Gustavo Gimeno
Among Europe's fast-rising conductors in the late 2010s and early 2020s, Gustavo Gimeno became a North American sensation as well when he became music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2020. Gimeno began his career as a percussionist but switched to conducting in adulthood with encouragement from one of his mentors, Mariss Jansons.
Gimeno was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1976. His household was filled with music; one of his parents was a clarinetist, and his older brother studied clarinet and violin. Gustavo dreamed of a career as a conductor but took percussion and piano lessons, and it was as a percussionist that he began his professional career in 2001 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. The following year, he was named the orchestra's principal percussionist, and he spent ten more years in that position. Yet, he remembered his childhood dreams and would often cross the street from the Concertgebouw to the Amsterdam Conservatory for conducting classes with Ed Spanjaard, Hans Vonk, and Iván Fischer. Gimeno was encouraged by Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conductor Mariss Jansons, and he worked as an assistant to Bernard Haitink and Claudio Abbado (with the Orchestra Mozart of Bologna and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra) as well. He held the official position of assistant conductor in 2012 and 2013, and he was also chief conductor of the Amsterdams Symphonie Orkest Con Brio and Het Orkest Amsterdam during this period.
A successful emergency substitution for Jansons at a 2014 Concertgebouw Orchestra concert helped launch Gimeno's career, for he had to quickly master a completely new piece of music; Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2 was receiving its Dutch premiere. That year, he made his recording debut, leading the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Camerata in a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 9. Gimeno began to land guest slots with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, among other groups as well as a production of Bellini's opera Norma at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia.
Gimeno became the conductor of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015, with a contract renewal that kept him in the position through at least 2022. With that group, he has made several recordings for the PentaTone label, including one, in 2021, of Francisco Coll's Violin Concerto with soloist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Gimeno became more visible in North America with guest appearances leading the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. After a single concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2018, Gimeno was named music director of that ensemble, effective in 2020. He prepared several recordings with the orchestra for digital broadcast during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphony
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno, Marc-André Hamelin, Nathalie Forget
Symfonieën - Released by harmonia mundi on 2 feb. 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain - Symphony No. 1 - Métaboles
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Symfonieën - Released by harmonia mundi on 19 apr. 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: L'Oiseau de feu, Apollon Musagète
Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Klassiek - Released by harmonia mundi on 26 aug. 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Messa di gloria & Orchestral Works
Charles Castronovo, Ludovic Tezier, Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Missen, passies, requiems - Released by harmonia mundi on 14 apr. 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Stabat Mater
Religieuze vocale muziek - Released by harmonia mundi on 1 apr. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Symphony in D Minor, FWV 48 & Variations symphoniques, FWV 46
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Denis Kozhukhin, Gustavo Gimeno
Klassiek - Released by PENTATONE on 12 jun. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Francisco Coll: Orchestral Works
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno
Klassiek - Released by PENTATONE on 21 mei 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler 9
Kamermuziek - Released by Gutman Records on 24 sep. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elegy
Harriet Krijgh, Gustavo Gimeno, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Klassiek - Released by CapriccioNR on 3 feb. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: La mer, Ibéria, Images & 6 Épigraphes antiques
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno
Klassiek - Released by PENTATONE on 1 nov. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 1 & 4, Orchestral Pieces
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno
Symfonische muziek - Released by PENTATONE on 5 mei 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major & Piano Quartet in A Minor
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Miah Persson, Gustavo Gimeno
Klassiek - Released by PentaTone on 23 feb. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich : Symphony No. 1, Scherzi, Theme & Variations, etc.
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno
Symfonische muziek - Released by PentaTone on 5 mei 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Orchestral Works
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno
Klassiek - Released by PentaTone on 19 okt. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
2270
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno
Klassiek - Released by Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on 8 apr. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Symphony in D Minor & Symphonic Variations
Gustavo Gimeno, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Denis Kozhukhin
Symfonieën - Released by PENTATONE on 12 jun. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: La Mer
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno
Symfonieën - Released by PENTATONE on 1 nov. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Coll
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg , Gustavo Gimeno, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Symfonieën - Released by PENTATONE on 21 mei 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo