NEW PRODUCTION OPER BONNLakmé
Premiere: January 29, 2012
Performances: February 4/8/25, 2012 March 18/22, 2012
April 1/13/20, 2012
May 12 June 1, 2012
Stefan Blunier, conductor
Since January 1, 2009 Stefan Blunier is General Music Director of the city of Bonn. This means that he is at the same time chief conductor of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn and of the Bonn Opera, which received nationwide attention through his productions of Eugen d’ Albert’s Der Golem and Franz Schreker’s Irrelohe. Both productions are meanwhile available as complete recordings with Dabringhaus & Grimm. He conducted the Beethoven Orchester Bonn in important venues, such as the Kölner Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg. Extensive tours and the continuation of regular CD-recordings – also with MDG – are planned. Meanwhile Blunier’s discography with rarely performed works of Anton Bruckner, Franz Liszt und Franz Schmidt has become impressive. In addition to his Bonn position Stefan Blunier is first guest conductor of the Orchestre National de Belgique/Brüssel since the season 2010/11.
As winner of different competitions (Besancon 1990 und Malko 1992 in Kopenhagen) he received international invitations. Blunier was guest of nearly all German Rundfunkorchestern, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Staatsphilharmonie Ludwigshafen, Duisburger Sinfoniker as well as leading orchestras in Danmark, Belgium, Italy, Korea, Switzerland and France. Opera engagements let him to the improtant opera houses in Munich, Hamburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart and Berlin (Komische Oper and Deutsche Oper), as well as Montpellier, Oslo and Bern. Since 2008/09 a close cooperation was established with the Komische Oper Berlin: After Prokofjew’s Liebe zu den drei Orangen and concerts a new production of Poulenc’s Dialogue des Carmelites was on his agenda. 2011/12 a new production of Carmen will follow. At the English National Opera Blunier performed the original version of Henze’s Elegy for young lovers with considerable success. He conducted the world premiere of Bluthaus by Haas at the Schwetzinger Festspiele. Upcoming engagements include Strauss’ Daphne at Oper Frankfurt as well as new productions of Manon Lescaut and Lakmé at the Bonn Opera.
The Suisse conductor studied piano, horn, composition and conductiongin his native town Bern and at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen. Already during his studies he founded the „Ensemble für Neue Musik Essen“ and played internationally recitals, broadcast productions and Liederabende as pianist.