Udo Zimmermann

Udo Zimmermann ( born October 6, 1943 in Dresden ) is a German composer, conductor and artistic director. He lives in Dresden.

Life

Zimmermann was from 1954 to 1962 a member of the Dresden Kreuz Choir under Rudolf Mauersberger, which first compositions supervised and performed with the choir. After high school he studied at the Dresden Academy of Music under John Paul Thilman composition, also conducting (with Rudolf Neuhaus ) and vocals. He was in 1968 a master student of Günter Kochan at the German Academy of Arts in Berlin and worked for two years as assistant to the musical theater director Walter Felsenstein. In 1970 he was dramaturg for contemporary music theater at the Staatsoper in Dresden, where he worked until 1985. From 1976 he was a lecturer and in 1979 professor of composition at the Dresden School of Music; were among his students Annette Schlünz, Caspar René Hirschfeld and Jan trihedral.

In 1974, Zimmermann Dresden's "Studio New Music ", from the 1986 Loschwitz emerged the Dresden Center for Contemporary Music, which is as a research center and organizer of concerts and festivals ( Dresden Festival of Contemporary Music ) an international reputation in the scene of new Music has acquired. In 2004, he led her into the European Centre for the Arts Hellerau, which he directed until 2008 as the director.

1985-1990 led carpenter 's workshop of contemporary music at the Bonn Opera. From 1990 to 2001 he was director of the Leipzig Opera; here was his commitment especially the musical theater of the 20th century, numerous first performances Karlheinz Stockhausen, Dieter Schnebel and Jörg Herchet took place in this period, the Opera House has been awarded several times.

1997-2011 had Zimmermann held the artistic director of the series musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk and brought here in the 14 years of his work 175 world premieres. From 2001 to 2003 he was general director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. From 2004 to 2008 he developed as a founding director of the European Centre for the Arts Hellerau among others in collaboration with choreographer William Forsythe 's historic Festspielhaus Hellerau an important location for the contemporary arts.

1993 and 1995, Zimmermann was Composer in Residence at the Salzburg Festival. As a conductor he has performed since 1979, inter alia, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden. He was also active in the opera houses of Vienna, Hamburg, Munich and Bonn.

1983 Zimmermann was appointed full member of the Academy of Arts of the GDR. From 1985 to 1989 he was a board member of the Association of Composers and Musicologists of the GDR. Zimmermann is a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin -Brandenburg, whose music section he presided as director from 2003 to 2008, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Free Academy of the Arts Leipzig (President 1992-1997 ), the Saxon Academy of Arts ( President 2008-2011 ), the Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. From 1996 to 2001 he was President of the Saxon culture Senate. In 2008 he was appointed Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Since 2009, Zimmermann is married to third wife, Saskia, born Leistner. His first marriage (1967-1970) with Kristina, born man who had produced a daughter, the actress Claudia Michelsen; his second marriage (1970-2007) with Elżbieta, born Holtorp, come the sons Robert and Alexander Romeo.

Composing

Zimmermann's main focus is on the musical theater, he wrote several operas, of which the White Rose (1968, revised 1986) on the Scholl siblings had international success; with nearly 200 productions since its premiere it is one of the most performed contemporary operas. Other works in this genre are, inter alia, Levin's mill ( from the novel by John Bobrowski ), The owl and the flying Princess ( based on a story by Peter Hacks ) and The Miraculous cobbler's wife (after Federico Garcia Lorca). Zimmermann also writes chamber music and vocal and orchestral works. Stylistically, one expects Zimmermann for new music, his musical expression width is varied and is based on a respective plastic implement the compositional task. After a twelve-year hiatus due to his extensive duties as director Zimmermann is only since 2009 again compositionally active, including with two solo concerts for the cellist Jan Vogler (2009) and violinist Elena Denisova ( 2013).

Awards

Works (selection)

Vocal music

• Sonetti amorosi (1966 )
• A witness to the love that conquers death. Songs for soprano and chamber orchestra by Tadeusz Różewicz (1972 )
• Psalm night, for sixteen -part female choir, male voices, percussion and organ ( 1976)
• Hymn to the Sun (1977 )
• Pax questuosa ( The plaintive peace ) for soloists, three choirs and orchestra (1982 )
• Give light to my eyes or I entschlafe of Death ( 1986)
• I am a voice calling, for soloists, three choirs, children's choir and orchestra (1996/1997)

Stage works ( operas)

• The White Rose (1967/1968, opera in eight scenes, libretto by his brother Ingo Zimmermann)
• The second decision (1970, opera in seven scenes and three interludes, libretto Ingo Zimmermann)
• Levin's Mill (1972, opera in nine images based on the novel by Johannes Bobrowski, libretto by Ingo Zimmermann, UA eponymous 27, 1973 Staatsoper Dresden )
• The owl and the flying Princess (1976, fairy-tale opera by Peter Hacks into three departments, libretto by Udo Zimmermann and Eberhard Schmidt, UA December 30, 1976, Dresden); the first performance in Germany was at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, EA May 13, 1977
• The Amazing Mrs. Schuster (1982, opera in two acts after 25 Federico García Lorca, UA April 1982, Schwetzingen Castle Theatre )
• White Rose (1986, chamber opera, scenes for two singers and instrumentalists 15 on texts by Wolfgang Willaschek, UA February 27, 1986, Opera Stabile, Hamburg)

Instrumental music

• Dramatic Impressions (1963 )
• L' Homme (1970 )
• Look, my eyes (1970 )
• Mutazoni per orchestra (1973 )
• Sinfonia come un grande Lamento (1977 )
• Songerie pour orchester de chambre (1982 )
• Canticum marianum. Music for 12 Cellos (1984 )
• My God, who drums there? Reflections for Orchestra ( 1986)
• Nouveaux Divertissement d'après Rameau pour cor et orchester de chambre (1988 )
• Dans la marche (1994 )
• Songs from an island. Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. For Jan Vogler (2009)
• Brahms Fanfare ( 2010)
• Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. For Elena Denisova (2013 )

Film and radio music

• An April has 30 days (1978 )
• The Morning (1980 )
• Thus saith the Life ( 1981)
• The Generals (1986 )

Writings

• Frank Geissler (ed.): You see, what you hear. Udo Zimmermann on music and theater. Leipzig 2003