Marek Janowski

Artistic Director, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Musical Director, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Conductors

• Manager: Ronald A. Wilford
  Management Territory: North America

...the San Francisco Symphony plays awfully well under just about any circumstances. But something special seems to happen when Marek Janowski comes to town. It happened again on Thursday afternoon, when the Polish German conductor led the orchestra in a phenomenally exciting program of music by Beethoven and Schumann..... I can't remember when I've heard this symphony [Schumann 2nd] played so beautifully. —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 2008

With guest conductor Marek Janowski on the podium for last week's San Francisco Symphony program.....The exaltation was present but was never allowed to gallop out of control. Janowski had the orchestra in perfect balance, clean in texture while bursting at the seams with sonic power. Never did it slip into a mere din, but instead maintained its dignity in full splendor. ...the cream of Janowski's musicianship showed itself via the virtuoso demands of Schumann's 40-minute [2nd] Symphony. Every little detail of melody shone through the sometimes thick writing with lightness and glamour. Yet I heard not one harsh scrap of sound through these demanding passages. —Heuwell Tircuit, San Francisco Classical Voice, October 18, 2008

About

Marek Janowski has been Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2002 and in 2008 the orchestra offered a lifetime position to him. In 2005 he was appointed Musical Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva. He is in demand as guest conductor throughout the world, working on a regular basis in the US with the Pittsburgh Symphony (where he holds the Otto Klemperer Guest Condcuting Chair), the Boston and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, and in Europe with the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchester der Tonhalle Zurich, . . . the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen and the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg.

Starting his career as General Music Director in Freiburg im Breisgau (1973-75) and Dortmund (1975-79), his reputation grew rapidly and he became greatly involved in the international opera scene. He has appeared in all the world-renowned opera houses since the late '70s, from the Metropolitan Opera New York to the Bayerischer Staatsoper Munich; from Chicago and San Francisco to Hamburg; from Vienna and Berlin to Paris.

Maestro Janowski stepped back from the opera scene in the 1990's to concentrate on orchestral work and has continued the great German conducting tradition in the symphonic repertoire. He is recognised for his ability to create orchestras of international standing as well as for his innovative programs and for bringing a fresh and individual interpretation to familiar repertoire.

Between 1984-2000, as Musical Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, he led the orchestra to international fame as the leading orchestra of France. From 2000-2005 Maestro Janowski served as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonie de Monte-Carlo, and from 2001-2003, he also held the position of Chief Conductor with the Dresdner Philharmonie.

Marek Janowsk has made many recordings over the past 30 years and to this day, his recording of Wagner's complete tetralogy, "The Ring Cycle", with the Staatskapelle Dresden (1980-1983) remains one of the most distinguished recording that has been made of this work.

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