Riccardo Chailly
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Riccardo Chailly
Biography
Riccardo Chailly is a dynamic, and sometimes controversial, conductor known for his devotion to contemporary music, and for his attempts to modernize approaches to the traditional symphonic repertory. His many recordings for the Decca label include modern masterworks by Zemlinsky, Hindemith, and Schnittke, the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, and a number of operas.The son of composer Luciano Chailly and a sometime rhythm and blues drummer, Chailly began his conducting career as Claudio Abbado's assistant at La Scala, cutting his teeth on the standard operatic literature. He attained considerable success as an opera conductor in his own right, making guest appearances at London's Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and numerous Italian and German houses; he also made several notable recordings, including an Andre Chénier with Luciano Pavarotti. Nevertheless, he decided to focus his energies on symphonic conducting instead, feeling that it offered a wider avenue for artistic exploration. To that end, he became the principle conductor of Berlin's Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1982, eventually leading them on their first North American tour in 1985; he was also the principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 1982-1985.
In 1988, the newly rechristened Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra named the 35-year-old Chailly as its chief conductor and artistic director. This would prove to be the defining post of his career, and he would cut back on his touring and operatic engagements to make it the center of his artistic activities. The relationship with both the orchestra and its audience was rocky at first, marked by resentment toward his "modernistic" approach to the works of Bruckner, Mahler, and Brahms. (Among other things, Chailly moved the group away from its signature sound, and toward a more flexible palette of orchestral color, adaptable to the needs of each composer.) But after that adjustment, Chailly assumed a position of confident leadership over the group, maintaining its position as one of Europe's finest ensembles, but also establishing it as a source of innovation and fresh perspective. Chailly eventually left the Concertgebouw in 2004, where he was replaced by Mariss Jansons. In 2005, he assumed a new post with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and renewed his contact in 2008, to last until 2015.
Chailly is a noted champion of Edgard Varèse and Alexander Zemlinsky, both of whom he feels have been under-appreciated. He also maintains an interest in the performance practice of the Baroque era, and in his performances of Bach's St. Matthew Passion he attempts to balance the sound of the modern orchestra with the style of the period. Still selectively active as an operatic conductor, Chailly has made several notable Rossini recordings, including La cenerentola, starring Cecilia Bartoli. Chailly has also assumed the leadership of the Orchestra symphonica Guiseppe Verdi, which is a professional Italian orchestra composed entirely of players between 18 and 25 years of age. ~ Allen Schrott, Rovi
Discography
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Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ.ji]; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music.
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Biography
Chailly was born in Milan in a musical family. He studied composition with his father, Luciano Chailly.[1] Chailly studied at the music conservatories in Perugia and Milan. He later studied conducting with Franco Ferrara. In his youth, Chailly also played the drums in a rhythm-and-blues band.[2]
At age twenty, Chailly became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at La Scala, where he made his conducting debut there in 1978. From 1982 to 1988, Chailly was chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and from 1983 to 1986 principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1986 to 1993, he led the Teatro Comunale of Bologna.
Chailly made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam in 1985. From 1988 to 2004, Chailly was chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (KCO), where he dedicated himself to performances of the standard symphonic tradition, notably Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler, with which the orchestra made its name but also significantly broadened the repertoire with 20th century and contemporary music.[3][4] Among notable projects, Chailly led the 1995 Mahler Festival that celebrated the 100th anniversary of Mahler's first concert at the Concertgebouw. Chailly also conducted opera in Amsterdam, both at the KCO's annual Christmas Matinee concert as well as at De Nederlandse Opera (DNO), where his final opera production in Amsterdam was DNO's staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlo.[5] One report stated that Chailly decided in 2002 to leave the KCO when, at his last contract negotiations, the orchestra offered him an extension for two years rather than five.[6]
In 1986, Chailly conducted the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig for the first time, at the Salzburg Festival, after Herbert von Karajan had introduced Chailly to the orchestra.[7] His next guest-conducting appearance with the Leipzig orchestra was in 2001, and after an additional appearance, he was named the 19th Kapellmeister of the orchestra.[8][9] In August 2005, he officially became the chief conductor of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and general music director (GMD) of Oper Leipzig. His initial Leipzig contract was through 2010.[10] In May 2008, he extended his contract with the Gewandhausorchester to 2015. However, he concurrently resigned as GMD of the Oper Leipzig, reportedly after conflict over the hiring of personnel without his consultation.[11][12]
In May 2011, Chailly organised an international Mahler festival in Leipzig, adding that composer to the city's pantheon of Bach, Wagner and Mendelssohn. Mahler had been junior conductor at the Leipzig Oper 1886–88 and had composed his first symphony there. Chailly invited ten different orchestras to participate in an event that was telecast worldwide, bookending the series himself with epic performances of the second and eighth symphonies – "one of the great Mahler 8s", in the words of the Mahler biographer, Norman Lebrecht.[13]
Chailly became the first music director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (La Verdi) in 1999, and held the post until 2005. He now has the title of Conductor Laureate with La Verdi.
Chailly has an exclusive recording contract with Decca, and his recordings with Decca include complete cycles of the symphonies of Brahms, Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner. Other notable achievements include recordings of Stravinsky, Varese and Hindemith. More recently, with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Chailly has led recordings of Felix Mendelssohn, Bach, Johannes Brahms, and the Robert Schumann symphonies in the re-orchestrations by Gustav Mahler. His past recordings with American orchestras included Shostakovich: The Dance Album with the Philadelphia Orchestra[14] and Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps with the Cleveland Orchestra. In October 2011 Chailly released 'a set of the nine symphonies and a generous number of overtures' by Ludwig van Beethoven on Decca, played by the Gewandhausorchester[15].
Chailly has been married twice. He has a daughter, Luana, by his first marriage to Anahi Carfi, and a stepson from his second and current marriage to Gabriella Terragni.
References
- ^ John O'Mahony (9 March 2002). "Maestro in the fast lane". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,,664200,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ Mark Swed (30 September 1990). "Bringing a Touch Of Latin Sunniness To Amsterdam". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D71E3BF933A0575AC0A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
- ^ Jessica Duchen (17 September 1999). "Dutch courage". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,,269492,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ Alex Ross (25 February 1996). "An Unpredictable Maestro Jars a Staid Repertory". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E6D81039F936A15751C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
- ^ Andrew Clements (9 June 2004). "Don Carlo (Muziektheater, Amsterdam)". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/jun/09/classicalmusicandopera. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ Hugh Canning (15 January 2006). "On the upbeat". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article787347.ece. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ^ Igor Toronyi-Lalic (1 November 2008). "How Riccardo Chailly reinvented the Gewandhaus Orchestra". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5038665.ece. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ Hugh Canning (15 March 2009). "Riccardo Chailly on LGO as Barbican regular". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5895353.ece. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
- ^ Ivan Hewett (1 April 2009). "Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra: safe in the hands of Riccardo Chailly". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/ivanhewett/5089928/Leipzig-Gewandhaus-Orchestra-safe-in-the-hands-of-Riccardo-Chailly.html. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
- ^ John von Rhein, "Chailly a possibility for CSO? Wait and see". Chicago Tribune, 18 February 2007.
- ^ "Riccardo Chailly will Leipziger Oper verlassen". MDR Regional Sachsen. 27 May 2008. http://www.mdr.de/sachsen/5534645.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20.[dead link]
- ^ Peter Korfmacher (27 May 2008). "Chailly hört bei der Oper auf - Verlängerung beim Gewandhaus". Leipziger Volkszeitung. http://www.lvz-online.de/aktuell/content/63516.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20.[dead link]
- ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/05/leipzig-delivers-one-of-the-great-mahler-8s/
- ^ David Patrick Stearns, "After all that, he'll take Leipzig". Philadelphia Inquirer, 1 March 2007.
- ^ http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/beethoven-from-riccardo-chailly-%E2%80%93-all-is-revealed
External links
Interviews
- Riccardo Chailly interview by Bruce Duffie
- theartsdesk Q&A: Riccardo Chailly (27 November 2010)
| Preceded by Lorin Maazel |
Principal Conductor, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin 1982–1989 |
Succeeded by Vladimir Ashkenazy |
| Preceded by none |
Music Director, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi 1999–2005 |
Succeeded by Xian Zhang |
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Mentioned in
Giovanna D'arco
(1989 Theater Film)
Tosca (De Nederlandse Opera)
(1998 Film)
Don Carlo
(2004 Theater Film)
Conducting Mahler: I Have Lost Touch with World
(Music Film)
Schumann & Martha Argerich
(Film)
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