Jaap van Zweden
He is the great conductor that the Netherlands was waiting for, in the line of an Eduard van Beinum, a Willem van Otterloo or a Bernard Haitink. Nominated as the musical director of the New York Philharmonic, where he will take the reins in 2018, this workaholic force of nature has risen in just ten years to be one of the greatest modern conductors. Jaap van Zweden worked fast: at just 19 years old, he was the youngest solo violinist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra which perhaps he will conduct one day - certainly we hope that he does. From 1979 to 1995 he got a front-row seat, as a main player, and as an observer of all the conductors who came and performed, concert after concert, at the head of this famous phalanx which is a part of that tightly-closed circle of the world’s greatest orchestras. Well-liked in his homeland, he is adored in the US, where he was named "conductor of the year" by Musical America (the oldest classical music magazine in the states) in 2012, in recognition of his critically-acclaimed work as musical director of the Dallas Symphonic, and as the visiting conductor at some of America's most prestigious orchestras.
Van Zweden's art is possessed with an uncommon conviction, and it expresses it with flamboyant force, and a sunny energy shot through with a warm lyricism. He loves to direct great cycles of later romanticism: Brahms, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, not forgetting Mozart and Beethoven. Hailed unanimously by enthusiastic audiences, these concerts have been very quickly followed up by recordings which now constitute a vast discography which is utterly thrilling and very high-level. The power of his performances remains irresistible to audiences the world over.
Recently named as director of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, he is going to assemble a team of around 15 young conductors, following the work already done by Neeme Jäarvi over three seasons. In 1997, Jaap van Zweden and his wife Aaltje set up the Papageno Foundation, which aims to support the families of autistic children. Over the years, the Foundation's work has seen the creation of several programmes in which professional musical therapists and musicians receive additional training in using music as a major tool to work with autistic children. Papageno House, a new house for autistic children and young adults, was opened in Laren, in the Netherlands, in August 2015, with the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Maxima.
Jaap van Zweden's high-quality discography covers the complete symphonies of Beethoven and Bruckner, Mahler, Tchaïkovsky, Shostakovitch, alongside Stravinsky as well as lesser-known composers like Verbey or Wallin. His love of orchestra and the Germanic repertoire have made him an excellent performer of Wagner, whose Meistersinger, Lohengrin and Parsifal he has recorded. A complete recording of the Ring, with his Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, is set to come out on NAXOS.
Before becoming the great international conductor who is applauded today, this consummate musician, curious to a fault, recorded several albums as a violinist. At ease in all styles, van Zweden offers up Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Samuel Barber's Concerto via The Art of the Violin by Locatelli and concert pieces by Shostakovitch or Rihm.
François Hudry/QOBUZ/November 2017
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Bruckner: Symphonies No. 1-9
Symfonieën - Released by Challenge Classics on 9 sep. 2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: War Requiem
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Klassiek - Released by Challenge Classics on 20 apr. 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfe : Fire in my mouth
New York Philharmonic, Jaap van Zweden, The Crossing
Klassiek - Released by UMC - Decca Gold on 30 aug. 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade / Stravinsky: Scherzo fantastique
Riccardo Chailly, Jaap van Zweden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 sep. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 6
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Klassiek - Released by Challenge Classics on 17 mei 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
David Lang: prisoner of the state
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Klassiek - Released by UMC - Decca Gold on 26 jun. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Padding: Softly Bouncing
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Klassiek - Released by Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on 13 mei 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Four Seasons
Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
Klassiek - Released by Challenge Classics on 16 sep. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World" (Live)
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by DSO Live on 12 mei 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 1
Klassiek - Released by Challenge Classics on 30 apr. 2015
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony no. 3
Klassiek - Released by Challenge Classics on 11 jan. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ode Aan Amadeus
Berdien Stenberg, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by Universal Music, a division of Universal International Music BV on 1 jan. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Kelley O'Connor, Jaap van Zweden, Dallas Symphony Chorus, Children's Chorus of Greater Dallas
Klassiek - Released by DSO Live on 11 mrt. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (Jaap Van Zweden)
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by DSO Live on 29 okt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies n°5 et n°7
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by DSO Live on 1 apr. 2012
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Musique pour violon
Jaap van Zweden, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Edo de Waart, Zoltan Pesko
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 30 sep. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n°4 - Suite n°4 "Mozartiana"
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Andres Cardenes, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by DSO Live on 1 apr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WALLIN, R.: Act / Das war schon! / Tides (Oslo Philharmonic)
Oslo-Filharmonien, Martin Grubinger, Kroumata Percussion Ensemble, Jaap van Zweden, John Axelrod, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Klassiek - Released by Ondine on 26 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
4 Poèmes symphoniques d'après A. Böcklin - Variations & Fugue sur un thème gai de Johann Adam Hiller
Jaap van Zweden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
Symfonische gedichten - Released by Chandos on 1 okt. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n°5 - Capriccio italien, op.45
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by DSO Live on 1 apr. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden
Klassiek - Released by Brilliant Classics on 1 feb. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo