Patrice Chéreau, the French opera and theatre director, has died at the age of 68.

He was responsible for staging what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest opera events ever filmed, the Bayreuth centenary production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Pierre Boulez. It is still as impressive and exciting today as it was when it was made in 1976.

In more recent years I also thoroughly enjoyed his production of Janacek’s ‘From the House of the Dead’ in Aix-en-Provence.