Start of the season with Vladimir Jurowski

Vladimir Jurowski has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) since 2017. In 2023/2024, his concerts, tours and recordings were the highlights of the ‘RSB100’ anniversary season. His current contract in Berlin runs until 2027,
while he has also been General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since 2021.

Vladimir Jurowski, one of the most sought-after conductors of our time, who is celebrated worldwide for his innovative musical interpretations and equally for his courageous artistic commitment, was born in Moscow in 1972 and completed the first part of his music studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. He moved to Germany with his family in 1990 and continued his studies at the music academies in Dresden and Berlin. In 1995, he made his debut at the Wexford Festival in Ireland with Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Mainacht’ and in 1996 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with ‘Nabucco’. He was then First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997-2001).

Vladimir Jurowski worked as Chief Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) for fifteen years until 2021 and has since been appointed Conductor Emeritus. In the UK, he was Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera from 2001 to 2013, leading a wide range of highly acclaimed productions. His close connection to British musical life was recognised by King Charles III in spring 2024 when he appointed Vladimir Jurowski an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). In April 2024, Vladimir Jurowski returned to London as a guest conductor to complete the concert performance cycle of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ with ‘Götterdämmerung’ with the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall.

He was Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra ‘Yevgeny Svetlanov’ of the Russian Federation until 2021 and Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Great Britain, as well as Artistic Director of the International George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. He has also worked with the unitedberlin ensemble for many years. Vladimir Jurowski has suspended performances in Russia since February 2022. Ukrainian works are and will remain part of his repertoire, as will works by Russian composers.

Vladimir Jurowski has conducted concerts by the most important orchestras in Europe and North America, including the Berlin, Vienna and New York Philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. He is a regular guest at the music festivals in London, Berlin, Dresden, Lucerne, SchleswigHolstein and Grafenegg. Although Vladimir Jurowski is invited as a guest conductor by top orchestras from all over the world, he now concentrates his activities on those geographical areas that he can easily reach with reasonable effort from an ecological point of view.

The joint CD recordings by Vladimir Jurowski and the RSB began in 2015 with Alfred Schnittke’s Symphony No. 3, followed by works by Britten, Hindemith, Strauss, Mahler and again Schnittke. Vladimir Jurowski has been honoured many times for his achievements, including numerous international record awards. In 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Philharmonic Society from the hands of the current King Charles III. In 2020, Vladimir Jurowski’s work as Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival was honoured by the Romanian President with the Order of Cultural Merit.

Georg Nigl, a celebrated “Wozzeck” at La Scala in Milan, “Lenz” in Brussels and Berlin (“Singer of the Year” 2015 by Opernwelt magazine) and Bach interpreter of international standing. Since his childhood the singer has closely been connected to music. As a soprano soloist of the Vienna Boys’ Choir he appeared on important stages. During his studies with Kammersängerin Hilde Zadek he received further important impulses for his subsequent career as a baritone.

His unmistakable timbre has taken him to all the important opera stages and festivals in Europe, whilst working under the direction of renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Teodor Currentzis, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, Kent Nagano, Kirill Petrenko and Sir Simon Rattle. On top of that he worked with the most important directors of our time. Georg Nigl has gained special recognition not only as a performing soloist of numerous world premieres, but also as an impetus for compositions and publications by Friedrich Cerha, Pascal Dusapin, Georg Friedrich Haas, Wolfgang Mitterer, Olga Neuwirth and Wolfgang Rihm among others.

Highlights since 2021 have included Papageno and the title role in the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s “Macbeth Underworld” at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Also the title role in Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” and the world premiere of Beat Furrer’s “Violetter Schnee” at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin. He made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera with the title role in Trojahn’s “Orest” and as Eisenstein in “Die Fledermaus”; he sang the title role in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Hamburg State Opera, and “Lenz,” which was celebrated by press and public alike, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Reimann’s “Lear” at the Bavarian State Opera, and Pilate in Bach’s St. John Passion under Sir Simon Rattle in Peter Sellars’ production with the Berlin Philharmonic and on tour with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Georg Nigl’s 2021/2022 season began with his debut with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) at the Musikfest Berlin, where he interpreted Stravinsky’s “Abraham and Isaac” under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski. In September 2022, he will guest with Xenakis’ “Aïs” with the same cast at the same venue.

Other recent highlights include the title role in the new production of Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” at the Vienna State Opera and the Teatro Real in Madrid. Georg Nigl continues the Monteverdi cycle at the Vienna State Opera as Ulisse (“Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria”) and once again demonstrates his versatility with the role of Alberich in a concert performance of Wagner’s “Rheingold” conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. In the spring of 2022, he performed Rihm’s “Terzinen an den Tod” and the Wölfl-Lieder in Munich under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher. In the summer of 2022, he performed Zimmermann’s “Ecclesiastical Action” and Brahms’ Requiem at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Georg Nigl’s chamber music repertoire features a wide spectrum from the Baroque through the Viennese Classical period to the latest music – jointly developed and performed with Alexander Melnikov, Olga Pashchenko, Luca Pianca and Gérard Wyss. His recording “Bach privat” with Anna Lucia Richter was awarded the Diapason d’or in 2017, his album “Vanitas” with Olga Pashchenko and songs by Beethoven, Schubert and Rihm was celebrated as discovery of the year by many voices. In 2022/2023, song recitals will take him to the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, the Musikfest Bremen, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Schwetzingen, and the Berlin and Paris Philharmonics.

Born in 1968 in Illingen, Saarland, Dirk Rothbrust has established himself as a percussionist in demand worldwide. From 1986 to 1994 he studied in Saarbrücken and Karlsruhe with Franz Lang and Isao Nakamura. Since 1995 he has been a member of the Schlagquartett Köln, from 2001 to 2008 he played in the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, and since 2005 he has been a member of the Ensemble Musikfabrik in North Rhine-Westphalia. In ensembles or as a soloist, Dirk Rothbrust performs at all the important European festivals for contemporary music and works with the most important composers and interpreters of our time, among them Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Martha Argerich and Maurizio Pollini, the saxophonist Peter Brötzmann or the electronic duo “Mouse on Mars”. As a soloist, Dirk Rothbrust premiered “void” by Rebecca Saunders, Beat Furrer’s “Xenos III” and Wolfgang Mitterer’s “Rasch”, among others, which – like many other works – were written especially for him.

2012 Credit Suisse Young Artists Award, concert with the Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival. 2016 acclaimed debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, 2017/2018 again in Berlin and at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival under Ivan Fischer. 2021/2022 Artist in Residence with the Royal Stockholm Phiharmonic Orchestra, Focus Artist with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, engagements with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra with a concert at the Musikverein and on tour, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre and on tour in Korea, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and a return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Norway, violinist Vilde Frang was engaged by Mariss Jansons at the age of twelve and made her debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied at the Barratt Due Musikkinstitutt in Oslo, with Kolja Blacher at the Musikhochschule Hamburg and with Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy. As a Borletti-Buitoni Trust scholarship holder, she worked with Mitsuko Uchida in 2007 and was an Anne Sophie Mutter Foundation scholarship holder from 2003 to 2009.

Since then, Vilde Frang has become one of the most sought-after violinists of our time, appearing in music centres worldwide with the most renowned artistic partners. She will be performing at the RSB for the first time in 2022. An avid chamber musician, she performs regularly at festivals in Verbier, Lockenhaus, Bucharest, Salzburg and Pragauf. In 2020 she was appointed to the artistic advisory board of the Oslo Chamber Music Festival.

Her recordings have won numerous awards, including Edison Klassiek Award, “Diapason d’Or”, German Record Award, Grand Prix du Disque and Gramophone Award.

Vilde Frang plays on a Guarneri del Gesu from 1734, generously made available to her by a European sponsor.