András Ligeti
Encyclopedia
András Ligeti is a Hungarian classical violin
ist and conductor.
in Budapest
. He won the First Prize at the Leo Weiner Violin Competition and in 1980 at the Bloomington. He graduated in 1979 as conductor and was awarded the Sir Georg Solti Scholarship, studying with Osterreicher in Vienna
and later with Igor Markevich.
In 1985 he became Associate Conductor to the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Gyorgy Lehel as Chief Conductor in 1989, a position he held until 1993, when he became Chief Guest. With the Budapest Symphony he gave tours to Great Britain, Japan and Korea, and the orchestra’s first visit to Australia in 1994. In 1997 he became the Music Director of the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra.
Worldwide he has conducted a number of major orchestras, including the Dresden Philharmonic
, Berlin Radio Symphony
, BBC Symphony
, Oslo Philharmonic
, BBC Philharmonic (including a tour to France), Israel Philharmonic
, Bergen Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony
, Seoul Philharmonic
, Sapporo and Nagoya Philharmonic
s, Nouvelle Orchestre de Paris, Academia Santa Cecilia and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
.
He has enjoyed a close relationship with Claudio Abbado
, beginning when he worked with Abbado and the Mahler Youth Orchestra; at Abbado’s invitation he has conducted concerts and opera at the Wien Modern during the 90s.
He has recorded many CDs, especially of Hungarian music
, for companies such as BMG Conifer
, Naxos Records
, Hungaroton
and Radioton, as well as numerous recordings for radio and television worldwide. With the Budapest Sinfonietta, drawn from the Symphony, he has conducted and recorded a considerable repertoire of 20th Century music.
András Ligeti was with the Budapest State Opera between 1977 and 1985, firstly as concertmaster
then as Chief Conductor, where he performed much of the central repertoire. He also conducted at Saarbrücken
. In 1998 he made his UK operatic début with a new production of Carmen
for Opera North
, directed by Phyllida Lloyd
. In 1999 he also gave acclaimed performances of The Damnation of Faust
at the Perth Festival with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the WASO and returned to Belfast
for concerts with the Ulster Orchestra
. He returned to the English Northern Philharmonia in 2003 and conducted again in Belfast. In 2004 he conducted performances of Bluebeard's Castle
and The Miraculous Mandarin
in London and he returned to the Orchestra of Opera North
this year.
In 2005, he was invited to be the Music Director of Taipei Symphony Orchestra
.
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and conductor.
Biography
Ligeti studied violin and conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of MusicFranz Liszt Academy of Music
The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. He won the First Prize at the Leo Weiner Violin Competition and in 1980 at the Bloomington. He graduated in 1979 as conductor and was awarded the Sir Georg Solti Scholarship, studying with Osterreicher in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and later with Igor Markevich.
In 1985 he became Associate Conductor to the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Gyorgy Lehel as Chief Conductor in 1989, a position he held until 1993, when he became Chief Guest. With the Budapest Symphony he gave tours to Great Britain, Japan and Korea, and the orchestra’s first visit to Australia in 1994. In 1997 he became the Music Director of the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra.
Worldwide he has conducted a number of major orchestras, including the Dresden Philharmonic
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
The Dresdner Philharmoniker is a symphony orchestra based in Dresden, Germany. The orchestra was founded in 1870 and gave its first concert in the Gewerbehaussaal on 29 November 1870, under the name Gewerbehausorchester. The orchestra acquired its current name in 1915...
, Berlin Radio Symphony
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra can refer to one of two orchestras:* The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, known from 1956 to 1993 as the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and situated in West Berlin during the Cold War...
, BBC Symphony
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
, Oslo Philharmonic
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Oslo-Filharmonien is a symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra was founded in 1919, and has since 1977 had its home in the Oslo Concert Hall. The orchestra consists of 69 musicians in the string section, 16 in the woodwinds, 15 in brass, 5 in percussionists, 1 harpist, and 1...
, BBC Philharmonic (including a tour to France), Israel Philharmonic
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
, Bergen Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
, Seoul Philharmonic
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1948, is one of the oldest and most famous orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia in 1977, the United States in 1982, 1986 and 1996, a 1988 tour of Europe before the...
, Sapporo and Nagoya Philharmonic
Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra
The is a symphony orchestra based in Nagoya, Japan, founded in 1966. The orchestra gives concerts primarily at the Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater Concert Hall and the Chukyo University Center for Culture & Arts Aurora Hall.- History :...
s, Nouvelle Orchestre de Paris, Academia Santa Cecilia and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall...
.
He has enjoyed a close relationship with Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, beginning when he worked with Abbado and the Mahler Youth Orchestra; at Abbado’s invitation he has conducted concerts and opera at the Wien Modern during the 90s.
He has recorded many CDs, especially of Hungarian music
Hungarian music
The term Hungarian music may refer to:*The music of Hungary, which includes many kinds of music associated with Serbian, Roma and ethnically Hungarian people...
, for companies such as BMG Conifer
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
, Naxos Records
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
, Hungaroton
Hungaroton
Hungaroton was the one and only record and music publisher company in Hungary for about 40 years.Hungaroton was founded in 1951, since then, its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and Eterna from other socialist countries. Previously called...
and Radioton, as well as numerous recordings for radio and television worldwide. With the Budapest Sinfonietta, drawn from the Symphony, he has conducted and recorded a considerable repertoire of 20th Century music.
András Ligeti was with the Budapest State Opera between 1977 and 1985, firstly as concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
then as Chief Conductor, where he performed much of the central repertoire. He also conducted at Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
. In 1998 he made his UK operatic début with a new production of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
for Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
, directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Phyllida Lloyd
Phyllida Lloyd CBE is an English director, best known for her work in theatre and as the director of the most financially successful British film ever released, Mamma Mia!.-Career:...
. In 1999 he also gave acclaimed performances of The Damnation of Faust
The Damnation of Faust
La damnation de Faust , Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "légende dramatique"...
at the Perth Festival with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra , often known as the "Orchestra of the West", is the premier professional orchestra of the state of Western Australia.-History:...
. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the WASO and returned to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
for concerts with the Ulster Orchestra
Ulster Orchestra
The Ulster Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Belfast, the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall...
. He returned to the English Northern Philharmonia in 2003 and conducted again in Belfast. In 2004 he conducted performances of Bluebeard's Castle
Bluebeard's Castle
Duke Bluebeard's Castle is a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer. It is in Hungarian, based on the French fairy tale "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault...
and The Miraculous Mandarin
The Miraculous Mandarin
The Miraculous Mandarin or The Wonderful Mandarin Op. 19, Sz. 73 , is a one act pantomime ballet composed by Béla Bartók between 1918–1924, and based on the story by Melchior Lengyel. Premiered November 27, 1926 in Cologne, Germany, it caused a scandal and was subsequently banned...
in London and he returned to the Orchestra of Opera North
Orchestra of Opera North
The Orchestra of Opera North is the orchestra that plays for the English opera company, Opera North....
this year.
In 2005, he was invited to be the Music Director of Taipei Symphony Orchestra
Taipei Symphony Orchestra
The Taipei Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1969, is one of the leading orchestras based in Taipei, Taiwan.In these seasons, TSO works also with European Music directors and conductors, such as Reinhard Goebel, Martin Fischer-Dieskau or Maurice Steger.- Introduction :Under the direction of Felix...
.