The 2008 New Years Concert
Georges Prêtre
Georges Prêtre was born in Douai in northern France and completed his musical studies at the Paris Conservatoire. He made his debut in 1946, at the age of 22, at the Marseilles Opera. Since then, engagements have taken him to the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and to La Scala, Milan.
photo: Terry LinkeIn 1966 he was appointed music director of the Paris Opera. He has led the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and leading American and London orchestras. In 1986 he was appointed principal guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra for five years, and during that time he toured with them in Europe, Japan and the USA.
In July 1989 Prêtre inaugurated the new Opéra Bastille in Paris. He has been honorary conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra since 1995. During 1999 he conducted several concerts to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Francis Poulenc, and in 2001 he conducted a number of performances of Verdi’s Requiem to mark the centenary of the composer’s death. That year he also made a triumphant return to La Scala with a new production of Turandot. Since 2002 he has worked regularly with the Staatskapelle Dresden.
In 2004, the year of his eightieth birthday, Prêtre again conducted his favourite European orchestras: the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia di Roma, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg and the Staatskapelle Dresden, as well as his favourite French orchestras: the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
During the 2005/06 season he conducted and toured with, among others, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
In November 2006 Prêtre celebrated a resounding success with the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna. Further projects with the orchestra are on his agenda in 2007, together with concerts with the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia di Roma, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic’s 2008 New Year’s Concert in the Musikverein.
Georges Prêtre is one of the few French artists to have received the highest honours both at home and abroad. In 2004 he was made a Commander of the French Légion d’honneur and became an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. To mark his eightieth birthday he was also awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, first class.
October 2007
Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm
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