

conductor / Elias GRANDY<chief conductor>
soprano / Chen REISS *
| TAKEMITSU | How slow the Wind |
|---|---|
| BERG | Seven Early Songs |
| MAHLER | Symphony No.4 in G major |
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Elias Grandy’s international profile is rapidly rising by conducting first-class orchestras and opera productions in Europe, America and Asia. Hailed by the press as “passionate and full of temperament”, “vigorous and equally precise” and praised for his ability to “grasp psychological subtleties under a microscope”, the German-Japanese conductor gave recently highly successful debuts with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic and Minnesota Orchestra. In 23/24 the energetic, charismatic conductor will return to Frankfurt Radio Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of Germany and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Tokyo and give debuts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken. Furthermore, he will take the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz on a tour to Poland as their “conductor in residence” for 23/24 and appear frequently with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he enjoys a close relationship for many years. Elias is equally devoted as an opera conductor, feeling passionately about theatre and musically shaping the narrative of each drama. In recent years he has conducted highly acclaimed productions of Elektra and Carmen at Minnesota Opera, Werther and A Village Romeo and Juliet at Frankfurt Opera, Un ballo in maschera at Aalto-Theatre Essen, Carmen at Opera Nikikai Tokyo and Rusalka at Portland Opera. Future engagements include the Semperoper Dresden and reinvitations to Frankfurt Opera and Opera Nikikai Tokyo. Last season he finished his tenure as music director of Heidelberg’s Opera and Philharmonic orchestra where he significantly raised the caliber of both, providing thoughtful, innovative programming and burnishing the city’s fast-growing reputation as a vital musical hub. Enthusiastic about making music more accessible, he introduced several highly popular concert formats for young people and an educated audience. His final season programme included Prokofjev’s Love for Three Oranges, Bruckner’s Symphony No.7 and a series of unknown works by female composers. Born of German-Japanese parents Elias studied cello and conducting in Munich, Basel, and Berlin. He worked as a cellist in orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Komische Oper Berlin. He started his conducting career as Resident Conductor at Staatstheater Darmstadt and shortly after won the prestigious Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition. In 2015 he was named music director in Heidelberg, a position he held until 2023. Grandy was a member of the Orchestra Academy (cello) in 2004, and of the Conducting Academy in 2012. In 2024 he made his return to PMF as Guest Conductor.
With “a voice of silver brightness and clarity” (Bachtrack) with “immaculately produced and enticing tone matched by superb musicianship” (Opera News), Israeli soprano Chen Reiss came to prominence as a member of the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera and as resident artist at the Vienna State Opera. Her operatic repertoire includes the title roles in Cavalli’s La Calisto (Teatro alla Scala, Milan) and Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Gilda (Rigoletto), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Aennchen (Der Freischutz), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) and Zdenka (Arabella), Ginevra (Ariodante) (Royal Opera House Covent Garden), Mozart’s Zaide (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma), Donna Anna and Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro), Anne Trulove (The Rakes’s Progress), Liu (Turandot), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and the title role in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. Highlights of the 2024/25 season include her stage debut as Mozart’s Contessa at Welsh National Opera, the title role of Schumann’s Genoveva in at the Köln Philharmonie, signature repertoire including Strauss Four Last Songs with the Israel Philharmonic, Mahler‘s 2nd symphony at the Palau de la Musica de Valencia, her debut in Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with Tarmo Pentokoski and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and collaborations with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Zubin Mehta, Ivor Bolton, Lahav Shani, Alain Altinoglu and Kristiina Poska, in repertoire ranging from concert arias by Mozart and Beethoven, to the orchestral songs of Strauss, Schreker and Korngold. Recent highlights include the position of Artist in Residence at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, performing a range of repertoire from Mozart and Lehar to Berg and Korngold, an appearance as featured soloist in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Christmas Day concert, rejoining conductor Klaus Mäkelä to sing music by Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn, and her debuts in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Wiener Akademie and Le Cercle d'Harmonie at the Philharmonie de Paris and the Festival de Paques in Aix en Provence, Strauss’s Four Last Songs, Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Mahler Festival, and Dvorak’s Stabat Mater. She has appeared in signature repertoire including Mahler’s Second and Fourth symphonies with the Munich Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, Berg’s Sieben fruhe lieder with the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart under Vasily Petrenko, and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC under the baton of Simone Young. She debuted with the Berlin Radio Symphony under Vladimir Jurowski (Haydn Die Jahreszeiten), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano (Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem), the Berlin Philharmonic under Semyon Bychkov (Mahler Symphony No.4) and the Filarmonica della Scala (Mozart arias with Zubin Mehta). Recent recordings include Mendelssohn’s ‘Lobgesang’ with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich and Paavo Jarvi (Alpha Classics), Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov (Pentatone), Schreker’s ‘Vom ewigen leben’ with Christoph Eschenbach and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.(for Deutsche Grammophon), a disc of orchestral lieder and scenas of Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn with the Jewish Chamber Orchestra of Munich, and ‘Immortal Beloved’ a recording of Beethoven arias and scenas with the Academy of Ancient Music for Onyx Classics. 2025 will see the release of ‘Das Jüdische Wien’, featuring songs by Korngold, Zemlinsky, and Josefine Winter with the Jewish Chamber Orchestra of Munich.