Titus Engel (born 1975) is a Swiss conductor with a focus on both contemporary opera and Baroque opera in

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

Education

Born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Engel first 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 philosophy at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

and at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, graduating with a master's degree. He then began studying conducting with

Christian Kluttig Christian Kluttig (born 17 August 1943) is a German conductor, pianist and Hochschullehrer. From 1979 to 1990, he was chief conductor of the . Appointed General Music Director in 1983, he worked as such at the theatres in Halle Opera House, Halle ...

at the

Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber The Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber (or Dresden University of Music Carl Maria von Weber; also/formerly known as Dresden Conservatory or Dresden Royal Conservatory) is a university school of music, university of music in Dresden, ...

Dresden. He subsequently attended

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es with Sir

Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom ...

Peter Eötvös Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and Ilja Mussin. Grants from the of the

Deutscher Musikrat The (DMR, ''German Music Council''; ) is an umbrella organization for music associations and the 16 music councils of the German federal states.musikrat.deÜberblick über Organisationsstruktur des DMR(retrieved on 10 May 2019) It represents over ...

(2002–2005) and the foundation of

David Zinman David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American conductor and violinist. Education After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. ...

's American Academy of Conducting at Aspen complemented his training. Furthermore, he worked as assistant to

Sylvain Cambreling Sylvain Cambreling (born 2 July 1948 in Amiens, France) is a French conductor. Biography Trained as a trombone player, Cambreling studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He joined l' Orchestre Symphonique de Lyon (OSL) as a trombonist in 1971. In 197 ...

Marc Albrecht Marc Albrecht (born 1964) is a German conductor resident in The Netherlands. He was chief conductor of the Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra from 2009 to 2020. Biography Born in ...

and

Peter Rundel Peter Rundel (born 1958 in Friedrichshafen), is a German violinist and conductor. A recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque in 1998 for his recording of Jean Barraqué's complete works, he became conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Fla ...

Career

Engel made his opera debut in 2000 with the world premiere of Benjamin Schweitzer's ''Jakob von Gunten'' at the . Since then, he has directed many performances in different genres at various stages, for example Monteverdi's ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 318) (), or ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance music, Renaissance/early Baroque music, Baroque ''favola in musica'', or List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a li ...

'' at the Berlin and at the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

, several operas at the

Kampnagel Kampnagel is a theatre in Hamburg, Germany. It is Germany's biggest independent production venue for the performing arts. It is based on the premises of a former mechanical engineering factory in Winterhude Winterhude () is a quarter in the war ...

Hamburg and in the

Staatstheater Stuttgart The Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre) is a theatre with three locations, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Stuttgart (Opera Stuttgart), Stuttgart Ballet, Stuttgarter Ballett (Stuttgart Ballet), and Schauspiel Stuttgart (Stuttgart Drama ...

up to Glass' '' Akhnaten'' at the

Vlaamse Opera Opera Ballet Vlaanderen ( Dutch; "Opera Ballet Flanders") is an opera and ballet company in Belgium directed by Jan Vandenhouwe. It operates in two different opera houses in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Antwerp. However, the company shares one ...

. At the invitation of

Gerard Mortier Gerard Alfons August, Baron Mortier (25 November 1943 – 8 March 2014) was a Belgian opera director and administrator of Flemish origin. Biography Born in Ghent, the son of a baker, Mortier attended in youth the Jesuit school Sint-Barbaracolleg ...

, he made his debut at the

Teatro Real Madrid The Teatro Real () is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as "''El Real''" (The Royal One). it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in ...

with the world premiere of ''Pilar Jurado's La página en blancoim'' in February 2011, where he is now a regular guest: in 2014, he conducted the world

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

of Charles Wuorinen's opera ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...

''. In June 2016, he conducted the Swiss premiere and third complete performance ever of

Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

's ''Donnerstag'' from the cycle ''

Licht 275px, Karlheinz Stockhausens grave with the score to LICHT . ''Licht'' (Light), subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche" (The Seven Days of the Week), is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen between 1977 and 2003. The compose ...

'' at the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not h ...

. The production received the award "Performance of the Year" in the critics' poll of the ''

Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...

'' 2016. Engel has conducted numerous renowned orchestras such as the orchestra of the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the

Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is an Austrian orchestra, based in the town and state of Salzburg. The orchestra gives concerts in several Salzburg venues, including the '' Großes Festspielhaus'' and the Great Hall of the Stiftung Mozarteum ...

, several

Radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

s, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, the

Bern Symphony Orchestra The Bern Symphony Orchestra (Berner Symphonie-Orchester) is a Swiss orchestra based in Bern. The orchestra primarily gives concerts at the ''Kursaal'' in Bern, and also acts as the orchestra of the Bern Theatre, for opera and dance performances. ...

, the

Mahler Chamber Orchestra The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997. The MCO appears throughout the year in about 60–70 concerts and performances. It ...

, the Danish National Chamber Orchestra as well as several

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

s in southern Germany and Switzerland. He is also regularly invited to perform with leading ensembles for

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

. From 2000 to 2012, he was

musical director 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 ...

of the ''ensemble courage''. He has premiered numerous works ( Sergej Newski, Leo Dick, Elena Mendoza,

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (; born 4 August 1968) is an Austrian contemporary classical composer, visual artist and author. She is famed especially for her operas and music theater works, many of which have treated sociopolitical themes. She has emphasized an ...

, ,

Rebecca Saunders Rebecca Saunders (born 19 December 1967) is a London-born composer who lives and works freelance in Berlin. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, Saunders' compositions received the third highest total ...

) among others by the

RuhrTriennale The Ruhrtriennale ( compound of ''Ruhr'' and ''triennale'' "lasting 3 years"), also known as Ruhr Triennale, was founded in 2002 and is a music and arts festival in the Ruhr-area of Germany which runs between mid-August and mid-October, and happen ...

, the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German language, German for Berlin Festivals) in Berlin organise and stage a large number of independent festivals as well as exhibitions and individual events in the fields of music, theatre, performance, dance, literat ...

, the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curr ...

, the

MaerzMusik MaerzMusik is a festival of the Berliner Festspiele and has been held annually since March 2002 at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other venues. It is the successor festival to the Musik-Biennale Berlin and is considered one of the most impo ...

, the

Donaueschinger Musiktage The Donaueschingen Festival, or more precisely ''Donaueschingen Music Days'' (), is a three-day October event presenting new music in the town of the same name, where the Danube River starts, at the edge of the Black Forest in southern Germany. F ...

, the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

and the Opera d'hoy Madrid. Projects in 2017 included the world premieres of Elena Mendoza's opera ''La ciudad de las mentirasaus'' at the Teatro Real Madrid and Mozart's '' La Betulia Liberata'' 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 ...

. The world premiere of ' by

Chaya Czernowin Chaya Czernowin (, ; born December 7, 1957) is an Israeli American composer, and Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard University. She is the lead composer at the Schloß Solitude Sommerakademie, a biannual international academy of c ...

at the Vlaanderen Opera and the

Nationaltheater Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre () is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18th century Mannheim was the cap ...

was chosen as "Premiere of the Year" by Opernwelt in 2017. ''

Die Deutsche Bühne ''Die Deutsche Bühne'' is the oldest German theatre magazine and reports on the fields of acting, music theatre and dance. It first appeared under this title in 1909. The publisher is the Deutscher Bühnenverein. The editorial team consists of ...

'' described him as a "conducting dervish" who safely guided all actors through breakneck rapids.

Recordings

Engel has recorded numerous works for radio, television and CDs, including WERGO Benjamin Schweitzer's

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

with ensemble courage and the Project 21 prelude, with works by H. Pohjanorro, P. Haapanen, R. Gubler and C. Neidhöfer, ensemble courage at en-avant records. In collaboration with ZDF-ARTE, he realised several first recordings of historical and contemporary silent film music. The recording of the premiere of the opera ''Brokeback Mountain'' was released as a DVD in autumn 2015.

Awards

* 2003: Fellow der American Academy of Conducting Aspen under the direction of David Zinman * 2002–2005: Sponsorship by the German Music Council (Dirigentenforum). * 2016: "Performance of the Year" with ''Donnerstag'' from ''Licht'' at the Opernwelt critics' poll *2020: "Conductor of the Year" in the Opernwelt critics' poll (together with Kirill Petrenko).

Trivia

Together with Viktor Schoner, Engel initiated the Academy Musiktheater Heute and the Ligerzer Opernwerkstattreport from 2008 in the NMZ
retrieved 24 January 2021 He is the editor of several books on contemporary opera.

Publications

* * *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engel, Titus Swiss conductors (music) 1975 births Living people Musicians from Zurich University of Zurich alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni