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Tchaikovsky piano concerto no 1 full martha argerich piano charles dutoit conductor
Charles Édouard Dutoit, OC GOQ (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the artistic director and principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor laureate of the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor emeritus of the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo. He is the former music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France and as of 2017, conductor emeritus of the Verbier Music Festival Orchestra.
Dutoit was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, studied there and graduated from the Conservatoire de musique de Genève, where he won first prize in conducting. Then he went to the Accademia Chigiana in Siena by the invitation of Alceo Galliera. In his younger days, he frequently attended Ernest Ansermet's rehearsals and had a personal acquaintance with him. He also worked with Herbert Karajan at Lucerne as a member of the festival youth orchestra and studied at Tanglewood. Dutoit began his professional music career in 1957 as a viola player with various orchestras across Europe and South America. In January 1959, he made his debut as a professional conductor with an orchestra of Radio Lausanne and Martha Argerich. From 1959 he was a guest conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. After this, he was the conductor for Radio Zurich until 1967, when he took over the Bern Symphony Orchestra from Paul Kletzki, where he stayed for eleven years.
While head of the Bern Symphony, he also conducted the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico from 1973 to 1975, and Sweden's Gothenburg Symphony from 1975 to 1978. Dutoit was principal guest conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra in the early 1980s.
In 1977, Dutoit became the Artistic Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM). During his tenure, the recording profile and reputation of the OSM increased as he managed to make it one of the leading orchestras in the French-speaking world. Throughout these years, he called for a new symphony concert hall for Montréal, which did not reach fruition during his OSM tenure. Dutoit resigned from the Montreal Symphony in April 2002, with immediate effect, after a dispute with the musicians' union. He did not return to the OSM as a guest conductor until 2016, in a concert at the new Maison Symphonique de Montréal.
Dutoit has earned more than 40 international awards and distinctions, including two Grammy Awards (United States), several Juno Awards (Canada), the Grand Prix du Président de la République (France), the Prix mondial du disque de Montreux (Switzerland), the Amsterdam Edison Award, the Japan Record Academy Award, and the German Music Critics' Award. He and the OSM made many recordings for the Decca/London label.
Dutoit first conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1980. From 1990 to 1999, he was music director of the orchestra's summer concerts at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. From 1990 to 2010, he was artistic director and principal conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra's summer festival in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1991, he was made an Honorary Citizen of the city of Philadelphia. In February 2007, Dutoit was named the orchestra's chief conductor and artistic adviser, for a contract of four years, effective September 2008. Following the conclusion of his contract in Philadelphia in 2012, the orchestra named him its conductor laureate, as of the 2012–2013 season.
Since 1990, Dutoit has directed the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. From 1991 to 2001, Dutoit was Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, with whom he made a number of critically lauded recordings and toured extensively. In 1996, he was appointed principal conductor of Tokyo's NHK Symphony Orchestra. In 1997, he was made an honorary Officer of the Order of Canada. He is also one of a handful of non-Canadian citizens to be a Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec.
In April 2007, Dutoit was named principal conductor and artistic director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as of 2009. In 2019, he is scheduled to stand down as the RPO's principal conductor and to take the title of Honorary Conductor for Life of the orchestra. Since July 2009, Dutoit has also served as the music director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. In April 2014, Dutoit received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Classical Music Awards. He was also made an honorary member of Fondation Igor Stravinsky in Geneva.
Orchestras with which he has recorded
London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) DGG - PHILIPS – DECCA
2000 - Prix Juno - Canada (Respighi: La Boutique Fantasque, Impressioni Brasiliane, OSM)
2000 - Grammy: Best Soloist with Orchestra (Bartok Piano Concerto No 3, Prokofiev Concertos No 1 and No 3, Martha Argerich, OSM)
2002 - Prix Juno - Canada (Bruch 3 Violin Concertos, James Ehnes, OSM)
2004 - New York Times Best Classical Discs of the year (Theodorakis “Zorba”, OSM)
2007 - Grammy nomination (Franck Symphonic Variations, Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos No 2 and No 5, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande OSR)
2 Grammy Awards 1995 – 2000
9 Grammy nominations 1981-1982-1983-1984-1987-1992-1995-1996-2007
Personal life
Dutoit shuns publicity and protects his private life from the media. He has been married four times, including a marriage to the world-renowned concert pianist Martha Argerich, to the economist Marie-Josée Drouin, and to Canadian violinist Chantal Juillet. His first marriage was to Ruth Cury, by whom he has a son, Ivan, who lives in Santa Monica, California with his family. Ivan has 2 children's: Anne-Sophie and Jean-Sebastian. He also has a daughter, Anne-Catherine, by his marriage to Argerich.
