Lotfollah “Lotfi” Mansouri (born 15 June 1929 in Tehran) is an Iranian-born opera director and manager. He was an opera director from about 1960 onwards, and is most well-known for being the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company and of the San Francisco Opera from 1988 through 2001. In 1992 he became a Chevalier of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the subject of a 1998 biography. He introduced opera surtitles — projected subti...
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Lotfollah “Lotfi” Mansouri (born 15 June 1929 in Tehran) is an Iranian-born opera director and manager. He was an opera director from about 1960 onwards, and is most well-known for being the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company and of the San Francisco Opera from 1988 through 2001. In 1992 he became a Chevalier of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the subject of a 1998 biography. He introduced opera surtitles — projected subtitles above the stage that allow the audience to follow the libretto during the performance.
He was born in Tehran, Iran, the son of Hassan and Mehri (Jalili) Mansouri. He married Marjorie Anne Thompson, Sept. 18, 1954; he has a daughter Shireen Melinda. Mansouri studied psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (A.B., 1953) and was assistant professor there (1957–60). He began his directorial career with a production of Cosi fan tutte at Los Angeles City College, and several musical theater productions at Marymount College. From...
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