Stefan Soltész
Conductor Stefan Soltesz was born in Nyiregyhaza (Hungary) in 1949 and moved as a child to Vienna. He studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music, where he also had training in composition and piano. His artistic career was launched in 1971, as conductor at the Theater an der Wien, followed by engagements as coach and conductor at the Vienna State Opera (1973-1983) and as guest conductor at the Opera House in Graz (1979-1981). During three editions of the Salzburg Festival, in 1978, 1979 and 1983, he worked as a musical assistant to Karl Böhm, Christoph von Dohnányi and Herbert von Karajan. Stefan Soltesz held the position of regular conductor at the Hamburg State Opera (1983-1985) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1985-1997). He served as general music director of the State Theatre of Brunswick from 1988-1993 and as chief conductor of the Flemish Opera in Antwerp and Ghent from 1992-1997. From 1997 to 2013 he has served as the general music director of the Essener Philharmoniker and as artistic director of the Essen opera house Aalto Theater. Stefan Soltesz is a frequent guest conductor at the Vienna State Opera and at the major opera houses of Germany, for instance in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. He also appeared at Netherlands Opera Amsterdam, Bilbao Opera, Paris Opéra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Bolshoi Teatre Moscow, Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, Teatro Bellini in Catania, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Washington and San Francisco opera houses, Zürich Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Niki-Kai Opera Tokyo, Teatro dell' Opera Roma and Hungarian State Opera in Budapest and at the festivals in Taipei, Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Baden-Baden and Savonlinna (Finland). Stefan Soltesz has led radio performances and concerts in Berlin, Dresden, Genoa, Hanover, Hamburg, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Palermo, Turin, Nagoya, Budapest, Vienna and Moscow. His discography includes operas by Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Gazzaniga and Alexander von Zemlinsky, as well as various symphonic works. His recent recording of music by Alban Berg and Hans Werner Henze won a Grammy nomination as well as an ICMA nomination. Strauss’ “Salome” from the Baden-Baden festival and Debussys’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” from Aalto Theater were published as DVD. Stefan Soltesz holds Austrian citizenship and lives in Berlin.
© 2015 Lore Blümel Opern- und Konzertagentur / www.lore-bluemel.de
