The French opera director Patrice Chéreau (among so many more talents) has passed away. His 1976 Ring Cycle for Bayreuth with Boulez broke the mold. OC was lucky to have seen his Janáček From the House of the Dead at La Scala and The Metropolitan Opera (here and here), both in indelible direction, in addition to his Tristan und Isolde at Scala (here and here).