Armin Jordan

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Armin Jordan (born April 9, 1932 in Lucerne ; † September 20, 2006 in Zurich ) was a Swiss conductor . He was considered the most important conductor in his country since Ernest Ansermet . Like him, he was for a long time, from 1985 to 1997, General Music Director of the Orchester de la Suisse Romande .

Life

Jordan studied law, literature and theology in Friborg (Switzerland) before finally turning to music. He studied first at the conservatories in Friborg and Lausanne and then with Maroussia Le Marc'Hadour in Geneva . After founding a small orchestra in Freiburg in 1949, Jordan first worked at the Biel-Solothurn City Theater in Biel , where he became musical director in 1963. This was followed by a position as chief conductor at the Zurich Opera House . From 1968 to 1971 he was musical director of the St. Gallen City Theater . Under the auspices of the Basel theater director Werner Düggelin , Jordan became 1st Kapellmeister in 1969 and finally Music Director of the Oper am Theater Basel in 1973 , a position he held until 1989. He also took over the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra from 1973 to 1985 , which he completely renewed and made one of the best ensembles in Switzerland. From 1985 to 1997 Jordan was Horst Stein's successor and headed the Orchester de la Suisse Romande (OSR), with which he undertook numerous tours, for example to Japan, Belgium, Great Britain and South Korea. From 1986 to 1992 he was principal guest conductor of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. The appointment as honorary conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra brought Jordan back to Basel in the 2006/07 season . He was also a welcome guest conductor with several top European orchestras.

Armin Jordan died on September 20, 2006 in Zurich after collapsing on September 15, 2006 in the orchestra pit of the Basel Theater at the premiere of Prokofiev's opera L'amour des trois oranges ( The love for the three oranges ) .

Jordan was married to the dancer Käthe Herkner since 1974, with whom he has two children: their son Philippe Jordan (* 1974, also a conductor) and their daughter Pascale (* 1977, actress).

Act

The focus of his work was on the one hand the Swiss-French school ( Arthur Honegger , Othmar Schoeck , Frank Martin , Maurice Ravel , Claude Debussy ) and on the other hand the opera : He was regarded as one of the most profound Wagner conductors of our time (especially by Parsifal ). Further preferences were the Viennese classical music and the ballets by Stravinsky .

Jordan was responsible for numerous premieres, such as in 1982 for Psyché by Jean Françaix , 1984 for Requies by Luciano Berio , 1981 for Mendiant du ciel bleu and 1988 for Diotimas Liebeslieder (both Norbert Moret ), 1989 for La Solitude by Julien-François Zbinden and 1993 for two songs based on poems by Georg Trakl by Heinz Holliger .

He has made numerous records, including with the OSR, but also with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Orchester National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo or the Orchester National de France . Many of his recordings appeared on the Erato label.

Furthermore, in 1982 Jordan was not only the musical director of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's Parsifal film , but also played Amfortas in it (vocals: Wolfgang Schöne ).

Jordan received numerous awards for his work. In 2000 he was appointed a member of the French Legion of Honor by the Ambassador of France to Switzerland .

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personal data
SURNAME Jordan, Armin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss conductor
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucerne
DATE OF DEATH September 20, 2006
Place of death Zurich