Michael Schønwandt

conductor

He was actually supposed to take over his father’s textile dye agency. But instead Michael Schønwandt (b. 1953) became one of Denmark’s finest equilibrists with musical colours. From the conductor’s stand he is able to get musicians to play on the whole palette of sounds. But music has always played in Michael Schønwandt’s world. In his childhood home in Hellerup it was mainly jazz that came out of the speakers. But at the age of six Schønwandt found his own way to the Thursday concerts of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR. A few years later he was a regular guest in the gallery of the Royal Theatre and attended all the operas. And he took these dramatic experiences home with him and performed them in his puppet theatre.

Despite this all-consuming interest, Michael Schønwandt’s thought he was not to have a career in music. It took several heated altercations before he was allowed to apply to study musicology at university – for musicians drank and led a dissipated life, thought Schønwandt’s mother. After a few years at the University of Copenhagen Michael Schønwandt travelled at the age of 22 to England. He studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. Five years later he returned to Copenhagen and made his debut as a conductor in front of the Copenhagen Philharmonic. The next year he conducted the Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR for the first time, and two years later the young conductor made his debut at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.

From then on things moved fast: today Michael Schønwandt can browse through his old diaries and recall engagements in among other places the Vienna, Brussels, Stuttgart and Nice opera houses. He was the first Scandinavian ever to conduct at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth in 1987, and two years before that Covent Garden in London had called for the conductor. The London and Berlin Symphony Orchestras, and the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras have also benefited from the baton of the Dane on the conductor’s stand.

From 1988 until 2000 Michael Schønwandt was Principal Guest Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR. In 2000 he was appointed musical director at the Royal Theatre. However, Schønwandt still finds the time to guest-conduct other orchestras in Denmark and abroad, always with his prime objective in mind: “to gather the musicians and open them up, to look inside them and learn from what I see. To a certain extent an orchestra can play by itself, but the conductor has to say the right words and take the musicians further than they at first believe they can get” (Michael Schønwandt in Politiken, 20.08.97).

Live Dates

05/02/2012 Classics Today (10/10)

Carl Nielsen: The Masterworks Vol. 1 - Orchestral Music
"If you haven't yet heard these performances, then this set will be a mandatory acquisition, particularly if you want to get a big chunk of Nielsen in a single shot"
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03/01/2012 Opera

Poul Ruders: Selma Jekozà
"...an outstanding record of a quite extraordinary work. I can't recommend it too highly"
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28/11/2011 Pizzicato

Carl Nielsen: The Masterworks Vol. 1 - Orchestral Music
5/5 Stars

"Schønwandt zeigt mit seinem Nielsen, dass die bei anderen Dirrigenten festgestellte Klangopulenz die sechs Symphonien des Dänen zwar spektakulär werden lässt, dabei jedoch unendlich viele Details untergehen, die die Musik unerhört reich werden lassen."
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01/10/2011 Klassisk

Poul Ruders: Selma Jezková
4/5 Stars

"Det cirkulære handlingsforløb og den enkle scenografi virker stærkt og klart på skærmen"
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12/09/2011 Søndag

Carl Nielsen: The Masterworks Vol. 1 - Orchestral Music
"Noget af det mest kraftfulde og livsbekræftende inden for nyere skandinavisk komposition"
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31/08/2011 Kristeligt Dagblad

Carl Nielsen: The Masterworks Vol. 1 - Orchestral Music
5/6 Stars

"Pragtfulde værker, spillet med saft og kraft, lige fra forspillet til Maskarade til Helios-ouverturen"
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30/08/2011 Classica

Poul Ruders: Selma Jezková (Dancer in the Dark)
3/5 Stars

"Équipe de la creation danoise parfaite"
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16/08/2011 TimeOut Chicago Review

Poul Ruders: Selma Jezková (Dancer in the Dark)
4/5 Stars

"Lead Ylva Kihlberg’s unwavering soprano stands as the vocal highlight of the performance"
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30/06/2011 International Record Review

Poul Ruders: Selma Jezková
"The whole production is a triumph of dramatic focus and concentration ... If a UK staging of Selma Jezková is not already scheduled, it certainly ought to be."
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01/06/2011 David's Review Corner

Poul Ruders: Selma Jezková
"One act operas have been singularly unsuccessful in the history of opera, but this compelling story may prove the exception".
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29/09/2010 MusicWeb International

C.E.F. Weyse: The Key Masterpieces
"This set gives every appearance of being a well informed and inspiringly chosen Weyse introduction"
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30/04/2010 Sequenza 21

Vagn Holmboe: The Key Masterpieces
"The performances on this program are universally fine."
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14/06/2002 Classics Today (10/10)

Vagn Holmboe: Requiem for Nietzsche
"A powerful work on many levels, a serious statement from a composer of genuine vision ... A real find."
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22/05/2002 BBC Music Magazine

Vagn Holmboe: Requiem for Nietzsche
5/6 Stars

"Both the soloists are impressive and Michael Schønwandt and his chorus and orchestra seem totally possessed."
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03/11/1997 BBC Music Magazine

Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: Orchestral Works
5/5 Stars

"The performance of the soloist, Morten Zeuthen (for whom it was written) and the orchestra are utterly gripping ... One of the most exciting CD's I've come across this year"
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15/01/1994 BBC Music Magazine

Niels W. Gade: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2
5 Stars

"Michael Schønwandt and his Collegium Musicum play these forgotten Romantic glories to the manner born."
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20/03/1993 Fanfare

Svend Erik Tarp: Orchestral Works
"Should be part of every collection of twentieth-century music."
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Discography

	The Masterworks Vol. 1 - Orchestral Music Carl Nielsen CD 8.206002 (2011) The Danish National Symphony Orchestra's hailed recordings of Nielsen's orchestral music, including the six symphonies on both CD and DVD, now beautifully boxed
	Selma Jezková (Dancer in the Dark) Poul Ruders DVD 2.110410 (2011) Poul Ruders' heart-rending opera from 2010 based on Lars von Trier's film "Dancer in the Dark"
	The Key Masterpieces Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse CD 8.226105-06 (2010) The 3rd issue in Dacapo’s Perspectives series fully portrays this ingenious composer of the Danish Golden Age
	The Key Masterpieces J.P.E. Hartmann CD 8.226103-04 (2009) A portrait of the key figure of Danish National Romanticism, who embraced all genres
	The Key Masterpieces Vagn Holmboe CD 8.226101-02 (2009) An outstanding introduction to the clear-sighted master of 20th-century Nordic music
	Maskarade (DVD) Carl Nielsen DVD 2.110407 (2007) The Danish "national opera" in a rebellious, witty new interpretation
	Complete Symphonies (DVD) Carl Nielsen DVD 2.110403-05 (2006) Live recordings of a Nielsen marathon with Michael Schønwandt and the Danish National SO.
	Famous Opera Choruses Wagner, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini, Borodin, Nielsen SACD 6.220512 (2005)
	Requiem for Nietzsche Vagn Holmboe CD 8.224207 (2002) An impressive, uncompromising oratorio based on the life of Nietzsche – a major work in Danish music
	The Handmaid's Tale Poul Ruders CD 8.224165-66 (2001) Vor tids stærkeste opera – et genialt og rystende værk
	Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 Carl Nielsen CD 8.224169 (2001) Nielsen’s vital debut and his enigmatic, surreal last work in the genre
	Complete Symphonies (3CD Box Set) Carl Nielsen CD 8.203130 (2001) Authoritative recording of all six symphonies based on the new edition of the music
	Der er et yndigt land CD 8.224141 (2000) Danmark i lommeformat – de største klassiske hits og skønneste melodier
	Renaissance P.E. Lange-Müller CD 8.224109 (2000) Fuldmoden dansk nationalromantik af en elsket mester
	Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 Carl Nielsen CD 8.224156 (2000)
	Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 Carl Nielsen CD 8.224126 (1999)
	Symphony No. 2 Poul Ruders CD 8.224125 (1999) Ruders’ Piano Concerto and his explosive Symphony no. 2 – a tremendous listening experience!
	Liden Kirsten J.P.E. Hartmann CD 8.224106-07 (1999) The beloved ballad opera with a libretto by Hans Christian Andersen. Denmark in a nutshell!
	Der var engang (Once upon a time) P.E. Lange-Müller CD 8.224084 (1997) Songs and music from the Romantic fairytale comedy. A bestseller 100 years ago and today!
	Cantatas C.E.F. Weyse CD 8.224049 (1997) Ædleste klassicisme i Weyses kantater til jul og påske
	Ungdom og Galskab (Youth and Folly) Edouard Dupuy CD 8.224066-67 (1997) A witty, melodious Singspiel, performed hundreds of times since the premiere in 1806!
	Orchestral Works Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen CD 8.224060 (1997) Three key works by the caustic, energetic absurdist of modern Danish music
	Symphonies Nos. 1-8 Niels Wilhelm Gade CD 8.504012 (1997)
	Solar Trilogy Poul Ruders CD 8.224054 (1997) The great big orchestral trip – a unique trilogy in European music
	Elverskud (The Elf King's Daughter) Niels W. Gade CD 8.224051 (1996)
	Symphonies Nos. 6-7 C.E.F. Weyse CD 8.224014 (1995) First recording of Weyse’s two greatest symphonies
	Symphonies Nos. 4-5 C.E.F. Weyse CD 8.224013 (1995) Vienna Classicism from the 1790s with a Nordic accent
	Symphonies Nos. 1-3 C.E.F. Weyse CD 8.224012 (1994) The first full-scale Danish symphonies, inspired by Haydn and Mozart
	Concertos Poul Ruders DCCD 9308 (1993)
	Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6 Niels W. Gade DCCD 9202 (1993)
	Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 Niels W. Gade DCCD 9201 (1993)
	Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 Niels W. Gade DCCD 9301 (1993)
	Orchestral Works Svend Erik Tarp DCCD 9005 (1992)
	Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5 Niels W. Gade DCCD 9004 (1992)