Louis Langrée
Louis Langrée (born 11 January 1961, Mulhouse) is a French conductor. He is currently Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York,[1] a position he has held since 2002 and has recently been appointed Chief Conductor of the Camerata Salzburg.[2]
He studied at the Strasbourg Conservatory, but had no formal academic training in conducting.[3] He began his career as a vocal coach and assistant at the Opéra National de Lyon, from 1983 to 1986. He then worked as an assistant conductor at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and held a comparable post with the Bayreuth Festival. From 1989 to 1992, he was an assistant conductor with l’Orchestre de Paris.
In Europe and the UK, Langrée has been music director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993–1998), the Opéra National de Lyon (1998–2000), Glyndebourne Touring Opera (1998–2003), and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (2001–2006). His first conducting appearance at the Vienna State Opera was in September 2010, in a revival of Puccini's La bohème. In June 2011, Langrée was named principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg, with an initial contract of 5 seasons.[4]
Langrée made his first US conducting appearance in 1991 at the Spoleto Festival USA. In December 2002, he was named music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival (Lincoln Center, New York City),[5] and formally took up the post in the summer of 2003. In March 2005, his initial contract with Mostly Mozart was extended to 2008.[6] His current contract with Mostly Mozart is through 2014.[4]
In the 2010-2011 season Langrée made two important debuts in Austria, at Wiener Staatsoper conducting La Bohème and with the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg. He also made his debuts with the Budapest Festival, St Louis Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, as well as conducting Camerata Salzburg in Munich, Paris and Salzburg and the London Philharmonic at the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, he conducted Pelléas et Mélisande in Paris and London with the Orchestre de Paris and returned to the Aix-en-Provence Festival for La Traviata with the London Symphony Orchestra.[7]
Langrée has worked with many other orchestras in North America, Europe and further afield, including Pittsburgh, Dallas, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Hallé, Netherlands Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia in Rome and Tokyo Philharmonic. He also regularly conducts period instrument orchestras such as the Freiburger Barockorchester, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Le Concert d’Astrée. Festival appearances have included Wiener Festwochen, BBC Proms, Spoleto, Budapest Spring and Bucharest Enescu Festival. He has held positions as Music Director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993-98) and Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (2001-06).[8]
He has worked regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has also conducted at La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dresden Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre in Geneva, Opéra-Bastille and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.
Langrée has made several recordings for Virgin Classics, with the Orchestra of the Opera National de Lyon,[9] the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Camerata Salzburg and Le Concert d'Astrée. With the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, he has recorded for Universal/Accord symphonies of Franck and Chausson, piano concertos of Liszt, Ravel and Schulhoff (soloist, Claire-Marie Le Guay), and for the Cypress label, works for clarinet and orchestra by Mozart, Rossini and Weber (soloist, Jean-Luc Votano). Several of his recordings have received awards, including the Victoire de la musique, MIDEM, Diapason d'Or, and Gramophone awards. Langrée was a co-recipient of the Best Musical Achievement for Opera award from the Royal Philharmonic Society for his conducting of the 2001 Glyndebourne Opera production of Fidelio. In 2007, he was a winner of the Grand Prix Antoine Livio de la Presse Musicale Internationale.
Langrée and his wife Aimée Frank Langrée, a writer for French television, have two children. The family resides in Paris.[3] In 2006, Langrée was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
References
- ^ "Mostly Mozart - Home". Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ ""Louis Langrée neuer Chefdirigent der Camerata Salzburg"". Camerata Salzburg. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ a b James R. Oestreich (1 August 2003). "A New Spin (And Hand) For 'Mozart'". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
- ^ a b "Louis Langrée neuer Chefdirigent der Camerata Salzburg" (Press release). Camerata Salzburg. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- ^ Robin Pogrebin (11 December 2002). "Mostly Mozart Appoints Music Director". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
- ^ Ben Mattison (17 March 2005). "Mostly Mozart Announces 2005 Season Plans, Extends Contract of Music Director Louis Langrée". Playbill Arts. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
- ^ "Louis Langrée - Biography". Askonsas Holt. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ "Louis Langrée - Biography". Askonsas Holt. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ James R. Oestreich (7 February 2003). "Fiery Romantic, Burning Alone: The Ever-Original Berlioz". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
