Jonathan Darlington
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Darlington is a British conductor and the Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Vancouver Opera
. He is known for his broad repertoire of both opera and symphonic music and appears regularly with major orchestras and opera houses, most notably the Orchestre National de France
, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica del San Carlo di Napoli, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the National Orchestra of Taiwan, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera
and Opera Australia
.
and the Royal Academy of Music
. Early in his career he had worked with Pierre Boulez
, Riccardo Muti
and Olivier Messiaen
. He made his conducting debut in 1984 at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris with Francesco Cavalli
's Ormindo
. In 1991 he was appointed deputy to the Music Director Myung-Whun Chung
at the Opéra de la Bastille
in Paris, where he made his house debut with Le nozze di Figaro. He is the brother of conductor Stephen Darlington
.
(May 2008), Gustave Charpentier
's Louise
with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
and the Duisburg Philharmonic (October 2008), and Salome
with Vancouver Opera (May 2009). He appeared as a guest conductor with the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, and the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra. In August 2009, Darlington returned to Sydney Opera for Beethoven's Fidelio
.
In the 2009/10 season, he will conduct The Nightingale & Other Short Fables (a program of short works by Stravinsky
, including his opera The Nightingale
) in a new production by Robert Lepage
for the Canadian Opera Company
in Toronto.
, London.
With the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra:
With the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra:
Vancouver Opera
Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada.It performs in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre accompanied currently by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, one of two specialized opera orchestras in Canada...
. He is known for his broad repertoire of both opera and symphonic music and appears regularly with major orchestras and opera houses, most notably the Orchestre National de France
Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre national de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française and Orchestre national de l'Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française .Since 1944, the orchestra has been based in the Théâtre...
, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica del San Carlo di Napoli, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the National Orchestra of Taiwan, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
and Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
.
Education and early career
Jonathan Darlington is a graduate of Durham UniversityDurham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
and the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. Early in his career he had worked with Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
and Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
. He made his conducting debut in 1984 at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris with Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron Federico Cavalli, a Venetian nobleman.-Life:Cavalli was born at Crema, Lombardy...
's Ormindo
Ormindo
Ormindo is an opera in three acts and a Prologue by Francesco Cavalli to an original Italian libretto by Giovanni Faustini. The manuscript score and libretto, which describes the work as a favola dramatica musicale, are held at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice...
. In 1991 he was appointed deputy to the Music Director Myung-Whun Chung
Myung-Whun Chung
Myung-whun Chung is a South Korean pianist and conductor.His sisters, violinist Kyung-wha Chung, and cellist Myung-wha Chung, and he at one time performed together as the Chung Trio. He was a joined second-prize winner in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Chung studied conducting at...
at the Opéra de la Bastille
Opéra Bastille
L'Opéra Bastille ' is a modern opera house in Paris, France. It is the home base of the Opéra national de Paris and was designed to replace the Palais Garnier, which is nowadays mainly used for ballet performances....
in Paris, where he made his house debut with Le nozze di Figaro. He is the brother of conductor Stephen Darlington
Stephen Darlington
Stephen Darlington is a British choral director and conductor, and president of the Royal College of Organists from 1999-2001.During the early 1970s Darlington was organ scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, studying under Simon Preston...
.
Recent performances
Recent performances include the world premiere of Manfred Trojahn's La Grande Magia with the Staatskapelle DresdenSächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden is an orchestra based in Dresden, Germany founded in 1548 by Kurfürst Moritz of Saxony. It is one of the world's oldest orchestras...
(May 2008), Gustave Charpentier
Gustave Charpentier
Gustave Charpentier, , born in Dieuze, Moselle on 25 June 1860, died Paris, 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera Louise.-Life and career:...
's Louise
Louise
Louise or Luise may refer to:People with the given name Louise or Luise:* Louise - Arts :* Louise , opera by Gustave Charpentier* Louise , a 1939 French film based on the opera...
with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
Deutsche Oper am Rhein
The Deutsche Oper am Rhein is an opera company based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The opera also has an associated classical ballet company....
and the Duisburg Philharmonic (October 2008), and Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
with Vancouver Opera (May 2009). He appeared as a guest conductor with the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, and the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra. In August 2009, Darlington returned to Sydney Opera for Beethoven's Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
.
In the 2009/10 season, he will conduct The Nightingale & Other Short Fables (a program of short works by Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, including his opera The Nightingale
The Nightingale (opera)
The Nightingale is a Russian conte lyrique in three acts by Igor Stravinsky. It is generally known by its French name...
) in a new production by Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage, is a playwright, actor, film director, and stage director from Québec City, Québec, and is one of Canada's most honoured theatre artists.- Life and work :...
for the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
in Toronto.
Awards
Jonathan Darlington was appointed a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres as well as Fellow (FRAM) of the Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, London.
Discography
With the Orchestre National de France:- Guillaume Connesson: Athanor, Supernova. Orchestre National de France; Radio France Chorus; Virginie Pesch, soprano; Nigel Smith, baritone; Jonathan Darlington, Muhai Tang, conductors. Radio France/ Naïve, 2004 (2007).
With the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra:
- Poulenc: Les Animaux Modèles, Sinfonietta. Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra; Jonathan Darlington, conductor. Timpani, 1998 (2008).
With the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra:
- Arnold Schönberg/ Gabriel Fauré: Pélleas et Mélisande. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Jonathan Darlington, conductor. Acousence, 2009.
- Antonín Dvořák: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra G minor. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Boris Bloch, Piano; Jonathan Darlington, conductor. Acousence, 2009.
- Gustav Mahler: Symphonie Nr. 6. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Jonathan Darlington, conductor. Acousence, 2008.
- Jazz at the Philharmonic. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Jonathan Darlington conductor; Andy Miles, clarinet. Telos, 2008.
- André Jolivet: Concert for Piano and Orchestra; Maurice Ravel / Marius Constant: Gaspard de la Nuit; Claude Debussy / Bernardo Molinari: L’isle joyeuse. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Pascal Gallet, piano; Jonathan Darlington, conductor. Acousence, 2008.
- Dmitry Shostakovitch: Symphony A major op.141; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Haffner-Sinfonie Nr. 35 D major KV 385. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Jonathan Darlington conductor. Acousence, 2007.
- Wagner-Gala der RuhrTriennale 2004. Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Petra-Maria Schnitzer, soprano; Peter Seiffert, tenor; Jonathan Darlington, conductor. WDR/ Oehms Classics, 2004.
- Hector Berlioz: Ouverture Benvenuto Cellini; Mauricio Kagel: Broken Chords; Béla Bartók: Concert for Orchestra. Confido, 2003.
Videography
- Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovski: Le Lac des Cygnes. Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Patrick Dupond, Ballet de l’ Opèra National de Paris, Orchestre National de Paris, Jonathan Darlington. NVC Arts, 1992.(Released on DVD in 2005, Bel Air Classiques)
Sources
- IMG ArtistsIMG (business)IMG, originally known as the International Management Group is a global sports and media business headquartered in New York City.-History:...
, Biography of Jonathan Darlington - Vancouver OperaVancouver OperaVancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada.It performs in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre accompanied currently by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, one of two specialized opera orchestras in Canada...
, Biography of Jonathan Darlington
External links
- Jonathan Darlington on Dacapo, the Duisburg Philharmonic's official blog