Alain Duault

Alain Duault studied literature, philosophy and psychoanalysis in Paris, followed by musicology and piano. After holding various positions in the written press, he is now a columnist for Classica as well as for the website Opera Online. On television—where he first appeared in 1978 as a guest of Bernard Pivot for a book of poetry (Colorature)—he has for more than thirty years been France 3’s leading figure for classical music. He also served for twenty-two years as RTL’s classical music voice before joining Radio Classique, from 2012 to 2018.

He is currently President of the jury of the Prix Pelléas, Artistic Director of the musical cruises of Ponant, and Artistic Director of Viva l’Opéra, the opera screening programme in UGC cinemas.

Alain Duault is also the author of numerous books on music (Verdi, Chopin, Schumann, the Strauss family, opera—including the Dictionnaire amoureux de l’opéra), as well as several volumes of poetry. He was awarded the Grand Prix de Poésie of the Académie française in 2002 for his complete poetic work, the Omar Khayyam Prize in 2008 for L’effarant intérieur des ombres, the Mallarmé Prize in 2013 for Les sept prénoms du vent, and the Alain Bosquet Prize in 2020 for La cérémonie des inquiétudes. An anthology of his poetry, Où vont nos nuits perdues, was published in paperback in the Gallimard Poetry collection. In 2020 he published an essay, La poésie, le ciel; in 2023, Le ciel jaloux des roses, poems and travel journals; and in 2025, On ne dort pas même quand on dort.

He is also the author of several novels, including recently Dans la peau de Maria Callas (reissued in paperback) and Une femme de feu ou Les derniers jours de Maria Callas.

In 2025, he was elected to the Académie Mallarmé.

Alain Duault is an Officer of the Legion of Honour and a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Language spoken: French

Photo credit: Francesca Mantovani - Editions Gallimard