Music Director,

Emmanuel Plasson has established himself as a leading ambassador for French music through his remarkable international career spanning both the symphonic and operatic worlds.  Mr. Plasson made his North American debut in 1997 conducting the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden on tour, including performances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.  This resulted in an immediate invitation to be an Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera during the two following seasons (for productions of Manon and Carmen).  In March 2010 he appeared at New York City Opera conducting Chabrier’s L’étoile to great critical acclaim, preceded by his 2005 Company debut with Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles.

Upcoming appearances during the 2011-12 season include a double debut: in Portugal with the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (Nov.) in works by Berlioz, Liszt and Schumann and for his first appearances with the Orchestre de Pau-Pays de Béarne, with music composed by Mendelssohn, Grieg and Tchaikovsky (Dec.).  He begins the New Year in Bergen, conducting the Norwegian premiere of L’étoile  with the Bergen Philharmonic and Den Nye Opera (Jan.-Feb.) in the Mark Lamos production with which he was associated at New York City Opera in 2010.  Two additional Company debuts follow: at Alabama’s Birmingham Opera (Feb.- Mar,) with one of the world’s most beloved works, Carmen;preceding another gem of the canon, Faust, with the Opéra de Montréal (April/May).   Thais will complete Maestro Plasson’s season, his second as Music Director of the Opera Company of Middlebury (June) when the Company celebrates the 100th Anniversary of Massenet’s death.

Among Mr. Plasson’s 2011 engagements were Massenet’s Werther at the Royal Swedish Opera and a program of Messiaen, Mahler and Tchaikovsky with France’s Orchestre symphonic et lyrique de Nancy, performances of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring at Montclair State University’s College of the Arts and Puccini’s La rondine with the Opera Company of Middlebury.

Other events in 2010 included the U.S. premiere by New York Opera Society of Ricardo Llorca’s Las Horas Vacias (The Empty Hours) at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, as well as a return to Opera Australia for Manon.  In 2009, he led Opera Australia’s production of Werther, a new production by Nicolas Joël of Gounod’s Faust with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and a program of Ravel, Saint-Saëns and Scriabin in Brisbane with Australia’s Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He appeared in 2008 with the Aalborg and Prague Symphonies and the Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie, as well as leading Falstaff at the Théâtre Municipal de Castres (France).  In 2007 he premiered a new production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Hamburg Staatsoper to critical acclaim.  Other engagements

that year included a ballet production of Prokofiev’s Cinderella with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra at the that city’s New National Theatre, a reinvitation with the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, and concerts with the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.

Emmanuel Plasson made his debut in Offenbach’s Hoffmann with the Cincinnati Opera in July 2006 immediately following his successful first appearance at the Hamburg Staatsoper in a new production of Donizetti’s La fille du régiment.  He was invited in 2005 to conduct Donizetti’s Lucie de Lammermoor at Boston Lyric Opera, as well as Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with Opera Birmingham.  Other North American engagements included performances with the Dallas, Minnesota, Orlando and Wolf Trap Opera Companies.

Following his Opera Australia debut in 2002 where he conducted Gounod’s Faust, he was reinvited to the Sydney Opera House for productions of Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers and La Traviata, as well as productions of Manon at the Melbourne Opera and Carmen with the New Zealand Opera in Wellington and Auckland.  He has conducted the Adelaide, Melbourne and Western Australian Symphony Orchestras.

In France, he has conducted the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Régional de Cannes, Orchestre National de Bordeaux, and several productions with the Grand Théâtre d’Avignon.  In Northern Europe he has conducted the Brabants Orkest in the Netherlands, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Denmark.  In 2002 he led Massenet’s Werther at the Royal Danish Opera House.

Emmanuel Plasson won the Donatella Flick International Conducting Competition in 1994 conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, launching his UK debut.  He subsequently worked with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, and, in 2002, made his debut with Opera North in a double-bill of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and Stravinsky’s Petrushka.

Emmanuel Plasson began his musical studies as a violinist. Son of the renowned French conductor Michel Plasson, he began formal conducting studies at the Pierre Monteux School in Maine, U.S.A., and continued his training at the Yale School of Music.  His discography includes recordings on the EMI, Forlane, Dynamic and Organpromotion labels.

Reviews

. . . . . . OPERA . . . . . .

LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN (Offenbach)
(Hamburg Staatsoper)

. . . . . . ORCHESTRAL . . . . . .

Queensland Symphony Orchestra
(Ravel: Shéhérazade, Scriabin: Poème de l’Extase, Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, Op. 78 in C minor)
"Maestro Plasson was excellent; sensuous and passionate in his approach, he explored the many nuances of the work [Scriabin] producing rich texture and colour from the orchestra…The whole [Saint-Saëns] was brought together strongly by Plasson in the final Allegro movement in a rousing and powerful climax."
—Suzannah Conway, Courier Mail, September 8, 2009

The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden
(Poulenc: Les biches, Franck: Symphonic Variations, Chopin: A Month in the Country)
"Nijinska's Les biches, made for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1924, is sweet and sharp-tongued. Poulenc's score, brightly conducted by Emmanuel Plasson, has hints of jazz, irony, sourness."
—The Independent, AU, June 7, 2005

Auckland Philharmonia
(Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin, Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole, Gounod: Symphony No 1, Dukas: Sorcerer's Apprentice)
"Plasson then showed us just what a Frenchman can do with Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin. In the Prelude, woodwind lines danced with just the right resilience, phrases seemed to billow in the breeze, and dynamics were shaded in delicate watercolour. One sighed with the delicious (and restrained) rubato in the Minuet, and it was a revelation to hear the delicacy and ingenuity of Ravel's colourings."
—New Zealand Herald, AU, October 25, 2004

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
(Debussy: Petite Suite, Lalo: Cello Concerto, Franck: Le chasseur maudit, Milhaud: Le boeuf sur le toit)
"Best of all was the Milhaud. Plasson brought out the burlesque and irreverent fun in its deliciously off-kilter bitonal passages, but did so with the essential degree of conviction and application."
—Glasgow Herald, AU, April 19, 2004

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
(Rimsky-Korsakov: Suite from Le Coq d'Or, Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 4, Liadov: The Enchanted Lake, Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition)
"Emmanuel Plasson had the right vehicle to make his impressive debut with the BSO for [the Mussorgsky] was razor sharp in tuttis, and immensely subtle…Plasson managed the build of tension in the finale making the parade through Kiev's invisible gate spectacular."
—Daily Echo, AU, March 4, 2004

Royal Scottish National Orchestra
(Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture, Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4, Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3)
"Fast, furious and thrilling…The Royal Scottish National Orchestra gave its all for the French conductor Emmanuel Plasson with playing of such fanaticism, power and commitment that it held the audience spellbound."
—Daily Telegraph, AU, June 17, 2003

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
(Rossini: William Tell Overture, Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne, Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition)
"Plasson whipped up his forces...and the exertion of the abrupt dynamic alternations and string working was impressive…Plasson took a demonstrative approach, ensuring that the Pictures were detailed and glistening, emphasizing the velocity of Baba-Yaga, the enormous power of Bydlo and bringing The Great Gate of Kiev to a crashingly powerful conclusion."
—The Age, AU, February 14, 2003

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© Christian Steiner

HiRes
(300dpi TIFF)

© Christian Steiner