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Ingo Metzmacher, conductor
Biography
Ingo Metzmacher, the remarkable German conductor, has become one of today’s most sought-after conductors. His innovative programming and a passion for contemporary repertoire together with his burgeoning relationships with many of the most important orchestras in the world has put him in the forefront of today’s leading conductors. Since 1997 his tenure as General Music Director of the City of Hamburg (Hamburg Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra) has marked him out as an artist of extraordinary accomplishment and vision. With recent guest conducting successes with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonic and London Philharmonic, he has established a highly respected position on the world scene.
Born in Hannover, the son of a well-known cellist, he began learning the piano at the age of six and sang for five years in the Hannover boy’s choir. He studied piano, theory and conducting in Hannover, Salzburg and Cologne. In 1981 Metzmacher became pianist in the Ensemble Modern, Germany’s leading ensemble for contemporary music, and in 1985 he began conducting the Ensemble Modern on a regular basis. At the same time worked with Michael Gielen at the Frankfurt Opera making his debut with The Marriage of Figaro in 1987. Following the sensation of his debut at the Brussels Opera in 1988 when he stepped in for Dohnanyi to do Franz Schreker’s opera Der Ferne Klang, he returned to the house on numerous occasions. This was followed by many productions in the leading German houses such as Dresden, Hamburg and Stuttgart. He has also conducted new productions of Cosi in Los Angeles and Katya Kabanova at the Paris Opera.
During his seasons as General Music Director of the Hamburg Opera he has conducted an eclectic mix of repertoire. Notable successes have been Rosenkavalier, Macbeth, Lohengrin, Don Carlos, Pelleas et Melisande, Wozzeck (recorded live by EMI Classics) and Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore. New productions in the 2002/3 season include Luciano Berio’s La vera Storia, Wagner Der Meistersinger and Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. As Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Metzmacher plans a concert series with each season devoted to a particular theme and has toured successfully with the Orchestra in Spain and extensively in the major cities of Germany and Austria. This season he has taken the Hamburg Philharmonic on a major tour of Europe to include Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Athens, Toulouse and Brussels.
Ingo Metzmacher has built close relationships with many leading orchestras around the world and appears each season in the major musical centres. He conducts regularly in London, including the London Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and at the BBC Proms, and he will appear each year in Vienna over the coming seasons, making his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in November 2003. Metzmacher also works regularly with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic, and has made three appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic. In North America, following his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra, he has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Toronto Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony.
In 2002/3 Metzmacher returns to the Boston Symphony for his third consecutive season, where he will conduct the world premiere of a new work by Elliot Carter. This season he also conducts the Vienna Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He continues his relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra both in London and on tour in Spain. In the summer of 2003 Metzmacher will be Artist Étoile at the Luzern Festival and embarks on a major Summer festival tour with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester including the Edinburgh International Festival, Luzern Festival, Berlin and Prague.
Ingo Metzmacher has recorded extensively for EMI Classics since 1992 when his first CD, “A Portrait of Charles Ives” with the Ensemble Modern, was nominated a Grammy Award and earned the Grand Prix from the Académie Charles Cros. The following year Metzmacher began a recording project of symphonies by Karl Amadeus Hartmann with the Bamberg Symphony; the full eight symphonies having been re-released together in 2000 when they were awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
Many of Metzmacher’s recordings have been given awards, such as the live recording of Wozzeck at the Hamburg Opera which was nominated for a Grammy award and received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 1999. His release of Henze’s Symphony No. 9 with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Berlin Radio Choir has received much critical acclaim.
Most recently, live recordings have been released of his New Year Concerts in Hamburg under the title Who is afraid of the Twentieth Century, in volumes I-IV (EMI, Sony). Composers that make up the discs include John Adams, Bernstein, Henze, Kagel, Ives, Stravinsky, Ravel, Kurt Weill, Aton Plate, Takemitsu, Shostakovich and others.
Ingo Metzmacher is represented by Intermusica Artists’ Management Ltd, London
March 2003/801 words
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