8/18/2008 | Andreas S. Weiser, Isabelle ...

Andreas S. Weiser

Andreas Sebastian Weiser, a graduate of the Berlin University of the Arts, was a finalist in the first annual Arturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition held in Italy in 1985. Based on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), he also studied under Václav Neumann at the Czech Philharmonic (1984). One year later, he became the second conductor to the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In 1990, when the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra selected him to be their principal conductor, he became the youngest musical director in Germany. Over the course of his eight year engagement, in addition to standard symphony repertoire he staged many pieces that were unknown to the orchestra - such as the works of Mahler, Martinů and Stravinsky as well as contemporary artists (Schönberg, Webern, Henze, Kukal, Franke...).

In 1993 he debuted with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, when he stepped in at the last minute for Semyon Bychkov and took over directing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9. This was followed by invitations to Munich Radio Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Collegium in Munich.

Since his first joint concert in Ravenna in 1995, he has regularly worked with cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (including staging Britten's War Requiem with RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra).

Isabelle Faust

Violin

Isabelle Faust has a fine reputation as a violinist of serious intent, who is committed to playing works of all styles and periods. She is at home exploring period instrument performance with collaborators such as Concerto Köln and Andreas Staier and at the same time is a most ardent advocate of contemporary repertoire. She has premiered concertos by Werner Egk and Thierry Lancino, A Child Reliquary by Danielpour, Messiaen's Fantasie and works dedicated to her by Jörg Widmann. Her repertoire also includes works by Morton Feldman, György Ligeti, Liugi Nono and Giacinto Scelsi. In 2009 she will premiere violin concertos dedicated to her by Michael Jarrel and Thomas Larcher.

Isabelle Faust came to international recognition at an early age when she won the Leopold Mozart Competition in Augsburg in 1987. She went on to win first prize at the Premio Paganini in Genoa in 1993 and in 1997 she was awarded the coveted Gramophone "Young Artist of the Year" Award. Her career has subsequently included engagements with prestigious international orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk Orcehstra, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. She has worked with renowned conductors such as Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Paavo Berglund, Gary Bertini, Ingo Metzmacher and Marko Letonja.

Isabelle Faust is equally passionate about chamber music and regularly participates in recital tours and at international chamber music festivals. The esteemed musicians with whom she enjoys close musical partnerships include Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov, Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff and Tabea Zimmermann.

Prague Philharmonia

The Prague Philharmonia was established as a versatile and dynamic ensemble that plays with true enthusiasm and energy, and it has maintained these features for the past thirteen years of its existence. The orchestra tirelessly expands its new repertoire and number of recordings, invites new, strong musicians to put on joint performances, and takes the stage at numerous concert halls and music festivals around the world.

The basic structure of the Prague Philharmonia, based on the orchestra type from the Viennese Classicism period, is added to and changed as needed. This allows it to add major 20th Century works from Igor Stravinsky and Benjamin Britten, among others, to the its repertoire of the foremost works of Classicism and Romanticism, and discover the music of lesser known composers and compositions by contemporary artists.

The Prague Philharmonia is able to perform successfully as a small string orchestra as well as play in a structure that includes all instrumentation used in late Romanticism's symphonies and operas. The Prague Philharmonia members are also highly interested in chamber music, particularly as part of their own cycle of chamber performances. The players select the works to be played, thus directing the orchestra's program to a large extent themselves.

Major Czech and international performers play with the Prague Philharmonia: these have included pianists Ivan Moravec, Jefim Bronfman, András Schiff, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Martha Argerich; violinists Shlomo Mintz, Sarah Chang, Isabelle Faust and Pavel Šporcl; cellists Mischa Maisky, David Geringas and Jiří Bárta.

Leading conductors who work with the orchestra include Christopher Hogwood, Marco Zambelli, Daniele Callegari, Marco Armiliato, Libor Pešek and Paul McCreesh. The orchestra is a regular partner to mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, soprano Eva Urbanová and mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková, as well as to opera stars José Cura, Ramón Vargas, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jennifer Larmore, Natalie Dessay and Ľubica Vargicová.