Orchestral colors and contrasts
Festas de Lisboa
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Date
- 20:00 / Cancelled 20:00 / Sold out Tuesday, 20:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation- Conductor
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Clemens Schuldt
Conductor
Hailed by the press as one of the most exciting conductors emerging from Germany today, Clemens Schuldt is currently Music Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, a position he assumed in the 2023/24 season. He is widely praised for his innovative interpretations and his deep understanding of music. Schuldt’s knowledge, particularly of classical and romantic repertoire, as well as his creativity to include lesser-known and contemporary works in his programmes are widely acclaimed.
During his inaugural year with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Clemens Schuldt has worked with some of the world’s most renowned soloists, such as Augustin Hadelich, Fazil Say, Simon Trpčeski, and Noa Wildschut. His interpretations of Britten’s ‘Sinfonia da Requiem’, Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Strauss’ ‘Death & Transfiguration’, and Rachmaninov’s ‘Symphonic Dances’ were praised by audiences and the press alike; masterpieces that Clemens Schuldt adeptly combines with rarely performed works by composers, such as Jacques Hétu, Anna Clyne, or Keiko Devaux.
In the 2024/25 season, Clemens Schuldt will further expand his presence in Canada by conducting the closing concert of the Festival Bach Montreal. Other highlights include returns to the BBC Philharmonic, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra as well as Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Clemens Schuldt has previously appeared with leading orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, Bamberger Symphoniker, and ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien. Furthermore, he has been guest conductor with Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. Outside Europe, Clemens Schuldt has worked with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Xi’an Symphony, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Soloists with whom he enjoys working include Khatia Buniatishvili, Colin Currie, Alexandra Dariescu, Vilde Frang, Ilya Gringolts, Håkan Hardenberger, Steven Isserlis, Igor Levit, Baiba Skride, Kian Soltani, Arabella Steinbacher, Christian Tetzlaff, Daniil Trifonov, Alisa Weilerstein, and Frank-Peter Zimmermann.
In addition to symphonic works, Clemens Schuldt devotes himself intensively to opera. In the 2023-24 season, he made his debut at Opera North conducting Mozart's ‘Così fan tutte’. In 2022/23, he led a highly-praised new production of Mozart's ‘Mitridate, re di Ponto’ together with The English Concert at Garsington Opera, as well as the revival of Mozart's ‘Die Zauberflöte’ at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Schuldt spent two years as Conductor in Residence at Staatstheater Mainz, where he led new productions of Bellini's ‘Norma’, Gluck's ‘Armide’, Gounod's ‘Faust’, Verdi's ‘Rigoletto’, as well as Wagner's ‘Der fliegende Holländer’. In 2019, he made his acclaimed debut at the Venice Biennale conducting George Benjamin's opera ‘Written on Skin’ with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI.
Clemens Schuldt is a former winner of the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London and was Assistant Conductor of London Symphony Orchestra for one year. Born in Bremen, he first studied violin and performed with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. He then completed his conducting studies in Düsseldorf, Vienna, and Weimar.
Doreen Carwithen
Erich Korngold
Samuel Barber
Johann Strauss II
Edvard Grieg
Giacomo Puccini
Paul Hindemith
The Gulbenkian Orchestra returns to the Festas de Lisboa with a diverse musical experience under the direction of the young and creative German conductor Clemens Schuldt. The world of cinema is evoked through the infectious energy of One Damn Thing After Another by Doreen Carwithen, the grandeur of Erich Korngold’s The Sea Hawk, which conjures up epic sea adventures, and the moving Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, a melody of melancholic beauty.
The lightness and elegance of Vienna then come to the fore with Johann Strauss II’s Emperor Waltz, followed by two evocative moments from Edvard Grieg’s incidental music to Peer Gynt, the lyrical intensity of the Intermezzo from Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, and a vibrant, rhythmic finale with a March from the Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by C. M. Weber by Paul Hindemith. A journey in which the versatility of the Gulbenkian Orchestra and the artistry of Clemens Schuldt will guide the audience through a repertoire rich in contrast and orchestral colour.
Photo © EGEAC, José Frade
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