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Peter Eötvös

Peter Eötvös

Country of origin: Hungary
Birthday: January 2, 1944
Date of death: March 24, 2024

Upcoming Performances

Aurora
Conductor: Pascal Rophé
Orchestra: Hong Kong Sinfonietta
April 2, 2024 | Tongyeong (South Korea) , Concert Hall
Secret Kiss
Tongyeong International Music Festival
Conductor: Bas Wiegers
Orchestra: Klangforum Wien
April 3, 2024 | Tongyeong (South Korea) , Concert Hall — National Premiere

About Peter Eötvös

For me, composition consists of the enchantment of the audience through sound... I am interested in the technique which allows me to transform the unbelievable into sounds. This is exactly what is required in opera. (Peter Eötvös)

Peter Eötvös was born on 2 January 1944 in Székelyudvarhely (Transylvania). At the age of 14, Zoltán Kodály admitted him to his composition class at the Music Academy in Budapest. In 1966, a scholarship permitted him to relocate to the Federal Republic of Germany where he sought contact with the musical avant-garde in Cologne. He subsequently performed in concerts with the Stockhausen Ensemble (1968-1976) and was employed as sound engineer in the West German Radio electronic studio in Cologne. At the invitation of Pierre Boulez, Eötvös conducted the opening concert of the IRCAM in Paris 1978 and was subsequently appointed as musical director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. He gave his debut at the London PROMS in 1980 and conducted the first performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera “Donnerstag aus Licht” the following year at the Scala in Milan. Eötvös was appointed as principal guest conductor of a number of international orchestras: the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart and, since 2009, also the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. With the foundation of the International Peter Eötvös Institute for Young Conductors and Composers, Eötvös created a platform for the transfer of acquired knowledge and experience to the next generation. He taught at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe from 1992, took up an appointment as professor at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and subsequently returned to Karlsruhe in 2002 for a further five years.

Eötvös views music as an intensive form of communication between composer, performer and the audience. His ability of creating unusual tonal worlds is particularly displayed in his orchestral works, for example in zeroPoints, composed in 1999 in homage to Pierre Boulez. The title of the work is a reference to the historical “zero hour” in electronic music, although the integrated sound effects are in fact produced exclusively on orchestral instruments. The works Jet Stream for trumpet and orchestra (2002) and Seven for solo violin and orchestra (2006/2007) both feature a solo instrument as the focus of action. The composition CAP-KO (2005) which is dedicated to Béla Bartók develops a totally new form of piano concerto. The work exists in three different versions: a concerto with orchestra for one solo pianist who alternates between an acoustic grand piano and electronic keyboard, as a double concerto for two acoustic solo pianos with orchestral accompaniment and as an ensemble work for two pianos, sampler and percussion (Sonata per sei). In the percussion concerto Speaking Drums (2012/2013) Eötvös takes up the combination of speaking and drumming from Indian percussion music. He uses poems by his fellow countryman Sandor Weöres and the Indian poet Jayadeva from the 12th/13th century. In his second violin concerto DoReMi (2013) Eötvös reflects on how the complexity of the world stems from small simple components. The title refers both to the first three tones of our tonal system and to the performer of the world premiere, Midori. Alle vittime senza nome for orchestra (2016) is dedicated to the victims of the European refugee crises who drowned in the Mediterranian Sea. His third violin concerto Alhambra is manifoldy inspired by the fabulous Mooorish fortress in Andalusia, Spain.

Eötvös can be counted among the most successful operatic composers of our time. The libretto of the chamber opera Radames (1975/1997) originated from a textual concept by the composer, whereas later opera projects are based on master works of world literature. In 2002, Le Balcon, based on the play by Jean Genet was premiered at the Festival in Aix-en-Provence. Angels in America (2004) is based on the cult play by Tony Kushner which has been regarded as a key text in American literature since the 1990s. The opera Love and Other Demons, originating from a novel by the Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, transports us into the world of Columbia in the 18th century with its superstition, desire and religious obsession and was premiered to great acclaim at the 2008 Glyndebourne Festival. In 2010, Die Tragödie des Teufels was premiered at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Paradise reloaded (Lilith) (2013) continues the subject matter of the last opera in a new way: Lilith, a strong and self-determined woman, is juxtaposed to kindhearted and motherly Eva. The subject matter of Der Goldene Drache (2014), however, is decidedly political again: globalization and migration policy. The piece, which Eötvös sees as music theatre, not as an opera, is based on the play of the same name by Roland Schimmelpfennig and was commissioned for the Ensemble Modern and the Oper Frankfurt. Senza sangue (2015) was written by Eötvös for the concert premiere in May 2015 with the New York Philharmonic at the ACHT BRÜCKEN Festival in Cologne. A year later, the first scenic Performance was staged at the Festival d'Avignon. Based on Alessandro Bariccio's novella of the same name, the work is about two people seeing each other again while being connected with each other as victim and offender for their whole lives. Sleepless, based on the award-winning novel "Trilogy" by Norwegian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse, premiered at the Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin in December 2021. His most recent opera, Valuska, based on the novel "Melancholy of Resistance" by László Krasznahorkai, premiered in Budapest in 2023.

Eötvös has received numerous international honours and awards including the Hungarian Bartók Prize (1997), the Christoph und Stephan Kaske Prize (2000), the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award (2002) and the prize SACD Palmarès in the category "Prix Musique" (2002). Eötvös has been a member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts, the Hungarian Academy of Letters and Arts (Széchenyi Iroldami és Művészeti Akadémia), the Saxon Academy of the Arts in Dresden and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 2000. He was also awarded the title of Commandeur de l`Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2003) and 2004 the Cannes Classical Award in the category "Best Living Composer" at the MIDEM. He received the Frankfurt Music Prize in 2007 and the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale in 2011, the International Classical Music Award 2014 for his CD recording of violin concertos by Bartók and Ligeti as well as of his own concerto Seven, and in 2015, the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen. In 2018 Eötvös was awarded the Goethe Medal of the Federal Republic of Germany, in 2021 he received the Frontiers of Knowledge Award of the BBVA Foundation.

Further works by Peter Eötvös are published with:

Worklist

Chronology

1944
Born in Székelyudvarhely (Transylvania) on 2 January
1958
Admitted to the Budapest Music Academy by Zoltán Kodály
1965
Diploma in composition from the Budapest Music Academy
1966
Awarded DAAD scholarship to study conducting at the Cologne Musikhochschule
1968
Diploma in conducting from the Cologne Musikhochschule
1968-1976
Member of the Stockhausen Ensemble
1971-1979
Music Technician at the Electronic Music Studio of WDR (West German Radio)
1978
Conducted IRCAM's inaugural concert in Paris at the invitation of Pierre Boulez
1978-1991
Music Director of Ensemble Intercontemporain, Paris
since 1979
Collaboration with the publishers Editio Musica Budapest, Salabert Paris, Ricordi Munich
1980
Debut at the BBC Proms
1985-1988
Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
1988
Named "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres"
1991
Founds the International Eötvös Institute for Young Conducters and Composers in Budapest
1992-1995
Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra
1992-1998
Professor at the Karlsruhe Musikhochschule
1994-2005
Principal Conductor of the Hilversum Radio Chamber Orchestra
1997
Bartók Prize (Hungary)
1998-2001
Professor at the Cologne Musikhochschule
1998-2001
Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra
1999
"zeroPoints", for Pierre Boulez, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Cologne Philharmonic, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Carnegie Hall, Société Philharmonique de Bruxelles and Bruxelles 2000, Lucerne Music Festival Weeks, Edinburgh International Festival
2000
Signs with Schott Music, Mainz
since 2000
Member of the Berlin Academy of the Arts, the Hungarian Academy of Letters and Arts (Széchenyi Iroldami és Művészeti Akadémia), the Saxon Academy of the Arts in Dresden, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
2000
Christoph und Stephan Kaskel Prize
2002-2007
Professor at the Karlsruhe Musikhochschule
2002
Kossuth Prize of the Republic of Hungary; Large Scale Composition Prize of Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards for the opera "Three Sisters"; SACD Palmarès Award in the category "Prix Musique"
2002
July 5: World première of the opera "Le Balcon" at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
2003
Named "Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres"; Grand Prix Golden Prague for the film version of his opera "Le Balcon"
2003-2005
Principal Guest Conductor of the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart
2003-2007
Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
2004
Cannes Classical Award as "Best Living Composer"; "Pro Europa" Award (European composition award); Founds the Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation in Budapest; Grammy Award nomination for his recording of Béla Bartók's "Duke Bluebeard's Castle"
2004
November 23: World première of the opera "Angels in America" at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris
2006
"In memoriam Béla Bartók" Prize; Hungarian Arts Prize; Grand Prix de la PMI - Prix Antoine Livio 2006 (Association de la Presse Musicale Internationale)
2007
Frankfurt Music Prize
2008
"Prix de Composition Musicale" of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco for the violin concerto "Seven" (Memorial for the Columbia Astronauts)
2008
August 10: World première of the opera "Love and Other Demons", Glyndebourne Festival, Great Britain
2008
Prix de Composition Musicale of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco for violin concerto "Seven"
2009-2012
Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
2010
Februar 22: World première of the opera "Die Trägödie des Teufels", Bavarian State Opera, Munich
2011
Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale
2013
October 25: World première of the opera "Paradise reloaded (Lilith)", Neue Oper Wien, in the context of Wien Modern 2013
2014
June 29: World première of the opera "Der goldene Drache" (The Golden Dragon), Ensemble Modern, at Bockenheimer Depot, Frankfurt
2015
1 May: World première of the one-act opera "Senza sangue" with Alan Gilbert conducting the New York Philharmonic at Philharmonie Cologne
2015
Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen
2016
October 1: World première of "The Sirens Cycle" for soprano and string quartet
2017
May 8: World première of "Alle vittime senza nome" for orchestra
2018
Goethe Medal of the Goethe Institute
2019
January 27: World première of the melodram "Secret Kiss"
2019
July 12: World première of the third violin concerto "Alhambra"
2019
December 8: World première of "Aurora" for double bass solo and string orchestra
2021
Frontiers of Knowledge Award of the BBVA Foundation
2022

"Sleepless" awarded World Premiere of the Year at the citic's choice award of the Opernwelt magazine

2023

World Premiere of Valuska, based on the novel Melancholy of Resistance, at Budapest

2024

dies on 24 March at Budapest

Products

Performances

Set Descending Direction
  • Aurora
    Conductor: Pascal Rophé
    Orchestra: Hong Kong Sinfonietta
    April 2, 2024 | Tongyeong (South Korea) , Concert Hall
  • Secret Kiss
    Tongyeong International Music Festival
    Conductor: Bas Wiegers
    Orchestra: Klangforum Wien
    April 3, 2024 | Tongyeong (South Korea) , Concert Hall — National Premiere
  • Speaking Drums
    Conductor: Markus Stenz
    Orchestra: Tongyeong Festival Orchestra
    April 7, 2024 | Tongyeong (South Korea) , Concert Hall — National Premiere
  • per Luciano Berio
    Conductor: Francois Xavier Roth
    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
    April 7, 2024 | London (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , Barbican Centre — National Premiere
  • Valuschka
    Conductor: Harish Shankar; Stefan Veselka; Tom Woods
    April 11, 2024 | Regensburg (Germany) , Theater Regensburg
    Aufführung in deutscher Sprache
  • Speaking Drums
    Weiwuying International Music Festival 2024
    Conductor: Pascal Rophé
    Orchestra: National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra
    April 12, 2024 | Taipei (Taiwan) , National Concert Hall — National Premiere
  • Sirens' Song
    Conductor: François-Xavier Roth
    Orchestra: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
    April 12, 2024 | München (Germany) , Residenz, Herkulessaal
  • Valuska
    Conductor: N.N.
    Orchestra: Nemzeti Filharmonikus Zenekar (Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra)
    April 18, 2024 | Budapest (Hungary) , Magyar Állami Operaház
  • Ohne Blut (Senza sangue)
    Conductor: Andreas Hotz
    April 20, 2024 | Osnabrück (Germany) , Theater am Domhof — World Premiere (Uraufführung der deutschen Fassung)
  • Levitation
    Conductor: Szent István Terem
    Orchestra: Alba Regia Szimfonikus Zenekar
    April 25, 2024 | Székesfehérvár (Hungary) , Szent István Terem
  • Ohne Blut (Senza sangue)
    Conductor: Andreas Hotz
    April 25, 2024 | Osnabrück (Germany) , Theater am Domhof
  • Sleepless
    Conductor: Friedrich Praetorius
    April 27, 2024 | Chemnitz (Germany) , Opernhaus — First Night
  • Sleepless
    Conductor: Friedrich Praetorius
    May 3, 2024 | Chemnitz (Germany) , Opernhaus
  • Aurora
    Conductor: Zsolt Nagy
    Orchestra: Sinfonietta de la Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía
    May 6, 2024 | Madrid (Spain) , Museo Reina Sofía — National Premiere
  • Ohne Blut (Senza sangue)
    Conductor: Andreas Hotz
    May 9, 2024 | Osnabrück (Germany) , Theater am Domhof
  • Alhambra
    Conductor: Pierre Bleuse
    Orchestra: Orquesta Nacional de España
    May 10, 2024 | Madrid (Spain) , Auditorio Nacional de Música, Sala Sinfónica
  • Sirens' Song
    Conductor: Pierre Bleuse
    Orchestra: Orquesta Nacional de España
    May 10, 2024 | Madrid (Spain) , Auditorio Nacional de Música, Sala Sinfónica
  • LIGETIDYLL
    Conductor: Kwamé Ryan
    Orchestra: New York Philharmonic
    May 10, 2024 | New York, NY (United States of America) , Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall — National Premiere
  • Alhambra
    Conductor: Pierre Bleuse
    Orchestra: Orquesta Nacional de España
    May 11, 2024 | Madrid (Spain) , Auditorio Nacional de Música, Sala Sinfónica
  • Sirens' Song
    Conductor: Pierre Bleuse
    Orchestra: Orquesta Nacional de España
    May 11, 2024 | Madrid (Spain) , Auditorio Nacional de Música, Sala Sinfónica
  • Set Descending Direction