The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra welcomes Nathalie Stutzmann as its 2019/20 Artist-in-Residence. The residency will showcase Nathalie’s multi-faced musicianship with projects as both conductor and contralto. She will perform a wide range of repertoire including Schumann, Strauss, Mozart and Bach.
On August 7 2019, Nathalie Stutzmann makes her conducting debut at the BBC Proms, leading Brahms’ Tragic Overture, Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde and Mozart’s Requiem. The performance, hosted at London’s Royal Albert Hall, will be live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and broadcast on BBC Four August 11.
The Légion d’Honneur is France’s highest honours, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Nathalie Stutzmann comments on her Facebook page:
“I am deeply happy and touched to have been appointed to the Légion d’Honneur this January 1, 2019.
As the Légion d’Honneur is France’s highest honours, I am particularly proud to be admitted as a conductor and singer in this order of merit founded more than two centuries ago.
This distinction is also an encouragement to always serve music with passion and share it with the greatest number.”
“Le véritable maître de la soirée n’est autre que Nathalie Stutzmann, à la tête d’un Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France littéralement emporté par l’engagement de sa direction fougueuse et précise, sensible et contrastée. La contralto (qui chante toujours) devenue chef d’orchestre avec la création de son ensemble, Orfeo 55, possède en outre une belle gestuelle alliant souplesse, puissance et amplitude. Sans aucun doute le meilleur atout de cette soirée qui a porté le public au bord de l’ovation, confortant Jean-Louis Grinda dans le bien-fondé de son défi.”
“The real “master” of the evening is none other than Nathalie Stutzmann, at the head of a Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra literally carried away by the engagement of her spirited, precise, sensitive and contrasting direction. The contralto (she still sings) who became a conductor with the creation of her orchestra Orfeo 55, also has a beautiful gesture combining flexibility, power and amplitude. Undoubtedly the best asset of this evening which brought the audience to the brink of ovation, reinforcing Jean-Louis Grinda in the legitimacy of his challenge.”
Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde
“La révélation de la soirée est pour nous sans conteste la direction de Nathalie Stutzmann, que nous voyions diriger pour la première fois. (…) la chef a tout pour elle : une technique appréciable dans une oeuvre où il faut coordonner un orchestre wagnérien, des choeurs considérables et des fanfares de coulisse, une gestuelle fluide et souple, un véritable lyrisme.”
“The revelation of the evening is without any doubt the direction of Nathalie Stutzmann, whom we saw conducting for the first time. (…) the conductor has it all: an appreciable technique in a work where it is necessary to coordinate a Wagnerian orchestra, considerable choirs and fanfares behind the scenes, a fluid and flexible gesture, a true lyricism.”
Christian Merlin, Le Figaro
See the full press review of Mefistofele at this link.
The Arie Antiche compiled by Alessandro Parisotti are known to each and every student of classical singing. But with Quella Fiamma, Nathalie Stutzmann and Orfeo 55 breathe new fire into this primer for the voice, performing these songs and arias with original orchestrations, as they would have been heard in their day. Before they were lessons, they were high art.
This album is a selection of pieces from Arie antiche, a 19th Century collection of songs edited by Alessandro Parisotti to be a vocal primer. Though now more famous as the editor of Arie antiche, Parisotti was also a composer, and he managed to slip one of his own works into the book by attributing to Giovanni Pergolesi his song “Se tu m’ami”. The collection was very much a part of the trend to rediscover old and forgotten works, and the popularity of the three-volume set has endured to this day.
For this album the musicians of Orfeo 55 have worked painstakingly to source original scores and to edit the parts as necessary. While the instrumental works are not part of Parisotti’s primer, they provide brief musical interludes between the songs to enhance the overall listening experience and bring these works together into a coherent programme.
Order the album here: http://wnrcl.me/arieantiche
Nathalie Stutzmann and Orfeo 55 will take this programme on tour in Montpellier’s Opéra Comédie (November 5), Paris’ La Seine Musicale (February 16) and festivals across France and Germany. Nathalie will also give masterclasses on Arie antiche at the Montpellier Conservatoire (November 6 & 7) and Paris Conservatoire (November 8 & 9), open to the public.