Christoph Eschenbach has had an extraordinary life journey. He was born in Wroclaw on February 20, 1940, or rather in Breslau, which was then a German city before becoming Polish again in 1945. His mother, a singer, passed away during childbirth, and his father, Herbert Ringmann, a conductor and musicologist, continued conducting until 1943 before being drafted into the army. He died on the front in Thuringia, leaving little Christoph a war orphan. He was taken in by his grandmother, who later died in the Mecklenburg camp, where they have bee refugees. A legend tells that these traumatic events plunged him into silence for a year until one day, someone asked him if he wanted to play music. He was then raised by a cousin of his mother in Wismar, in the Schleswig-Holstein region.

Wallydore Eschenbach, a pianist and singer, became his guardian and gave him her name. She provided him with his first piano lessons, which would prove to be decisive in his artistic life. To this day, he still keeps the Bechstein piano of the woman who became his mother.

At the age of ten, he won first prize at the Steinway Competition in Hamburg. He studied under pianist Eliza Hansen and learned conducting from Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg. Winning the prestigious ARD International Piano Competition in 1962 and the Clara Haskil Competition in 1965 in Switzerland earned him international recognition and opened the doors to the world’s greatest concert halls. Discovered by Herbert von Karajan, another key figure in his life, he was invited to perform as a pianist and made his U.S. debut under the baton of George Szell, with whom he continued his training in conducting.

In 1982, Eschenbach became the principal conductor of the Tonhalle Zürich before making a name for himself as the leader of the NDR Sinfonieorchester, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, as well as the Schleswig-Holstein and Ravinia festivals.

However, his greatest love affair was with the Orchestre de Paris, where he served as music director for ten years. Even though he told us in a 2021 interview that he was dedicating himself 100% to conducting, Christoph Eschenbach has never left the piano. His discography includes more than 80 recordings, whether as a solo pianist, accompanist, or conductor. In chamber music or as a collaborative pianist, he has shared the stage with the greatest artists.

Christoph Eschenbach, who has always enjoyed bringing young talents into the spotlight, has also been a talent scout, discovering artists such as Tzimon Barto, Lang Lang, Julia Fischer, Ray Chen, and Renée Fleming. There is so much to say about this towering figure of classical music… But let’s start with this: Happy Birthday, Maestro!

To see this incredible conductor, click here!

Chrsitoph Eschenbach – c – Marco Borggreve

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Discover the 11th Festival de Pâques d’Aix-en-Provence

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As usual, the season is organized around a few weekends of themes, like the superb Trilogy of Monteverdi operas under the leadership of John Eliot Gardiner. Haendel is also honored with another magnificent orchestra, Les Arts Florissants. William Christie directs Ariodante with Kate Lindsey, Chen Reiss and Christophe Dumaux. The residencial formations offer many highlights. Daniel Harding begins his second season at the head of the Orchestre de Paris and has invited great artists such as Maria João Pires, Isabelle Faust and the unmistakable Ambrogio Maestri in his biggest role, Verdi’s Falstaff.

For its fiftieth anniversary, the Orchestre de Paris also invited the renowned former directors as Paavo Järvi or Christoph Eschenbach as well as an impressive additional list: Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Franz Welser-Möst, David Zinman, Alan Gilbert, Gianandrea Noseda or Jonathan Nott without forgetting the excellent associate conductor Thomas Hengelbrock. A true explosion of stars with many prestigious soloists (András Schiff, Gautier Capuçon, Jean-Guihen Queyras …).

The orchestras and the great conductors are abundant at the Philharmonie de Paris. Valery Gergiev accompanies the sublime Anja Harteros in the Wesendonck Lieder of Wagner and begins a tetralogy in concert version with Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. Daniel Barenboim continues his exciting Bruckner cycle with the Staatskapelle of Berlin, joined by some other conducting legends. Zubin Mehta conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra while Riccardo Muti brings the youth of the Orchestra Giovanile Cherubini. Riccardo Chailly is in Paris with the forces of the Teatro alla Scala for a Requiem of Verdi which is already being announced as an extraordinary event.

But probably Simon Rattle remains the most emblematic of this rich season 2017-2018. No less than four concerts are performed with the most beautiful orchestral assemblies, the London Symphony Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker in a repertoire from Haydn to Shostakovich via an exceptional Stravinsky evening (Rite of Spring, Petrushka and Firebird) and another concert with Krystian Zimerman.

The legendary pianist joins an already impressive list of soloists. Cecilia Bartoli and Sol Gabetta form a charming duo that promises another great event of the international season, Jonas Kaufmann and Diana Damrau will sing Wolf lieder. Other events include Nina Stemme, Matthias Goerne and Waltraud Meier on the same poster in Strauss’s Elektra, Sabine Devieilhe’s recital with François-Xavier Roth and Bach with Raphaël Pichon, a concert version of Leonore of Beethoven conducted by René Jacobs (with Marlis Petersen), Händel’s Messiah by Jordi Savall, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio by Marc Minkowski and Martha Argerich, Radu Lupu, Hélène Grimaud, Khatia Buniatishvili, Yuja Wang or Yannick Nézet-Séguin … In one word, impressive!ri

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