 at the Titiana-Palast cinema. The opening film was Alfred Hitchcock's ''Rebecca''. At this very first Berlin Festival, the Golden Bear award was introduced, and it ...

for his film '' Leva på 'Hoppet'''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gentele, Goran 1917 births 1972 deaths Metropolitan Opera people Male actors from Stockholm Opera managers Road incident deaths in Italy Swedish film directors 20th-century Swedish male actors