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Born in Budapest, 1928. He studied at the Bartók Akademy of Music and Ferenc Liszt Akademy of Music. In 1952, he debuted with the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra upon the recommendation of the composer KODÁLY. In 1961, he began studies abroad in Italy and the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “B.Marcello” in Venice and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1962, he attracted international attention by winning the International Conductors’ competition in Rome. He was appointed the resident conductor of the Hungarian State Opera House in 1978. From 1985 to 1990, served as the General Music Director of the Hungarian State Opera House and presently holds the post of Music Director of the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra. Was awarded the Liszt Prize in 1965 and again in 1974, and received Hungary’s highest artistic award in 1983, the government of Hungary bestowed upon him the Grand Cross of the Republic of Hungary (Officer’s Class) in 1993 and the Bartók Prize (the highest musical award) in 1994.
Since 1987, LUKÁCS holds the post of Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1991, he was widely acclaimed all over Europe on the occasion of Japan Philharmonic’s 2nd Europe Tour. |
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Born in Glasgow, in 1931. He first came to notice when he won the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Conducting Competition in 1961 with a jury including KLEMPERER, GIULINI and BOULT. Subsequently, he became Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as well as making his debut in opera with Covent Garden and Sadler’s Wells which led to Benjamin BRITTEN inviting him to be Musical Director of the English Opera Group. In 1970, he succeeded Barbirolli as Artistic Adviser and Principal Conductor of the Halle Orchestra in Manchester. His recordings won a Gold Disc from EMI and there was universal praise for his BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS and ELGAR cycle of Symphonies. Later he became Principal Conductor of Bamberg Symphoniker. As Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, he made many television programs and many tours and by this time had appeared as Guest Conductor in every European country as well as USA, Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In recent years, he has concentrated on the orchestras of Scandinavia and mainland Europe.
Since 1993, he holds the post of Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. |
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Alexander LAZAREV is one of Russia’s foremost conductors. He studied with Leo GINSBOURG at the Moscow Conservatory graduating with first class honors. In 1971 he won first prize in the Soviet Union’s national competition for conductors, and the following year went on to win first prize and gold medal in the Karajan Competition in Berlin.
From 1987 to 1995 LAZAREV was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, the first person for over thirty years to hold both positions concurrently. His leadership marked a period of intense activity, with the Bolshoi Opera undertaking an unprecedented program of prestigious foreign touring including Tokyo (1989), La Scala, Milan (1989), the Edinburgh Festival (1990 and 1991) and the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1991). Several of the Theatre’s most successful productions including GLINKA’s “A Life for the Tsar”, TCHAIKOVSKY’s “The Maid of Orleans”, and RIMSKY-KORSAKOV’s “Mlada” were filmed for video and the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra made a number of highly acclaimed recordings for Erato including such milestones of the Russian symphonic repertoire as RACHMANINOV Symphony No.2 and SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.8.
In recent years he has worked as a regular guest with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, appearing with them in London, Paris and Vienna. Other orchestras he has conducted include the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestra Filharmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal Symphony and the London Philharmonic, and he has appeared with opera companies such as the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, the Arena di Verona, the Opera National de Paris, Bastille and the Bavarian State Opera.
He has been a regular visitor to the UK since his debut in 1987. From 1992-1995 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and from 1997 to 2005 he was Principal Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. His activities with them included complete cycles of the symphonies of SHOSTAKOVICH and PROKOFIEV, appearances at the Proms and extensive foreign tours.
His repertoire is particularly enterprising in its scope, ranging from the eighteenth century to the avant-garde. In 1978 he founded the Ensemble of Soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre whose most important aim was the programming and wide dissemination of contemporary music by both Soviet and foreign composers.
Alexander LAZAREV is a prolific recording artist - in addition to his recordings with the Bolshoi Symphony for Erato, he has made over 35 recordings for Melodiya, and has also recorded for Virgin Classics, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Sony Classical, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Hyperion and BMG, and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for BIS and Linn Records.
Engagements this season include L’amour des trios oranges at the Opera Bastille, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Grand Theatre de Geneve and The Rake’s Progress at the Opera Natkonal de Lyon. |
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Neeme JÄRVI is Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Guest Chief Conductor of Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor Emeritus of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He was born in Tallinn, Estonia and is one of today’s busiest conductors, making frequent guest appearances with the major orchestras and opera houses of the world, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Philharmonia, Czech Philharmonic, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, WDR Symphony Orchestra, the major orchestras of Scandinavia and the symphony orchestras in Australia. In the US with prominent orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. His operatic engagements have included the Metropolitan Opera, the Téatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Opéra de Paris (Bastille) and San Francisco Opera. He also directs a conductors’ masterclass in Pärnu, Estonia for two weeks each July.
Maestro JÄRVI has amassed a distinguished recording repertoire that includes over 350 discs on the Deutsche Grammophon, Chandos, BIS, Orfeo, EMI and BMG labels, as well as on the DSO’s independent label. Around the globe, many accolades and awards have been bestowed upon Neeme JÄRVI. In Estonia, these include an honorary doctorate from the Music Academy of Estonia in Tallinn, and the Order of the National Coat of Arms from the President of the Republic of Estonia, Mr. Lennart MERI. The mayor of Tallinn presented Maestro JÄRVI with the city’s first-ever ceremonial sash and coat of arms insignia, and he has been named one of the ‘Estonians of the Century’. He holds an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Detroit’s Wayne State University, as well as honorary degrees from the University of Aberdeen, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and the University of Michigan; and Commander of the North Star Order from King Karl GUSTAV XVI of Sweden. |
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The renowned Czech maestro Jirí BELOHLÁVEK, founder and Music Director of the Prague Philharmonia, studied at the Prague Conservatoire and Arts Academy. He appears regularly with major orchestras including Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, BBC Symphony and NHK Symphony. In North America, he conducts the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Toronto, Washington DC, St. Louis, Montreal, and Minnesota. In his homeland, he frequently performed with the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, and with his own Prague Philharmonia.
He has been Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony (1977-89) and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic (1990-92), with whom he has recorded extensively for Chandos Records. He founded the Prague Philharmonia in 1994, and has recorded and toured extensively with this ensemble, most recently to Japan in January 2002. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in September 1995, immediately following his debut with the orchestra conducting The Epic of Gilgamesh by MARTINU. Recent highlights include critically-acclaimed performances of Tristan und Isolde at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, as well as engagements with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre National de France, and return visits to the San Francisco and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, Leipzig Gewandhaus and London Philharmonic.
He conducted Japan Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in1974, and was appointed Principal Guest Conductor in 1986. |
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Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen is one of the most exciting talents of the new generation of conductors. With invitations to Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bayerische Rundfunk, WDR Cologne, Staatskapelle Dresden, La Scala Milan, Maggio Musicale, Orchestre National de Belgique, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic amongst others Inkinen is making his mark on the international concert scene.
Highlights in 2008/9 include his debut at both La Scala and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw along side guest appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Orchestra Verdi and WDR Cologne. With the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra he will conduct them on three national tours, record a 2 CD's of Sibelius Symphonies and conduct Mahler 3 at the Auckland Festival.
Inkinen has already worked with a number of important orchestras including Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, NDR Hannover, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Malmo Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Iceland Symphony, Tivoli Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, RAI Torino, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano G. Verdi, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de Lille, National Arts Center Orchestra Ottawa, Toronto Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Melbourne, West Australia, Tasmania and Queensland Orchestras, New Zealand Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, KBS Symphony and has enjoyed successful collaborations with soloists such as Vadim Repin, Hilary Hahn and Pinchas Zukerman.
This season Inkinen returns for the third time to Finnish National Opera to conduct a production of Eugene Onegin and recently made a very successful debut at La Monnaie in Brussels conducting the Rite of Spring.
Inkinen's recent recording with the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic on the Oehms Classics label has received outstanding reviews and was voted the BBC Music Magazine's recording of the month. He recently recorded two discs of Sibelius and Rautavaara with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for Naxos and also a chamber opera by Lotta Vennäski with the Avanti Chamber Orchestra. This season he will make another two discs for Naxos with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Inkinen is also an accomplished violinist and studied at the Cologne Music Academy with Zakhar Bron. He has appeared as soloist with many of the leading Finnish Orchestras including Finnish Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic with whom he performed the Sibelius Concerto in a concert that celebrated the 100th anniversary of their performance of the work and has play/directed orchestras including Rai Torino, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Norrkopings Symphony, Norwegian Radio Symphony and Orchestre National de Lyon.
He also enjoys chamber music collaborations and following their success at St. John's Smith Square the Inkinen Trio has been invited to make their Wigmore Hall debut in September 2007. Inkinen plays a Carlo Bergonzi violin (c.1732) owned by the Gyllenberg Foundation
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