Alexander Soddy
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Alexander Soddy (born 20 December 1982) is a British conductor and pianist. Since the 2016–17 season, Soddy has been general music director at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and in this capacity also artistic director of the . From 2013 to 2016, he was chief conductor at the
Stadttheater Klagenfurt The Stadttheater Klagenfurt is the municipal theatre in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia in Austria. Its present house was designed by the Viennese architecture office Fellner & Helmer, and completed in 1910. History The first theatre in ...
. From 2010 to 2012, he was engaged as ''
Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...
'' at the
Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...
.


Artistic career

Soddy was born in Oxford and trained as a chorister at
Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...
in his home town before beginning his conducting and vocal studies at the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
in London. At the same time he was a piano student of the pianist and chamber music expert Michael Dussek. Subsequently, Soddy studied
musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...
and music analysis at Cambridge on a choral scholarship from Selwyn College. After graduating in 2004, he was engaged as a
répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...
and conductor at the National Opera Studio in London, where he was supported by the Friends of Covent Garden and the
Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...
. In October 2005, Soddy became répétiteur at the Hamburg State Opera and, after only a short time, first musical assistant to general music director
Simone Young Simone Margaret Young AM (born 2 March 1961) is an Australian conductor and academic teacher. She is currently chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Biography and career Young was born in Sydney, of Irish ancestry on her father' ...
. From 2010 to 2012, he was engaged as at the Hamburg State Opera. In the 2008–09 season, he made his debut there with Mozart's ''
The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
'' and subsequently conducted among others ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', ''
Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'', ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
'', '' La traviata'', ''
Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...
'' as well as Gounod's ''
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
'' and Bizet's ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
''. Engagements followed at the
Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...
in Munich (''Die Zauberflöte'', ''La bohème''), the
Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...
(''Die Zauberflöte'', ''
Der Freischütz ' (Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns, J. 277, Opus number, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Johann Fried ...
'') and the
Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...
(''La bohème'', ''
Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...
''). From 2013 to 2016, he was chief conductor at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where he led among others the new productions of ''
Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
'' and ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
''. In the new production of ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...
'' at the
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...
from 2013 to 2015, he took over the musical study direction alongside
Kirill Petrenko Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (, Latin script: ; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early life Petrenko was born in Omsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, to a violinist father and m ...
. In the 2014–15 season, Soddy made his debut at the
Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...
and the
Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...
. In the 2017–18 season followed his debut at houses such as New York's
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
with Puccini's ''La bohème'', at the
Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...
Dresden with Weber's ''Der Freischütz'', at the
Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...
with ''
Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...
'' as well as at the
English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British 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. ENO's productions are sung in E ...
with Britten's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
''. Since the beginning of the 2016–17 season, Soddy has been General Music Director at the Mannheim National Theatre and has conducted the premieres of Giuseppe Verdi's ''
Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...
'', Schumann's ''
Genoveva ''Genoveva'', Op. 81, is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at ...
'', Beethoven's ''
Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...
'' and Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' as well as numerous revivals, including ''
Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
'', ''Madama Butterfly'', '' Elektra'', ''Der Rosenkavalier'', ''
Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...
'', ''
Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...
'' and ''
Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...
''. Under his direction, a large-scale Bruckner cycle was performed from 2017 to 2023. He also champions works rarely heard in Germany such as Benjamin Britten's ''
War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a choral and orchestral composition by Benjamin Britten, composed mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, in the Englis ...
'' and the premiere of symphonic commissions. In the 2018–19 season, Soddy conducted the new productions of ''
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...
'' (directed by Nigel Lowery) and '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' (directed by
Barrie Kosky Barrie Kosky (born 18 February 1967) is an Australian theatre and opera director. Based at the Komische Oper Berlin, he has worked internationally. Biography Kosky was born in Melbourne, the grandson of Jewish emigrants from Europe. He attended ...
) at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. In addition to the Academy Concerts in Mannheim, concert engagements have taken him to Germany and the US.


Private life

Soddy lives in Mannheim with his wife,
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
Trine Wilsberg Lund, and two daughters. His parents and two siblings live in Oxfordshire and London, England. Soddy is related to
Frederick Soddy Frederick Soddy FRS (2 September 1877 – 22 September 1956) was an English radiochemist who explained, with Ernest Rutherford, that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements, now known to involve nuclear reactions. He also pr ...
, winner of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...
in 1921.


Press commentaries

* "The musical side of he Mozart premiere of ''Don Giovanni''succeeded to the fullest extent this evening, and was downright thrilling. The Mannheim Opera Orchestra was well rehearsed, immensely inspired and beautiful in sound. GMD Alexander Soddy brought out the drama of the music effectively. He excitingly shaped the climaxes, emphasised the changing dynamics with striking sforzati and crescendi, and formed magnificent lines. Thus the music gained transparency and volume." (''
Bachtrack ''Bachtrack'' is a London-based international online music magazine which publishes listings of classical music, opera, ballet and dance, as well as reviews of these genres, interviews and general feature articles. History Bachtrack Ltd was r ...
'', 17 July 2018.) * "What came to an end here was not music, or a symphony or anything like that, but the darkness and the doubt that gnaws at us. A kind of 'White Mass', then. And when it came to an end, in the Rosengarten in Mannheim ..., it was not applause that was heard. It was jubilation such as has not been experienced in an Academy concert, at least not in the past thirteen years. ... Soddy manages, with a completely light and ... direct approach, to free Bruckner from all earthiness ... and allow him to fly. ... Soddy arranges things on the spot and knows what belongs where. This leads to the unbelievably perfect sound picture." – Stefan Dettlinger (', 3 July 2018) * "How Soddy holds the three levels of the work 'War Requiem'' by Benjamin Britten... together and cleverly interweaves them: great! ... In general, this evening is one of the most impressive that the Academy has produced in recent years. Consternation and jubilation last for a long time." (''Mannheimer Morgen'', April 2018) * "Britten's atmospheric score, with its contrasting textures for the three worlds, is beautifully played under the Germany-based English conductor Alexander Soddy, a notable ENO debut." – Martin Kettle (''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 2 March 2018)"''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' review – Carsen's classic staging makes a welcome return"
by Martin Kettle, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 2 March 2018] * "The orchestra is in extremely good shape after general music director Alexander Soddy took over." – Stefan Dettlinger (''Mannheimer Morgen'', 11 January 2017) * "Alexander Soddy, the young orchestra director, is – after four encounters in recent years, it may be said decidedly – one of the most eminent conducting talents in opera for years. In these actually undramatic 'Conversations' 'Dialogues des Carmélites''">Dialogues_des_Carmélites.html" ;"title="'Dialogues des Carmélites">'Dialogues des Carmélites''... he instinctively sets precisely sounded out dramatic accents, as it were from within. The delicate colourfulness and luminosity that he creates thanks to the fabulous homogeneity and playing culture of the Carinthian Symphony Orchestra is exemplary. His unerring sense of sound perfectly benefits the idiom of the work, gives it intelligent contour and, through its austere beauty, banishes the ever latent danger of being suspected of kitsch." – Karl Harb (''Salzburger Nachrichten'', 21 February 2015)


References


External links

*
"Profile"
Michael Lewin International Artists' Management * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soddy, Alexander 1982 births Living people English conductors (music) English classical pianists Musicians from Oxford