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Conductor Mallwitz (in the opera house of the Staatstheater Nürnberg): "Even during concentrated rehearsals, she casts a spell over you."
Photo:
Daniel Karmann / dpa
The internationally celebrated Joana Mallwitz becomes chief conductor at the Konzerthaus Berlin.
The 34-year-old, who is general music director at the State Theater in Nuremberg, will take over the artistic direction of the orchestra in the capital from the 2023/24 season for initially five seasons, as the concert hall and cultural administration announced on Tuesday.
Previously, the person was in the responsible Senate of the capital.
The first female conductor on the spot will succeed Christoph Eschenbach in two years.
The 81-year-old has held the post since 2019.
Mallwitz announced at the end of July that she would not extend her contract as general music director in Nuremberg and that she would leave the State Theater at the end of the 2022/23 season.
She cited her family situation as one reason.
Mallwitz is expecting her first child in autumn.
In addition, failed plans for the construction of a new concert hall in Nuremberg were decisive.
»Inspirational musician and excellent music educator«
In a communication Mallwitz described herself as very honored, she was really looking forward to working with the Konzerthausorchester. She had already got to know the musicians on two projects "as modern-thinking, music-loving, discovery-loving and extremely affectionate personalities." "Coupled with the exciting and inspiring history of the place, the beautiful sound of the orchestra and the wonderful team around artistic director Sebastian Nordmann, these are conditions that a conductor could not wish for better."
Nordmann sees "an unbelievable power and dynamism" in Mallwitz's conduct.
“Even during concentrated rehearsals, she casts a spell over you.” Conversations with her “about the future of classical music, her great dedication and her enthusiasm for music education quickly made her the preferred candidate”.
Berlin's Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left) is looking forward to “an inspiring musician and an excellent music educator”.
Mallwitz embodies a new generation of orchestral conducting and, with the concert hall orchestra, will help to inspire a wide audience for classical music.
Mallwitz has just been celebrated again in Salzburg for her musical interpretation of Mozart's opera "Così fan tutte".
At the festival last year, she was the first woman in the 100-year history of the classical music festival to lead a major premiere cycle.
The Hildesheim-born conductor began her career at the age of 19 at the Heidelberg Theater, where she was promoted to Kapellmeister after her first season.
As the youngest general music director in Europe at the time, she moved to Theater Erfurt in 2014.
Four years later it went to Nuremberg.
In 2019, experts from the magazine “Opernwelt” named her conductor of the year.
In the 2021/22 season, Mallwitz will be at the podium with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the RSO Vienna.
Debuts have been agreed with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester National de France and the Semperoper Dresden.
She has already made guest appearances with orchestras in Berlin, London, Munich, Birmingham and Gothenburg.
feb / dpa