Sebastian Weigle

Sebastian Weigle (born 1961, in East Berlin) is a German conductor and horn player. He is currently principal conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

Biography

Weigle is a nephew of the conductor and music educator Jörg-Peter Weigle and the brother of the late violist Friedemann Weigle of the Artemis Quartet.[1] Weigle studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in horn, piano and conducting.[2] In 1987 he founded the Berlin Chamber Choir, and later he led the New Berlin Chamber Orchestra.[2] He was principal horn player in the orchestra of the Berlin State Opera for 15 years. He also was a member of the jazz orchestra "Vielharmonie" in East Berlin.

In 1993, Weigle became chief conductor of the Junge Philharmonie Brandenburg. In 1997, he became Erster Staatskapellmeister of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.[2] In 2003, Weigle was named "Conductor of the Year" by the German magazine Opernwelt,[2][3] and subsequently won this award in 2005 and 2006. From 2004 to 2008, he was music director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.[2]

Weigle conducted a new production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Bayreuth Festival in 2007, staged by Katharina Wagner, as well as repeated performances in the following years.[4]

From 2008 to 2023,[5][6] Weigle was Generalmusikdirektor (General Music Director) of the Oper Frankfurt.[2] He conducted new productions of Daphne and Arabella by Richard Strauss, Korngold's Die tote Stadt, Reimann's Lear and Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauß, and he took over Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Beethovens Fidelio, and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal.[3] He conducted Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, staged by Vera Nemirova, with two complete cycles in 2012.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Single performances were recorded. With Oper Frankfurt, Weigle has made commercial recordings of opera for the OEHMS Classics label.[13][14]

Outside of Europe, Weigle became principal conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra on 1 April 2019, with an initial contract of three years.[15]

References

  1. ^ Blech, Volker (25 July 2007). "Die Meistersinger sind lustig". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Berlin. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Sebastian Weigle". Bayreuth Festival. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Sebastian Weigle". Oper Frankfurt. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Sebastian Weigle – conductor of Katharina Wagner's production of Meistersinger at Bayreuth". Wagneropera.net. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Thomas Guggeis wird Generalmusikdirektor der Oper Frankfurt" (Press release). Oper Frankfurt. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  6. ^ Tobias Stosiek (26 October 2021). "Thomas Guggeis wird neuer Generalmusikdirektor in Frankfurt: Oper statt Quantenphysik". BR-Klassik. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  7. ^ Friedeon Rosén (29 January 2012). "Frankfurt: Götterdämmerung – Premiere" (in German). der-neue-merker.eu. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Der Ring des Nibelungen Cycle 1". oper-frankfurt.de. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  9. ^ Peter P. Pachl (1 November 2010). "In der Walküren-Schule: / Fortsetzung von Vera Nemirovas Frankfurter "Ring"-Inszenierung" (in German). nmz.de. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  10. ^ Julia Spinola (2 November 2010). "Meister Wotan und sein Pumuckl" (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  11. ^ José Mª Irurzun (21 November 2011). "Fabulous Siegfried and his Aunty: Frankfurt Ring Continues". seenandheard-international.com. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  12. ^ George Loomis (21 February 2012). "German Operas Bank on Visual Effects". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  13. ^ Tim Ashley (12 March 2014). "Wagner/Rienzi review – Sebastian Weigle rethinks a divisive opera". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  14. ^ Tim Ashley (11 February 2015). "Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos CD review – an insightful but uneven Frankfurt Opera recording". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Sebastian Weigle to be New Principal Conductor of YNSO from 2019/20 Season" (Press release). Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
Cultural offices
Preceded by Music Director, Gran Teatre del Liceu
2004–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Generalmusikdirektor, Oper Frankfurt
2008–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Principal Conductor, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra
2019–present 		Succeeded by
incumbent