Mariss Jansons

Mariss Jansons

Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (born 14 January 1943) is a Latvian conductor, the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons. His mother, the singer Iraida Jansons, who was Jewish, gave birth to him in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after her father and brother were killed in the Riga Ghetto. As a child, he first studied violin with his father.^[1]

Early life

In 1946, his father won second prize in a national competition and was chosen by Yevgeny Mravinsky to be his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic. When his family joined him in 1956, young Jansons entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied piano and conducting, although his father urged him to continue playing violin. In 1969 he continued his training in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky and in Salzburg with Herbert von Karajan. Karajan had invited Jansons to be his assistant with the Berlin Philharmonic, but the Soviet authorities blocked Jansons from ever hearing about the offer.^[2]

Career

In 1973, Jansons was appointed Associate Conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra (now Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra). In 1979, he was appointed music director of the Oslo Philharmonic, with which he performed, recorded and toured extensively. Jansons resigned his Oslo position in 2000 after disputes with the city over the acoustics of the Oslo Concert Hall.^[3]

In 1992, Jansons was named principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked as a guest conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra and has recorded Mahler's Symphony No. 6 with them for the LSO Live label.^[4][5]

In 1997, Jansons became the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His initial contract was for three years, but his subsequent contract renewals were evergreen contracts that required yearly renewal. In June 2002, he announced his departure from the orchestra in 2004.^[6]

In April 1996 in Oslo, Jansons nearly died while conducting the final pages of La bohème, after a heart attack.^[7] He recuperated in Switzerland. Later, surgeons in Pittsburgh fitted a defibrillator in his chest to give his heart an electric jolt if it fails. (Jansons's father died at a 1984 concert, conducting the Hallé Orchestra).^[8] Jansons has stated that he suffers from jet lag, and this was one reason that he left his American position.^[9]

At the start of the 2003/2004 season, Jansons began his tenure as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO),^[10] for an initial contract of 3 years^[11] His commitment with the BRSO is for 10 weeks per season.^[12] In September 2006, Jansons extended his initial BRSO contract to August 2009.^[13] In July 2007, he further extended his contract with the BRSO to August 2012.^[14] On 15 April 2011, he signed a new contract with BRSO to August 2015 in Munich.^[15]

In October 2002, Jansons was named the sixth chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) of Amsterdam, effective 1 September 2004, succeeding Riccardo Chailly.^[16] His initial Amsterdam contract was for 3 years,^[17] and his commitment in Amsterdam is for 12 weeks per season. As of April 2009, whilst no published reports of the continued length of Jansons' tenure with the RCO have been given, Jansons continues to be listed as the RCO's Chief Conductor on the orchestra's website.

In 2006, he conducted the Vienna New Year's Concert. Also in January 2006, he was awarded MIDEM's Artist of the Year Award in Cannes. On considering his driving force, in a December 2006 WNYC radio interview, Jansons explained to his host:

"I want that every [one] of my concerts should be [an] event, for me, for [the] orchestra and [for the] public."^[18]

In October 2007, Jansons (who himself is Lutheran)^[19] conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for Pope Benedict XVI and 7000 other listeners in the papal audience hall (Auditorio Paul VI). The concert was televised worldwide in many countries.

In January 2011, Jansons conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in works of Shostakovich, Mahler and Berlioz. Ever since the first concert together in April 1992, Jansons has belonged to the circle of conductors with whom the Vienna Philharmonic feels a special bond.

2012 will be the second appearance for Jansons as conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert.^[20]

Jansons has been married twice. He and his first wife, Ira, had a daughter, Ilona, a pianist who currently works at the Mariinsky Theatre. The marriage ended during his tenure in Oslo. Jansons and his second wife Irina, a former speech therapist, have a home in Saint Petersburg, where Jansons keeps his collection of scores.^[21]

Awards

Jansons has been awarded various international honours for his achievements, including the Cross of Merit from King Harald of Norway and memberships of the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. In May 2006 he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars (2nd Class), Latvia’s highest state honour.^[22]

Jansons' recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 with Sergey Aleksashkin (bass) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus won the Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance at the 48th Grammy Awards.

Jansons has been named 'Conductor of the Year' in 2011 by the German journal Opernwelt.^[23]

References

1. ^ Ludwig Heinrich (20 August 2011). "Viele Werte sind verloren gegangen". nachrichten. http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/kultur/art16,692418. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
2. ^ Colin Hughes (1 May 1999). "Straight from the heart". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,,295732,00.html. Retrieved 19 August 2007. 
3. ^ Hugh Canning (15 January 2006). "On the upbeat". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article787347.ece. Retrieved 19 August 2007. 
4. ^ Richard Morrison (6 December 2003). "A hundred to one". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article1034633.ece. Retrieved 19 August 2007. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Hugh Canning (27 July 2003). "Classical CD of the Week: Mahler: Symphony No 6". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article848274.ece. Retrieved 20 April 2008. 
6. ^ Mark Kanny (7 June 2002). "Jansons to bid city adieu in '04". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_75319.html. Retrieved 17 March 2007. 
7. ^ Geoff Brown (12 April 2003). "Brave heart". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1127911.ece. Retrieved 22 February 2007. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Tom Service (9 February 2007). "It's good to have dreams". The Guardian. http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/tomservice/story/0,,2008504,00.html. Retrieved 11 February 2007. 
9. ^ Geoffrey Norris (12 September 2002). "Musician, magician". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/09/12/bmgn12.xml. Retrieved 24 February 2007. 
10. ^ Martin Kettle (30 January 2004). "Prime Timer". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1134050,00.html. Retrieved 3 February 2007. 
11. ^ Hilary Finch (26 August 2003). "Every performance is a brave new world". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article884683.ece. Retrieved 22 February 2007. 
12. ^ Geoffrey Norris (6 May 2004). "'I've decided to cut myself in two'". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/05/06/bmcond06.xml. Retrieved 19 April 2007. 
13. ^ Vivien Schweitzer (22 September 2006). "Mariss Jansons and Bavarian Radio Symphony to Make First US Tour Together in November". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/5274.html. Retrieved 19 April 2007. 
14. ^ "Mariss Jansons bleibt Chef". Der Tagesspiegel. 11 July 2007. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/Musik-Klassik;art971,2337500. Retrieved 10 September 2007. 
15. ^ "Mariss Jansons dirigiert weiter in München". Bayerischer Rundfunk. 15 April 2011. http://www.br-online.de/br-klassik/klassik-news-mariss-jansons-vertragsverlaengerung-ID1302860786973.xml. Retrieved 15 April 2011.  (German)
16. ^ Martin Cullingford, "Jansons confirmed as Royal Concertgebouw head". Gramophone, 17 October 2002.
17. ^ Guido van Oorschot, "Mariss Jansons to Succeed Riccardo Chailly at the Concertgebouw Orchestra". andante.com (overall website now defunct), 16 October 2002.
18. ^ Gilbert Kaplan (3 December 2006). "Mad About Music: Mariss Jansons". WNYC-FM. http://www.wnyc.org/shows/mam/episodes/2006/12/03. Retrieved 28 April 2007. 
19. ^ Markus Thiel (26 October 2007). "Götterfunken im Vatikan". Müncher Merkur. http://www.merkur-online.de/kultur_leben/kultur/art8934,853352. Retrieved 10 November 2007. 
20. ^ "Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2012 with Mariss Jansons" at Vienna Philharmonic
21. ^ Richard Morrison (31 March 2006). "My other band's the Concertgebouw". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-2110936,00.html. Retrieved 3 February 2007. 
22. ^ "Mariss Jansons". concertgebouworkest. http://concertgebouworkest.bo9.nl/page.ocl?pageID=17&tab=dirigenten. Retrieved 20 January 2011. 
23. ^ "Die Ergebnisse der jährlichen Kritikerumfrage von Opernwelt" (in German). Opernwelt. 4 October 2011. http://www.kultiversum.de/Musik-Aktuell/Kritikerumfrage-von-Opernwelt.html. Retrieved 22 October 2011. 

External links

• Mariss Jansons at Allmusic
• "Mariss Jansons: Maestro with a mission". The Independent. 8 April 2009. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/mariss-jansons-maestro-with-a-mission-1665128.html. Retrieved 26 March 2011. 

Preceded by Okko Kamu	Music Director, Oslo Philharmonic 1979-2000	Succeeded by André Previn
Preceded by Lorin Maazel	Music Director, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra 1997–2004	Succeeded by Manfred Honeck
Preceded by Lorin Maazel	Chief Conductor, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 2003–present	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Riccardo Chailly	Chief Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra 2004–present	Succeeded by incumbent

Persondata
Name	Jansons, Mariss Ivars Georgs
Alternative names
Short description	Latvian conductor
Date of birth	14 January 1943
Place of birth	Riga, Latvia
Date of death
Place of death