Edo de Waart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Edo de Waart | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 1, 1941  Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, pedagogue |
| Instrument(s) | Oboe, piano |
| Years active | 1963-present |
| Associated acts | Hong Kong Philharmonic Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Minnesota Orchestra De Nederlandse Opera Rotterdam Philharmonic San Francisco Symphony Santa Fe Opera Sydney Symphony |
Edo de Waart (b. June 1, 1941) is a Dutch conductor of opera and symphony orchestras. He is the chief conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Santa Fe Opera and music director designate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
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[edit] Biography
De Waart was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands where he studied oboe, piano and conducting at the Sweelinck Conservatory, graduating in 1962. The following year, he was appointed associate principal oboe of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In 1964, at the age of 23, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Conducting Competition in New York. As part of his prize, he served for one year as assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic. On his return to the Netherlands, he was appointed assistant conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink.
[edit] Netherlands and the US
In 1967, he was appointed conductor of both the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the latter's music director from 1973 to 1979.
De Waart made his début at the San Francisco Symphony in 1975; a year later he became principal guest conductor, and from 1977 to 1985 he was its music director. From 1986 to 1995, he was chief conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.
In 1989, de Waart returned to the Netherlands where he was appointed music director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He resigned from the post in 2004 and now he is the orchestra's conductor laureate.
De Waart made his first conducting appearance at the Santa Fe Opera (SFO) in 1971, in a production of The Flying Dutchman. In July 2007, the Santa Fe Opera named de Waart their chief conductor, effective 1 October 2007.[1][2]
On January 3, 2008, de Waart was named music director designate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He is scheduled to succeed Andreas Delfs as the orchestra's music director in September 2009.[3]
[edit] Australia and worldwide
De Waart was chief conductor and artistic adviser of the Sydney Symphony from 1995 to 2004. He became artistic director and chief conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004. In November 2007, de Waart and the Hong Kong Philharmonic agreed on a contract extension of his tenure to 2012.[4]
De Waart has been a guest conductor with the major orchestras throughout the world including the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony.
In March 2002, de Waart announced his departure in 2004 as chief conductor of the Netherlands Opera (DNO), a position he filled since 1999. In giving his reason for leaving, de Waart mentioned his desire to spend time with his two small children. However, de Waart also mentioned in an interview with the newspaper Trouw his disagreement with the conceptual staging of Lohengrin by DNO director Pierre Audi and the planned Madame Butterfly of Robert Wilson. De Waart said he missed "humanity" and "emotion in the direction."
De Waart maintains two residences, an apartment in Hong Kong and a house in Middleton, Wisconsin, which is the hometown of his wife, mezzo-soprano Rebecca Dopp, whom he married in 1999.[5] Their home in Wisconsin is to accommodate the asthma of their 4-year old son.[6]
[edit] Repertoire
An avid promoter of contemporary music, de Waart led premières of works by John Adams, whose opera Nixon in China he has recorded; Steve Reich, whose Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards he has recorded; and others in San Francisco.
De Waart has also been a frequent conductor of opera. In addition to his work at Santa Fe Opera, he debuted at the Houston Grand Opera in 1975, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1976, and the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1979. From 1970, he conducted the DNO frequently. In 1980, he directed a Ring cycle at the San Francisco Opera.
In recent seasons, he has conducted a new production of Der Rosenkavalier for Opera de Bastille, Die Zauberflöte and Figaro for the Metropolitan Opera and Katya Kabanová, Werther, Peter Grimes, Makropolous Affair, Madame Butterfly, Fidelio, Les Troyens in Amsterdam. Other recent productions include Boris Godunov for Geneva Opera, Figaro for the Salzburg Festival and Beatrice et Benedict for Santa Fe Opera. In Sydney, he led concert performances of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, a project which started in 1995 and culminated in performances of Götterdämmerung as part of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Arts Festival. He also conducted Richard Strauss' Salome and Elektra opera-in-concert performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic to critical acclaim.
Edo de Waart's recording catalogue is extensive, encompassing recordings with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony.
[edit] References
- ^ Craig Smith. "Dutch maestro takes over as chief conductor", The New Mexican, 24 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
- ^ Matthew Westphal. "Santa Fe Opera Names Edo de Waart Chief Conductor", Playbill Arts, 24 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
- ^ Tom Strini. "Well-traveled leader to take baton at MSO", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
- ^ Matthew Westphal. "Edo de Waart Extends Hong Kong Phil Contract to 2012", Playbill Arts, 16 November 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ Peter Fray. "Opus in the making keeps Edo away from the orchestra", Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2002. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ Vivien Schweitzer. "Edo de Waart, Music Director of Hong Kong Philharmonic, Moves Family From City Due to Pollution", Playbill Arts, 4 May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
[edit] External links
- Edo de Waart, Biography. HarrisonParrott Agency.
- Edo de Waart at Allmusic
| Preceded by Jean Fournet |
Principal Conductor, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra 1973-1979 |
Succeeded by David Zinman |
| Preceded by Neville Marriner |
Music Director, Minnesota Orchestra 1986-1995 |
Succeeded by Eiji Oue |
| Preceded by Hartmut Haenchen |
Chief Conductor, De Nederlandse Opera 1999-2004 |
Succeeded by Ingo Metzmacher |
| Preceded by Kenneth Montgomery (interim music director) |
Chief Conductor, Santa Fe Opera 2007-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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