Daniel Oren

Daniel Oren (born 1955) is an Israeli conductor.

Biography

Daniel Oren was born in Israel to a Muslim father and a Jewish mother. When he was 13 years old, Oren was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to perform the boy solo part in Chichester Psalms. In 1975 he won first prize in the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition.

He also collaborated with legendary conductors Herbert von Karajan and Franco Ferrara.

Oren began his brilliant international career in 1975, winning the first prize at the Karajan Competition Award. Three years later he held his debut in the United States in a triumphant concert at the “Festival of Two Worlds” in Spoleto.

He later developed his career in Italy with the musical direction of the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome and later at the Teatro Verdi in Triest and the Opera San Carlo in Naples and Genoa. He also appeares regularly in major Italian theaters and maintains collaborative relationships with leading theaters in Europe, America and Asia: he New York Metropolitan, Covent Garden in London, Staatsoper in Vienna, Colon in Buenos Aires, as well as in Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington and Tokyo.

His predilection for that Italian, romantic and verist repertoire does not interrupt with his intense symphonic career, that leads him on the podium of famous orchestras such as the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Orchestra of the RAI, Berliner Philharmoniker and the radio of Monaco, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Berlin.

In 1984 he debuts in the Arena di Verona, becoming the revelation of the season with Tosca, with singers Shirley Verret, Giacomo Aragall, Ingvar Wixell.

From that time Daniel Oren never misses one season as a host conductor in the Arena di Verona from that year, and now he's the one who conducted more Performances in the Arena than any other conductor from 1913. Among his noticeable achievements are Verdi’s Requiem Mass in Tokyo in ’93, his triumphant Tosca with Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan.

In December ’94 he led the New Israeli Opera opening with Verdi’s Nabucco.

He has also directed Carmen at the Arena of Verona, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. In the summer of ’95, he conducted La Bohème of the centenary at the Teatro Regio in Turin with the participation of Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti and Nicolai Ghiaurov.

In February ’96, he conducted at the Teatro Comunale of Bologna, Fedora with Mirella Freni and Manon by Massenet at Vienna State Opera – this production was repeated regularly every year. Still in ’96 he opened the season in the Arena of Verona with Carmen, followed by a great concert in Tel Aviv, which celebrated the 3000 years anniversary of Jerusalem (Soloists were Nucci, Furlanetto, Alagna, Voigt and Baltsa). In September of that year he led a new production of Othello in Cyprus with the participation of Katia Ricciarelli, Giuseppe Giacomini and Renato Bruson and directed by Michael Hampe.

In the fall of ’96 he opened with Madame Butterfly at the Teatro Comunale in Florence and then to San Carlo in Naples with Tosca, with Luciano Pavarotti.

Among the best remembered Italian season was his conducting of Nabucco at Regio in Turin, and the two big summer productions from the Opera House of Rome at the site of the Teatro Olimpico – Turandot (1997) and Tosca (1998).

In the summer of 2000 returns to the Arena for the opening of the season with Nabucco (with Bruson, Valeyre, Furlanetto). In the following year (2001) he opened in Paris with Rigoletto and La Bohème. He later performed in Florence and Verona with La Bohème and Il Trovatore.

He also conducted Tosca at the Metropolitan in New York, Adriana Lecouvreur in Rome, Naples; Manon, Werther and Nabucco in Trieste, Il Trovatore in Palermo, Aida and Nabucco at the Arena di Verona, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly and the Sleepwalker in Florence.

Among his most recent credits are La Bohème in New York, The Barber of Seville in Paris, Madame Butterfly in London, and again Rigoletto with the Israel Philharmonic, La Bohème with Fiorenza Cedolins and Marcelo Alvarez, Andrea Gruber’s; Turandot with Jose Cura at the Arena of Verona.

Among his successes one can find Tosca and The Barber of Seville in Trieste in the 2003 - 2004 season, Madam Butterfly, and Turandot, The Merry Widow in 2005, and La Bohème in 2006.

He conducted Carmen at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden’s opera that also then led the Arena di Verona. He also directed Andrea Chenier at the Carlo Felice in Genoa, Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, Tosca in Tel Aviv Opera, Aida and Turandot in Verona and still Andrea Chénier and La Bohème Opera Bastille (Paris). He had recently performed again at the podium at Covent Garden in London – irecting Romeo and Jiuliette, Rigoletto and Carmen.

After the resounding success of Nabucco, Daniel Oren returned to the Festival Opera of Masada in June 2011, conducting an impressive Aida, this performance was repeated in June 2011 at the Arena of Verona. In 2012 he also conducted “Carmen” at Massada at the Israeli Opera Festival and for his first time “Don Giovanni” of Mozart at the Arena of Verona with the direction by Franco Zeffirelli.

Since 2007 he serves as the artistic director of the Municipal Theatre “Giuseppe Verdi” in Salerno, where he led the most prestigious voices of the world opera scene as Marcelo Alvarez, Juan Diego Florez, Renato Bruson, Leo Nucci, Fiorenza Cedolins, Giovanna Casolla, Annick Massis, Hui He, Maria Agresta, Diana Damrau. With the latter, a great Traviata in 2014 at the Opera Bastille in Paris is to remember.

He has also collaborated with internationally acclaimed directors, including Franco Zeffirelli, Hugo De Ana, Puggelli Lambert, Anthony Minghella, David Livermore, David McVicar, Luca Ronconi, Gigi Proietti, Graham Vick, Pier Luigi Pizzi.

Currently, he is a world renowned conductor of Italian opera, collaborarting with major theatres such as the Royal Opera House in London, the Opera de Paris, the Arena di Verona, the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, the Teatro Real Madrid, Liceu Theatre in Barcelona, Theatre du Capitole at Toulouse, Shanghai Opera House, Ncpa Beijing, where Daniel Oren is regularly a host conductor, and where he has recently led Macbeth with the great Tenor Plácido Domingo, with whom he has made many wonderful productions, and the direction of Hugo de Ana. Furthermore, among the last titles there is a Fantastic Adriana Lecouvreur with Angela Gheorghiu (with David McVicar director) at the Covent Garden, a moving Aida in Tbilisi with the greatest Georgian singers, Trovatore in Moscow in the historical hall of the Conservatory,with a surprising Dinara Alieva.

In 2015 he conducted a concert in the Vatican City for less fortunate people and immigrants, with the presence of Pope Francesco, also to symbolize the union between different religions.

In 2018 he made his house debut at La Scala in Milan with Aida in the historic production by Franco Zeffirelli on the occasion of the 95 years of the latter.

Music career

Oren has conducted opera productions all over Europe and the United States. Since 2007, he is the artistic director of the Teatro Verdi opera company in Salerno, Italy. Oren conducts at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan in New York, the Arena in Verona, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Bastille in Paris and the opera houses of Rome, Trieste, Genoa, Florence, Parma, Turin, Venice, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Tokyo, Huston, Washington and many others. He also leads many symphonic concerts with orchestras such as the Santa Cecilia in Rome and the orchestras of Florence, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and the Berlin Philharmonic.

His opera repertoire includes many Verdi operas, including Aida, Simon Boccanegra, La Traviata, Rigoletto and Nabucco; Puccini operas such as Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Turandot; as well as Andrea Chenier (Giordano), Norma (Bellini), La Juive (Halevy) and Carmen (Bizet).

At the Israeli Opera he conducted Nabucco (Verdi), La Bohème, Tosca (Puccini) and La Juive (Halevy).