Philippe Auguin

Philippe Auguin is one of the most sought after conductors of his generation, highly successful both in the operatic and symphonic field. He has collaborated for many years with renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera New York (Lohengrin, Bohème, Doktor Faust, Frau ohne Schatten), Teatro alla Scala Milano (Don Giovanni, Nozze di Figaro, Zauberflöte, Macbeth, Ballo in maschera, Forza del destino), Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Traviata, Tosca, Madama Butterfly), Hamburg Staatsoper (Fliegender Holländer, Tannhäuser, Salome, Otello, Falstaff, Bohème, Turandot), the Bayerische Staatsoper (Rosenkavalier, Elektra), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Aida), as well as Los Angeles Opera, Opera Australia, Grand Théâtre de Genève and the opera houses of Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden.

He made his debut at the Vienna Staatsoper in May 2008 with Korngold’s Tote Stadt returning for a revival in March 2009. Philippe Auguin has also conducted a new production of Wagner’s Ring in Nuremberg as well as touring this production to China — the first Ring ever to be performed there.

In the symphonic field, Philippe Auguin has worked with leading orchestras including the BBC Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Vienna Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London), Czech Philharmonic, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Bamberg Symphony. He has conducted the complete Mahler symphony cycle as well as performing contemporary music programs by Boulez, Henze, Maxwell Davies, Reimann and Ruzicka.

He has conducted at prestigious festivals including the Ravenna Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Hong Kong Festival, Musiksommer Bad Kissingen and the Sydney Olympic Festival. In 1996, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in a production of Fidelio for the Salzburger Festspiele and again for a concert-performance of Salome at the Zaragossa Festival in 2007.

Last season highlights included performances with the Hamburg Staatsoper (Don Carlos), Deutsche Staastsoper Berlin (Siegfried and Götterdämmerung), Opera de Monte Carlo (Die Zauberflöte), Greek National Opera (Tannhauser) and Savonlinna Festival (Mephistopheles) as well as the KBS Symphony Orchestra. Engagements in the 2009/10 season include a return visit to the Metropolitan Opera (Tosca), a return invitation to Savonlinna Festival (Tosca), Washington Opera (concert performances of Götterdämmerung), Gran Teatro Lirico di Palermo (Simon Boccanegra and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten), Opera de Marseille (Rosenkavalier), Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (Boheme), the Vienna Symphony and Beethoven Orchestra, Bonn.

Born in France, Philippe Auguin studied in Vienna and Florence and was influenced by two impressive personalities: he was music assistant of Herbert von Karajan before working closely with Sir Georg Solti. He was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande and has been Honorary Consul of the Republic of France since June 2002.