Artist Details![]() Celso AntunesCategory: ConductorsEnergy, attention to detail, stylistically informed interpretation and charisma, are the attributes that best convey the essence of Celso Antunes as a conductor. He is a man of great integrity, charm and personal discipline. LAM
Various territories. Apply to LAM for list. Biography
“Antunes showed he knows that rarest of arts: how to make the contributions in a perspective that always makes musical sense… He secured performances that were high on illumination, getting inside the music, as it were…“
SHOW FULL Michael Dervan, Irish Times
BIOGRAPHY Born 1959 in São Paulo, Brazil, Celso Antunes studied conducting at the Musikhochschule Köln in Germany. From 1994 until 1998 he was Chief Conductor of the Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester in Cologne and of the Belgian ensemble for contemporary music Champ d'Action (1994 – 1997), with whom he directed numerous world premieres. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, his influence on its development from 2002 onward was exceptional. In 2007 the Irish Times regretted his departure with the words: …this period will have to be seen in the future as a golden age for professional choral singing in Ireland. Flexibility is the key to Celso Antunes’ conducting expertise across a wide repertoire which covers choral music from the Renaissance, through orchestral works from the 18th and 19th century and contemporary music, of which he is a devoted advocate. This advocacy has led to engagements to direct numerous renowned contemporary music ensembles such as the Nieuw Ensemble, the Ensemble Modern and the Tippett Ensemble (of which he remains Music Director). He has conducted many world premieres including works by Michael Tippett, Wolfgang Rihm, Jonathan Harvey, Hans Zender, Brice Pauset and Lera Auerbach. For many years Celso Antunes has been an active figure on the European concert scene. Festival engagements have included: the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Flanders Festival, the Musikbiennale München, the Kurt-Weill-Fest in Dessau and November Music in s'Hertogenbosch. Antunes regularly works with some of Europe’s leading choirs, including: the SWR Stuttgart Vocal Ensemble, the BBC Singers in London and the Vlaamse Radio Koor in Brussels. Among the conductors with whom he has collaborated are prominent artists such as Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Janssons, Charles Dutoit, Peter Eötvös and Sylvain Cambreling. Celso Antunes is regularly invited as a guest conductor by leading orchestras, such as the Manchester Camerata, the Gelders Orkest, the Brussels Philharmonic and the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover. In his home country Brazil, Celso Antunes also features regularly as a guest conductor with the Camerata Fukuda and the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP). In June 2010, Celso Antunes returns to the Cité de la Musique, Paris, with the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Orchestre de Radio France, where he will premiere "Les Sept Paroles" by Tristan Murail. In July, at the City of London Festival, he will conduct the world premiere of a composition by Miguel Azguime with the BBC Singers. Celso Antunes will also direct the SWR Vocal Ensemble at the Salzburg Festival, which in August will present "Quid est Deus" by Wolfgang Rihm. This year will also include the recording of CDs for Hänssler Klassik and BIS, featuring works by Joaquin Turina, with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hanover and Symphony No.3 by Dmitri Schostakovich, with the Netherlands Radio Choir. Celso Antunes will also make his debut as a guest conductor with the South Jutland Symphony in Denmark, and with the Radio Kamer Filharmonie and Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands. The conductor Celso Antunes had a dynamic thrust that was at times simply dramatic, his command of the orchestra and chorus was absolutely first-rate! Belfast Telegraph
Reviews
Goethe's "Theatralisches Abentheuer", Radio Philharmonie NDR Hannover, 20 February 2009
SHOW ALL"The NDR-Radiophilharmonie's playing under conductor Celso Antunes was spirited, with Italianate fieriness and airiness. That's how "lighter" classical music should sound: enormously funny and always at a very high level." Neue Presse 23 February 2009 REVIEWS
Lonneke Regter, De Volkskrant, 19.01.2009
Eddie Vetter, De Telegraaf, 16.01.09
Heide Oehmen, Rheinische Post, 30.4.2008
Volker Hagedorn, Der Tagesspiegel, 17.4.2008
"This music sounds intense and vivid, subtle and never overloaded … Above all, because the Belgian Het Spectra Ensemble under Celso Antunes’ competent direction were remarkably able to delve deeply into this highly dramatic work…" Christoph Dittmann, Westdeutsche Allgemeine, 08 February 2008
Andrea Rea, Newsletter 20 November 2007 “Conductor Celso Antunes got the combined Belfast Philharmonic and Guinness Choirs off to a wonderfully atmospheric start in his Verdi Requiem with the Ulster Orchestra on Friday… it was good to hear so many of the work’s moments of tenderness and warmth conveyed with sensitivity. The care with which Antunes sculpted individual choral lines and ensured musically sound balances was commendable, as was his concern not to overpower the vocal soloists.“ Michael Dervan, The Irish Times, Nov 19 2007
“It was good to witness an impressive performance in the Waterfront Hall on Friday evening given by the Ulster Orchestra… All credit to conductor Celso Antunes: he was impressive in that he conducted the whole piece from memory, bringing tremendous musicality and colour to the performance. Antunes kept a good balance between singers and the orchestra, despite the wide range of dynamic contrasts in a piece that moves continuously from moods of mystical spirituality to high drama. As well as the thrilling climaxes for which this work is justly famous, not least the Dies Irae, we also got moments of tremendous tenderness and intimacy”. Ruth McCartney, Irish News, 19 November 2007
"Under Celso Antunes’direction, all musicians, spread all over the church, could perform with absolute precision: the spatial sound effects were perfectly achieved…" Westdeutsche Zeitung, 22.Oktober 2007
NRZ, 23.Oktober 2007 Gerd Zacher, 22. Oktober 2007
Lauro Machado Coelho, Estado de São Paulo, September 2007
"Brazilian conductor Celso Antunes knows how to get the most out of all dances, including Tangos and Mambos: This is sensational music making, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie plays for him with luxurious strings and with a lavish orchestral brass sound..." Mannheimer Morgen, June 2007 "Antunes conducted during the fast three hours of the concert bouncing, curling and knuckling himself, letting his hands speak and extracting the most out of the players... He's certainly made an impact on the musicians, the audience could feel the joy in the playing. Antunes is an effervescent conductor, with a fine feeling for rhythms and long cantabile lines..." Die Rheinpfalz, June 2007 "Antunes, appointed in 2002, transformed the choir from an honourably dull group that rarely lived up to its obvious potential into the most dynamic and forward-looking of performing ensembles that Ireland has ever known. His programming with the NCC has been unrivalled in its scope and daring, the choir regularly attracts the world's leading choral conductors for its concerts. […]The choir's five years under Antunes will be seen as a golden age for professional choral singing in Ireland." Irish Times, Editorial, February 2007 "The Camerata Fukuda under Celso Antunes plays Mozart's "Divertimento in F major" and Shostakovitch's Chamber Symphony opus 110" with brilliant verve and great passion: an absolutely lively and stirring performance!" O Estado de São Paulo, January 2007 "Celso Antunes has presented us with a moving new interpretation of Michael Tippett's oratorio A Child of our Time: with great accuracy, Antunes gets to the core of this emotionally highly charged music." O Estado de São Paulo, September 2006 "Energy and dramatic tension: These are the words that come to one's mind when listening to Celso Antunes' performance of Beethoven's "Eroica" - a performance full of vitality and accuracy!" O Estado de São Paulo, August 2006 "Celso Antunes proved again his masterly powers of evocation and passionate, direct presentation." Belfast Telegraph, June 2006 "Celso Antunes is one of those conductors who treats the most demanding of modern scores as a challenge to be met as painstakingly as a familiar classic. His Xenakis had that aura of fearlessness, of mastery of the almost but not quite impossible, which this composer's music needs...Antunes treated this music (Morales' Requiem) to a mesmerizing, sonorous, slow unfolding… As ever, Antunes's performances were notable for their fine observation of stylistic differences." Irish Times, July 2005 "The conductor Celso Antunes had a dynamic thrust that was at times simply dramatic, his command of the orchestra and chorus was absolutely first-rate!" Belfast Telegraph, March 2004 "Under the ‚Brazilian-Rheinländer' Celso Antunes the playing of Ensemble Contrasts delivers an always alert and flexible interpretation" Fono Forum, January 2003
Discography1) TIPPETT ENSEMBLE Ltg: Celso Antunes
DISCOGRAPHY
2) CHAMP D’ ACTION
„Quincunx“, music by Flemish composers Champ d’Action/ Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Megadisc, Belgien (MDC 7869, 1994) Karel Goeyvaerts „The serial works“ Champ d’Action/ Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Megadisc, Belgien (MDC 7845, 1998) 3) NEUES RHEINISCHES KAMMERORCHESTER (NRKO) „Bilder aus Osten“, Musik für Streichorchester NRKO / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Paulus, Brasilien (CD 003300, 1997) „Live in der Kölner Philharmonie“ NRKO / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: BME, Deutschland (LC 4852, 1998) 4) CAMERATA FUKUDA Antonio Vivaldi „Vier Jahreszeiten“ Violine: Elisa Fukuda / Camerata Fukuda Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Comep, Brasilien (CD 6614-1, 1992) J.S.Bach “Violinkonzerte” Violine: Elisa Fukuda / Camerata Fukuda Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Comep, Brasilien (CD 6651-6, 1995) “Convergences”, Brazilian Music for Strings Camerata Fukuda / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Paulus, Brasilien (CD 005250, 2001) “Camerata Fukuda”, Musik für Streicher Solisten: Elisa Fukuda (Violine) und Fabio Presgrave (Violoncello) Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Paulus, Brasilien (CD 008237, 2006) 5) CONTRASTS Kurt Weill “Zaubernacht” (World premiere recording) Ensemble Contrasts / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Capriccio, Deutschland (LC 08748, 2002) 6) LJO NRW “Musik auf Burg Langendorf”, Werke bei Respighi, Krek und Mendelssohn Landesjugendkammerorchester NRW / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: LJO NRW/WDR, Deutschland (DDD 2000, 2000) 7) THE NATIONAL CHAMBER CHOIR OF IRELAND „Ad Multos Annos“, Contemporary Choral Works commissioned by The National Gallery of Ireland The National Chamber Choir of Ireland / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: NCC/National Gallery, Irland “Quasi una Musica”, Werke bei Frank Corcoran Darin: “Quasi Aspects of an Irish Poem”, für Chor und Violine Violine: Catherine Leonard / NCC / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: Composers’ Art Label / zeitklang Musikproduktion, Deutschland (2006) „Contemporary Music from Ireland“, Volume 5 Darin: Elaine Agnew „Bread“, für Chor a cappella NCC / Ltg: Celso Antunes Label: CMC, Irland (CD 05) Upcoming EventsJune 2009 Igor Stravinsky: Canticum Sacrum
CD-Recording for BIS
EVENTS Koorbiennale Haarlem
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Celso Antunes