Dirk Kaftan (born 1971) is a German opera and concert conductor.

Career

Born in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

, West Germany, Kaftan grew up in

Wittlich Wittlich (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Wittlech'') is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany, the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district. Its historic town centre and the beauty of the sur ...

and Canada. At the age of 18 he began employment as a repetiteur at the Theater Trier. Kaftan then studied sound engineering ('' Tonmeister'') at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Kaftan was ''Erster Kapellmeister'' at the Graz Opera from 2006 to 2009. From 2009 to 2014 he was

Generalmusikdirektor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

(GMD) in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. His contract with the Theater Augsburg was to have run till 2016; however he vacated the Augsburg post early to return to Graz Opera as their GMD. His debut in June 2013 was a performance of Schönberg's ''

Gurre-Lieder ' (''Songs of Gurre Castle, Gurre'') is a tripartite oratorio followed by a Melodrama, melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, te ...

'' with soloists, the expanded opera chorus, the Wiener Singverein and the Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester. Kaftan was GMD of Graz Opera from 2013 to 2017. In Graz, his repertoire included Wagner's ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'', Zemlinsky's '' Der Zwerg'', Dallapiccola's '' Der Gefangene'' and Bernstein's ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', among others. In concert he conducted the oratorio ''Columbus'' by Heinrich von Herzogenberg. In 2015 Kaftan was awarded the '' Karl Böhm Interpretationspreis'' by the

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

n state government for his work in developing the Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester. Kaftan's operatic repertoire has also included Wagner's '' Der fliegende Holländer'', '' Lohengrin'', '' Tannhäuser'' and ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

''; Verdi's ''

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 ...

'', '' La Traviata'', '' Aida'' and '' Don Carlos''; Tchaikovsky's '' Eugen Onegin''; ''

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the D ...

'' by Richard Strauss; and Stravinsky's ballet '' Le sacre du printemps''. In February 2016, Kaftan was named as the next GMD of the city of Bonn, including the directorship of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, effective August 2017 with an initial contract of five years. In September 2020, the city of Bonn announced the extension of Kaftan's contract as GMD through 2027.

Recordings

Kaftan's recordings include the operas '' Der ferne Klang'' by Franz Schreker, recorded live in Augsburg in 2011, and '' Jenůfa'' by Leoš Janáček, recorded during staged performances in Graz in 2015.

Career

Recordings

References

External links