Alun Francis
Alun Francis is one of the most respected conductors on the international scene, and is particularly admired for his efforts in bringing international recognition to several great tonal symphonists active in the post-World War II years, and for other efforts on behalf of 20th century music.
His "native" instrument is the French horn. He continued his studies on that instrument and took conducting while attending the Royal Manchester College of Music from 1960 to 1963. His first professional jobs were as an orchestral horn player with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester under Sir John Barbirolli's leadership, and with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, with Constantin Silvestri as conductor.
He began looking for conducting opportunities at this time and by 1966 began an association with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, rising from short appointments as assistant conductor and associate conductor to becoming music director in 1969. While there, he became a conductor and artistic director of the Northern Ireland Opera, serving in that post from 1974 to 1984.
He ended these associations in 1970 after 10 years, becoming music director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra in Seattle, Washington, from 1980 to 1985. Following that, he was conductor and music advisor to the Overiijssels Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera Forum of Netherlands from 1985 to 1987.
Francis was principal conductor and general music director of the North West German Philharmonic and in 1989 received the appointment as principal conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Following a contract extension in 1996, he remained with the Berlin Symphony through 2000. Meanwhile, he became principal conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Haydn of Bolzano, Italy, and in 1996 was appointed artistic director of the Orchestra Sinfonica de Milano "Giuseppe Verdi." Since 2008, he has led Mexico City's Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM.
Among the orchestras with which he has guest conducted are the BBC Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the five major orchestras of London, and the rest of the major orchestras of Britain, the RAI (Italian Radio) Orchestra of Torino, the Cologne RSO, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Frankfurt RSO, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and several other major European and American orchestras.
Francis' 20th century performances include the avant-garde composers such as Stockhausen and Berio as well as major and once-neglected symphonic composers of the post-War era such as Ernst Toch, Allan Pettersson, Darius Milhaud, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and Casella. He received the MIDEM 2000 "Premiere Prize" at the Cannes Classical Awards for recording the complete symphonies of Milhaud on the cpo label.
While known as a proponent of 20th century orchestral music, as an active opera conductor he prefers to focus on the bel canto era (roughly the time from Rossini's debut through the early works of Verdi). He has 50 bel canto operas in his repertory, and in 1978 led the world premiere of the Donizetti opera Gabriella di Vergy. He records opera for the label Opera Rara, and for them and other companies he has taped recordings of Donizetti's Maria Padilla and Ugo, conte di Parigi and Offenbach's operettas Christopher Columbus and Robinson Crusoe. Another notable operatic engagement was his conducting Verdi's Rigoletto in staging directed by Roman Polanski.
In all, Francis estimates that he has conducted more than 150 orchestras and opera companies in 26 different companies so far in his conducting career.
© TiVo
Artistes similaires
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Kreutzer: Violin Concertos Nos. 15, 18 & 19
Laurent Albrecht Breuninger, SWR Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 10 déc. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Early Sinfonias
L'Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 26 juil. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Toch: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4
Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eugen d'Albert: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 9)
Piers Lane, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 nov. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Gabriella di Vergy
Ludmilla Andrew, Christian Du Plessis, Maurice Arthur, John Tomlinson, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez Opera Rara le 1 janv. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dohnányi: Violin Concerto No. 1 & American Rhapsody
Ulf Wallin, Hr-sinfonieorchester, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 17 sept. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thuille: Symphony in F Major & Piano Concerto in D Major
Oliver Triendl, L'Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 déc. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Casella: Symphony No. 3, Op. 63 & Italia, Op. 11
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 août 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Casella: Serenata, Op. 46 - Concerto per archi - Divertimento per Fulvia, Op. 64
L'Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 juil. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Krenek: Symphony No. 4 - Concerto grosso No. 2 (Alun Francis)
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Volker Worlitzsch, Alun Francis, Dimitar Penkov, Nikolai Schneider
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 7 juin 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
French Concertos for Two Pianos
Genova and Dimitrov Piano Duo, SWR Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 16 nov. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Maria Padilla
Lois McDonall, Della Jones, Alun Francis, London Symphony Orchestra
Opéra - Paru chez Opera Rara le 1 janv. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pettersson: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 16
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, John Edward Kelly, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 janv. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martin, F.: Ballade for Flute and Orchestra / Nielsen, C.: Flute Concerto / Ibert, J.: Flute Concerto / Bernstein, L.: Halil
Michael Faust, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Alun Francis, Serge Baudo
Classique - Paru chez CapriccioNR le 1 janv. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Klemperer: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 / Merry Waltz / Marcia Funebre / Recollections / Scherzo
Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 janv. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Searle: Symphonies 2, 3 & 5
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 5 nov. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pettersson: Symphony No. 2 - Symphonic Movement
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 janv. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pettersson: Symphony No. 9
Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez CPO le 1 août 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Finzi & Stanford: Clarinet Concertos
Thea King, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 janv. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Della Jones Sings Donizetti
Della Jones, David Parry, Alun Francis
Classique - Paru chez Opera Rara le 1 juil. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weigl: Symphony No. 6 / Old Vienna
Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Alun Francis, Thomas Sanderling
Classique - Paru chez BIS le 1 janv. 2005
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo