Created in 1983, the Lyon Opera Orchestra's first musical director is John Eliot Gardiner. Kent Nagano, Louis Langrée and Iván Fischer succeeded him until 2003. Since then, it has been directed by chefs such as William Christie, Leopold Hager, Emmanuel Krivine, Kirill Petrenko, Lothar Koenigs, Gerard Korsten, Evelino Pidò, Bernhard Kontarsky, Hartmut Haenchen… In 2008, Kazushi Ono became its permanent chef. Daniele Rustioni succeeds him in 2017 as chief chef.

Since its creation, the Orchestra has taken part in more than 75 discographic and videographic recordings, often recognized with prizes and distinctions from the musical press.
Among the most recent, under the direction of Kazushi Ono: the violin concertos by Dutilleux and Rafaël D'Haene with Iossif Ivanov; works by Thierry Escaich directed by Alexandre Bloch, with clarinetist Paul Meyer (Sony); Divo, Diva - a record of tunes performed by Joyce DiDonato (Diapason d'or); Stella di Napoli , recital by Joyce DiDonato conducted by Riccardo Minasi (Diapason d'or); The French Collection , recital by Piotr Beczala conducted by Alain Altinoglu, Confidence, recital by Julien Behr conducted by Pierre Bleuse. And, on DVD, Le Veuve joyeuse by Lehár, La Vie parisienne by Offenbach, Claude by Thierry Escaich.
In July 2016, the Orchestra recorded a disc of works by Thierry Escaich.
The Orchestra is regularly invited in France and abroad: Edinburgh Festival ( Fidelio, Cenerentola… ) Athens Festival, Amsterdam Opera ( Émilie , creation by Kaija Saariaho), Champs-Élysées Theater (Bellini cycles , Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi), Opéra-Comique. In 2014, the Orchestra was on tour in Japan with Kazushi Ono for Les Contes d'Hoffmannand a series of concerts, as well as a European tour with Joyce DiDonato. In the summer of 2015, he performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival ( Iolanta / Perséphone ) under the direction of Teodor Currentzis and Le Songe d'un nuit d'été by Britten with Kazushi Ono. He participates in the 2019 edition of the festival with Tosca , under the direction of Daniele Rustioni.
He is invited to the Muscat Opera (Sultanate of Oman), in 2016 with Don Giovanni under the direction of Stefano Montanari, in 2018 with A night in Venice under the direction of Daniele Rustioni, in 2019 with L'Enfant et les Spells , under the direction of Titus Engel.
In February 2018, the Lyon Opera Orchestra accompanied the winners of the Victoires de la musique classique edition on France 3.
The Orchestra is a founding ensemble of the artistic identity and excellence of the Opéra national de Lyon, recognized in 2017 by two international prizes: Best Opera Company Award awarded by the Anglo-Saxon press and the “Opernhaus der Jahres ", awarded by the monthly" Opernwelt "and an international jury of 50 critics.

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