Dirigent
Biography:
Michael Gielen was born in Dresden in 1927 and emigrated to Argentina with his family in 1940. He studied in Buenos Aires (philosophy, piano, theory, composition) and began his career there as a répétiteur at the Teatro Colón. Returning to Europe, he became répétiteur and conductor at the Vienna State Opera in 1950; In 1960 he became musical director of the Royal Opera in Stockholm and in 1968 chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra; later he directed the Dutch Opera until 1975. As a guest conductor, Gielen led many important European orchestras; 1978-81 he was Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. Tours abroad have taken him to Australia, Japan and the United States, where he took on the position of Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 1980/81 season. From 1977 to 87 he was Director of the Frankfurt Opera and General Music Director of the City of Frankfurt.
From 1987 to 95 he headed the conducting class at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. In 1986/1987 Michael Gielen took over the position of chief conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg; since the 1999 season he has been permanent guest conductor and since 2002 honorary conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden and Freiburg. Michael Gielen has received numerous prizes and awards: Theodor W. Adorno Prize of the City of Frankfurt am Main (1986), Frankfurt Music Prize (1999), Cannes Classical Lifetime Achievement Award (2002), Music Prize of the City of Duisburg (2006), the German Theater Prize » Der Faust« for his life's work (2007) and in 2010 the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
Albums:
Topic – Horizon – Myth – Black Peninsulas:
