Seiji Ozawa
Sally Matthews
Nathalie Stutzmann
Anthony Dean Griffey
Jose van Dam
Tokyo Opera Singers
| Seiji
Ozawa (Conductor) |
 Born
in 1935 in Shenyang, China, to Japanese parents, Seiji Ozawa
started piano lessons at an early age. After graduating from
Seijo Junior High School in Tokyo, he studied conducting under
the late Hideo Saito at Toho School of Music, graduating with
first prizes in composition and conducting.
In 1959 he won first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors
held in Besançon, France, and was invited to Tanglewood by Charles Münch,
then Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a judge at the competition.
In 1960 Ozawa won the Tanglewood Music Center's highest honor, the Koussevitzky
Prize for outstanding student conductor.
While a student of Herbert von Karajan in West Berlin, Ozawa came to the attention
of Leonard Bernstein. He was appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic
for the 1961-62 season. He was Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's
Ravinia Festival for five summers beginning in 1964. Ozawa also took the post
of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for four seasons.
Ozawa was Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1970 to 1976, followed
by a year as that orchestra's Music Adviser. He first conducted the Boston Symphony
Orchestra in Symphony Hall in January, 1968. From 1970 he was designated Artistic
Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood Festival for four summers.
Following a year as the Music Adviser of the orchestra, Seiji Ozawa was named
the 13th Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973.
With the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ozawa conducted many concerts in Europe,
Asia and throughout the United States, strengthening the orchestra's international
reputation.
In late April, 2002, Seiji Ozawa conducted performances of Mahler's Symphony
No.9 in Boston, bringing to a close a tenure of twenty-nine years as Music Director
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In fall, 2002, he assumed the post of Music
Director of the Vienna State Opera. Preceding this, on January 1, 2002, Seiji
Ozawa became the first Japanese conductor in history to appear on the podium
for the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year Concert. This concert was broadcast in
65 countries, receiving acclaim from audiences around the world. The live recording
was then released with unprecedented speed and has become a phenomenon, rising
on the Pop Music chart rankings and hitting record-breaking Classical Music CD
sales, receiving a Platinum Disk Award in the Orchestra's home country of Austria,
and a Classic of the Year Award at the 16th Nihon Gold Disk Award in Japan.
In March 1979, he and the Orchestra made a historic visit to China, becoming
the first American performing ensemble to visit China since the establishment
of diplomatic relations.
Ozawa maintains an active international career, appearing regularly with many
orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, and often leading European and
Japan tours with the Vienna Philharmonic. His operatic credits include several
appearances receiving great response at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Milan,
l'Opéra National de Paris, among others. In 1983 he conducted the world
premiere of Olivier Messiaen's Saint Francois d'Assise at l'Opéra National
de Paris.
In 1984, Seiji Ozawa and Kazuyoshi Akiyama formed an orchestra whose purpose
was to perform in commemoration of the late Japanese music educator, Hideo Saito.
This orchestra, the Saito Kinen Orchestra, formally embarked on a path to greatness
in 1987 that has since become legendary. In 1992, the orchestra became the focus
of Ozawa's artistic dream to be Japan's first international music festival: the
Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto. The Festival, which has been held every September
since it's commencement in 1992, has drawn the enthusiastic attention of the
music world both at home and abroad.
In 1998 Seiji Ozawa and the Saito Kinen Orchestra joined forces with l'Opéra
National de Paris to produce Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites
at the Festival, then mounted the same production at l'Opéra National
de Paris in November of 1999. In the same year at the Festival, with director
Robert Lepage, Berlioz's Opera, La Damnation de Faust was presented and highly
praised. In December 1999 and January of 2000, Seiji Ozawa conducted the Saito
Kinen Orchestra in performances of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in Matsumoto
as well as Tokyo to a resoundingly positive response, the energy of which has
been captured on a live audio recording. The acclaimed conductor took the Saito
Kinen Orchestra to Europe for performance tours in
1989, 1990, 1994, 1997, plus a 1991 tour of both Europe and the United States,
and a 2001 tour of the United States. In May 2004, Seiji Ozawa led the Saito
Kinen Orchestra on a highly successful European Tour, performing in a total of
6 cities throughout Europe (Valencia, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, and Milan).
Seiji Ozawa's activities have earned him France's esteemed honor, Chevalier de
la Legion d'Honneur (1998), an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University (2000),
membership in the Académie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France (October
2001), and in November 2001, recognition from Japan for his outstanding cultural
contributions to the country. He received the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science
and Art, First Class, from Austrian President Thomas Klestil (2002), the Mainichi
Art Award and Suntory Music Prize (2003), and in March 2004, received an Honorary
Doctorate from the Sorbonne University of France.
2000 marked the beginning of "Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-juku Opera Project," designed
as an educational program for young musicians. The first six of its productions,
Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, J. Strauss
II' s Die Fledermaus, Puccini’s La Bohème and Rossini’s Il
Barbiere di Siviglia received popular attention from audiences and critics for
the way in which the progress of young musicians was achieved. In addition to
these projects, Seiji Ozawa continues to perform on a regular basis with the
New Japan Philharmonic, an orchestra with which he has worked closely since its
founding, and once a year with the Mito Chamber Orchestra.
Seiji Ozawa conducted two comic operas, L'heure espagnole (Ravel) and Gianni
Schicchi (Puccini), in collaboration with l'Opéra National de Paris in
April 2003. The production, which was performed in Yokosuka, Kawaguchi and Tokyo,
was very successful and delighted the audience. The production was also performed
8 times from March to April 2004 at l'Opéra National de Paris.
(January 2006). |
| Sally Matthews (Soprano) |
Sally Matthews is the winner of the 1999 Kathleen Ferrier Award. She studied with Cynthia
Jolly and Johanna Peters and completed the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama in 2000. She studies with Paul Farrington and was a member of The Royal Opera Vilar Young Artist programme from 2001 - 2003.
In January 2001 she made her Royal Opera House debut as Nannetta Falstaff under Bernard Haitink. As a member of the Vilar Young Artist programme she sang Flowermaiden Parsifal for Sir Simon Rattle, took part in Bernard Haitink's Farewell Gala concerts singing Susanna in Act II of Le Nozze di Figaro and sang Pamina Die Zaubeflte with Philippe Jordan and Iris Semele with Sir Charles Mackerras. This was followed by her debuts at Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Pamina Die Zauberflte and as Lauretta Gianni Schicchi in a new production conducted by Vladimir Jurowski for Glyndebourne Festival Opera.
Last season she returned to the Royal Opera house to sing Sifare Mitridate conducted by Richard Hickox and made her debut at English National Opera in a new David McVicar production of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. She also made her debut in Munich in a new production at the Bayerische Staatsoper singing the title role in Cavalli's La Calisto and in the 2006/07 season will sing Fiordiligi in a new production of Cosi at Netherlands Opera, the title roles in Rusalka for Opera Australia, and in Alice in Wonderland, a new commission written by Unsuk Chin for the the Bayerische Staatsoper .
In concert she performs regularly with the four London orchestras and with the BBC Symphony, Hall, Ulster and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras under conductors including Pierre Boulez, Lennard Slatkin, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, Danielle Gatti, Mark Elder, Walter Weller, Franz Welser-Mst, Ilan Volkov and Joseph Swensen. Recent concert appearances include Handel's Solomon with Ivor Bolton at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and appearances at both Mostly Mozart festivals singing Exultate Jubilate in London and Ch'io mi scordi di te in New York.
Last season she made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Rattle singing Carmina Burana, which has just been released by EMI. Other recent concert appearances include performances of Mahler's Symphony No.8 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Kent Nagano at the Philharmonie (also recorded by Harmonia Mundi) Mahler Symphony No 4 with the London Philharmonic and Haydn's Die Schpfung with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Paul McCreesh. She also made her Boston debut with the Handel & Haydn Society. The Boston Globe said: She has a wonderful lyric voice: velvety and intense, and with strength throughout its range. But even more impressive than her voice is her musicality: her phrasing is immaculate and she sings without affect. The highlight came in her rendering of Et incarnatus est ...Matthews's voice blended miraculously with the winds, and in its long cadenza both time and space seemed to have been suspended.
Future concerts include Beethoven Mass in C and Fidelio both with Sir Colin Davis
and the London Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Symphony No 4 with Rattle and the
Berlin Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Messiah with Maggio
Musicale Florence, Carmina
Burana with the Munich Philharmonic. Mozart Requiem with Orchestre de Paris
and Eschenbach and Mahler Symphonies No 2 and 4 with the LSO and Michael-Tilson
Thomas.
She has appeared frequently as a recitalist and was part of the BBC New Generation
Artists scheme. She recently appeared at the Wigmore Hall with the Nash Ensemble
singing a new piece written for her by Mark Anthony Turnage, which has been
recorded, and she has also recorded a recital disc for the EMI debut series.
|
| Nathalie Stutzmann (Contralto) |
Contralto Nathalie Stutzmann was born in Paris. She studied singing with her mother, the lyric soprano Christiane Stutzmann, and continued at the Ecole d'Art Lyrique de l'Opra de Paris where she studied German lieder with Hans Hotter. She is also a highly accomplished pianist, bassoonist and chamber musician.
Regarded as one of the greatest voices of our time, Nathalie Stutzmann has worked with conductors Chailly, Ozawa, Gardiner, Rattle and Dohnanyi. Her repertoire covers all the major works of the baroque, classical, and romantic genres, as well as music of the 20th century.
Nathalie Stutzmann is particularly renowned for her interpretations of German Lied and French melody. Since 1994 Nathalie has performed and recorded with the Swedish pianist Inger Sdergren and their recitals have taken them to Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Amsterdam, Madrid, Geneva, Brussels, Milan, throughout Japan, the United States and South America.
She has performed as a soloist with many orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, and Sinfonieorchester Bayrischen Rundfunks, Munich.
A large part of her repertoire has been recorded by RCA; she has made more than sixty recordings for labels including Erato, Philips, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, and Sony. Notable recordings include 5 volumes of Schumann Lieder, Chausson and Poulenc mlodies for RCA, Mahler Symphony No. 2 for Sony with Ozawa and Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus for Hyperion. Awards include: the Deutsche Schallplatten Kritik, Diapason d'Or, the Japan Record Academy Prize and the Grammy Award.
In September 2004, she added a new recording to her catalogue. This is Schubert's "Winterreise," with Inger Sdergren at the piano, which has just been released on disc by Calliope. The recording has created a sensation, and been unanimously heaped with praise and honors by the press around the world. Nathalie Stutzmann, still appearing as a duo with Inger Sdergren, continues to work productively with Calliope, which has an upcoming release of another great cycle of Schubert lieder, "Schwanengesang" in the Fall of 2005.
Nathalie Stutzmann's other new release is Mendelssohn's "Elias," with the Leipzig Gewandhaus conducted by Herbert Blomstedt and released by Sony-BMG.
On the operatic stage, work includes: Haendel's Giulio Cesare, Radamisto, Orpheus (Orpheus and Eurydike, Gluck), Disanganno (Il Trionfo del Tempo, Handel), Amastre (Xerxes, Haendel) as well as Ombra felice (Pasticcio, Mozart) at the Salzburg Festival.
Nathalie Stutzmann gives regular masterclasses throughout the world.
During the 2005-2006 season, you can hear her in Budapest, for example, where, for the first time in her career, she will be singing Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" conducted by Ivan Fischer. Nathalie Stutzmann will join Michel Plasson again for concerts of Berlioz's "Les Nuits d't" in Rotterdam and then in Oslo, and will sing Bach's Saint John's Passion with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly. And as she does every season, Nathalie Stutzmann will appear as the soloist for symphonies and lieder cycles by Mahler. This season, she will also give many recitals in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Portugal, among others.
Nathalie Stutzmann is "Chevalier des Arts et Lettres".
|
| Anthony Dean Griffey (Tenor) |
A native of North Carolina, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has captured critical and popular acclaim with opera companies and symphony orchestras worldwide. The combination of his beautifully lyric, yet powerful, tenor voice, a gift for exceptional communication and excellent musicianship has earned him the highest praise.
Mr. Griffey has performed leading roles in the world's leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, San Diego Opera, Santa Fe Opera, the Florentine Opera, the Paris Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival to name a few.
Mr. Griffey is one of the leading soloists of his generation in the symphonic/choral repertoire. He appears regularly with most of the leading orchestras in the United States and in Europe. These include the orchestras of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Saint Louis, Minnesota, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Houston, Detroit, Baltimore and Saint Paul. Internationally, he has sung with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Müncher Symphoniker, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, the NHK Symphony in Japan, Montreal Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Radiotelevisión Española, and the Halle Orchestra, among others.
He has collaborated with many of today's most prestigious conductors, including James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa Pekka Salonen, Kurt Masur, Donald Runnicles, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Edo de Waart, Sir Neville Mariner, James Conlon, Maris Jansons, Naemi Jarvi, Charles Dutoit, Julius Rudel, Robert Spano, Mark Wigglesworth, Alan Gilbert, Andreas Delfs, Gerard Schwarz, Mark Elder, and John Nelson, among others.
Anthony Dean Griffey has been the recipient of many awards and honors. In the 2005 edition of Musical America, he was cited as one of twelve exceptional singers of distinction. He has also been featured with André Previn on A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, performing songs that the composer wrote for Mr. Griffey in celebration of his Carnegie Hall debut recital in 2004. In the spring of 2006, Mr. Griffey has the distinction of being invited expressly by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to perform in recital at the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Griffey holds degrees from Wingate University, the Eastman School of Music, and the Juilliard School.
|
| Jose van Dam (Bass-Baritone) |
 JOSÉ VAN DAM is one of today's most famous and requested interpreters of the bass-baritone repertoire, and since his debut at Paris Opera in THE TROJANS, he is regularly invited to the most important opera houses and festivals all over the world (e.g. Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden Opera, Scala di Milano, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Metropolitan Opera New York, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Salzburg Festival (Easter and Summer), Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Orange und Saito Kinen (Japan) etc.
The artist is as much interested in traditional as in contemporary music, and his operatic repertoire includes (amongst others) the following parts: FALSTAFF, SIMONE BOCCANEGRA, Philipp II./DON CARLOS, DON GIOVANNI, the four villains in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN, BORIS GODUNOV, Sachs/DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, Amfortas/PARSIFAL, the Flying Dutchman, Jochanaan/SALOME, Mephisto/FAUST, (Gounod) and LA DAMNATION DE FAUST (Berlioz), Golaud/PELLEAS ET MELISANDE , GUGLIELMO TELL, WOZZECK, Scarpia/TOSCA, GIANNI SCHICCHI, Selim/IL TURCO IN ITALIA. The artist created the title part in the world premiere of Olivier Messiaen's ST-FRANCOIS D'ASSISE at Paris Opera, and he was equally acclaimed in this role in the Peter-Sellars-production at Salzburg Festival.
Recently he sang the title part in the world
premiere of OEDIPE SUR LA ROUTE by Pierre Bartholomée
in Brussels, L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE and GIANNI SCHICCHI
at the Seiji Ozawa Opera Project 2003 collaboration
with Paris National Opera, LA DAMNATION DE
FAUST at Geneva Opera and Opera Baastille,
ST-FRANCOIS D'ASSISE at the Ruhr Triennale
and at Opera Bastille, MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG
at Zürich Opera House, DON PASQUALE at
Teatro Real Madrid, PELLEAS ET MELISANDE at
Opera Bastille and at the Met New York, FROM
THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD at Opera Bastille and
at Teatro Real, L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES at
Opera Bastille as well as FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN
at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in
Brussels.
José van Dam is also a most acclaimed concert, oratorio and Lieder singer with a large repertoire: Bach, Mozart, Verdi, Brahms, Mahler, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Poulenc etc. He collaborated with numerous famous conductors such as Karajan, Abbado, Muti, Solti, Levine, Ozawa, Maazel, Davis, Plasson, Dutoit, Pappano, Cambreling etc., and he realized most important recordings with them.
Future projects include, besides of many recitals and concerts, BORIS GODUNOV and TRAVIATA at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, LA DAMNATION DE FAUST, LUOISE and TRAVIATA at Opera Bastille, ELIAS at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
In past seasons, José van Dam enriched his already large discography with new recordings, such as (amongst others): DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG with Sir Georg Solti; FAUST by Gounod (EMI FRANCE); OEDIPE by Enescu (EMI FRANCE); PELLEAS ET MELISANDE with Claudio Abbado (DG) and DON QUICHOTTE (EMI FRANCE), which all have been honoured with important awards.
In 1987, Belgian TV (RTBF) produced the film LE MAITRE DE MUSIQUE (The Master of Music) with José van Dam in the title part, and he also sang Leporello in Joseph Losey's film version of DON GIOVANNI.
For his extraordinary interpretations on stage and on records, he received (amongst others) the following awards: German Music Critics' Prize (1974), Gold Medal of the Belgian Press (1976), Grand Prix de l'Académie Française du Disque (1979), Orphée d'Or of the Académie Lyrique Française (1980), European Critics' Prize for his interpretation of the title part in ST-FRANCOIS D'ASSISE in Paris (1985), Diapason d'Or and Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque (1993) as well as the Orphée d'Or de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique (1994).
From the University of Montreal José van Dam got the Doctor honoris causa, the City of Berlin honoured him with the title of "Kammersänger", in France he was bestowed "Commandeur des Arts et Lettres" and recently, José van Dam was ennobled by King Albert II of Belgium. |
| Tokyo
Opera Singers |
 On
the occasion of 1992 production of Der fliegunde Hollander directed
by Yukio Ninagawa, conductor Seiji Ozawa requested a “world-class
chorus”. And that is how the Tokyo Opera Singers came
to be formed by the vocalists who are mainly based in Tokyo,
and at the beginning or in the middle of their musical careers.
This chorus ensemble in this production attained an enormous
success, and received praises from all venues.
"Hearing such a high standard chorus perform was
an overwhelming experience."
(Shin-ichi Kamohara)
The Tokyo Opera Singers went on to perform in Oedipus Rex at the first
Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto, and the Japanese performance of the Der
fliegunde Honllander by the Bayerische Staatsoper.
Performing regularly since 1993, the Tokyo Opera Singers has performed
at important occasions in the Japanese music scene including the Saito
Kinen Festival Matsumoto, the Tokyo Philharmonic Opera Concertante Series,
and the Biwa Lake Opera Productions. They have also performed with the
Berlin Komische Opera (conducted by Valery Gergiev), St. Petersburg State
Philharmonic, and Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in their Japanese
appearances. The singers have also contributed to the vitalization of
the music scene with their appearance as the chorus and soloists in the
premiere of Su-sa-no-o by Dan Ikuma, at the 1st Kanagawa Art Festival.
For the opening ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the singers
represented Japan and sang the chorale from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
with other groups from six different countries. In 1999, they made their
appearance at Edinburgh Music Festival (Turandot produced by Tokyu Bunakmura),
one of the major festivals in Europe. For two consecutive years, 2000
and 2001, they collaborated with the Vienna Philharmonic (conductors
Seiji Ozawa and Sir Simon Rattle), by whom they have been highly praised.
The Tokyo Opera Singers have performed at each of the Saito Kinen Festivals
to date, every year successfully achieving solid musical results.
“You gather a talented group of people, and you instantly
have the best chorus in Japan, or in the world, like this one. The chorus
was indeed magnificent.”
(Katsuo Matsumoto on Oedipus Rex, from the first festival)
“What
was most dramatic was how the members of the Opera Singers moved around
on the stage. Perhaps there was never a time in operatic performances
in Japan when the chorus moved so freely, and at the same time providing
meaningful acting and wonderful singing.”
(Akio Jissouji on The Rake’s Progress, from the fourth festival)
“I thought the chorus was exceptional in this concert. They
did not show any signs of disarray as the long piece went on, and they
actually achieved more beauty in their singing from around the Hosanna,
where it becomes two-part singing.”
(Shuji Horiuchi on Bach’s B-Minor Mass, from the ninth festival)
“The chorus of villagers was filled with musical dynamism,
practically serving as the main role. There was no separation between
the chorus and the finely selected soloists, which made every chorus
member seem like a soloist and every soloist a member of the chorus.”
(Tadashi Isoyama on Peter Grimes, from the 11th festival)
“As
usual, the Tokyo Opera Singers were superb. Combined with the magnificently
selected soloists, they sang the music to sublimity, filling the hall
with a storm of passion.”
(Yoshihisa Sasaki on Beethoven’ s Ninth Symphony, from the 11th
festival)
“The Tokyo Opera Singers were even better than
before. I liked the scene where several men searched desperately from
house to house. They really put on a show with great acting skills.”
(Reiko Sekine on Falstaff, from the 12th festival)
This unique ensemble is characterized first and foremost for their overwhelmingly
rich vocal sonorities. Most of the members are also active as professional
soloists outside of the group's activities, and the resulting purity
and professionalism of the ensemble brings forth an exceptional sound.
Secondly, the Tokyo Opera Singers is successful because its members can
flexibly match the work to be sung, producing the most appropriate sonority.
Members specialize in genres varying from Baroque to Romantic opera,
or in contemporary music, and the singers would be selected appropriately
for the work at hand in mind. |
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