Christian Benda

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Christian Benda (* in Brazil ) is a Swiss conductor and cellist .

education

He comes from the Benda family of musicians who have been active since the 19th century . In his earliest childhood he received musical training from his father, the pianist and composer Sebastian Benda , with whom he later worked on various works for cello and piano, e.g. B. recorded by Martinů. As a cellist he was also a student of Pierre Fournier .

Concert activity as a conductor and cellist

Christian Benda has made guest appearances in Paris, Vienna, London, Rome, New York, Hong Kong, Milan, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Singapore, Bucharest, Florence, Zurich, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. He is the first guest conductor of the Turin Philharmonic and is regularly invited by numerous orchestras around the world. For over ten years he has published numerous CDs with the Prague Chamber Orchestra and is now chief conductor and artistic director of the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra of the Velvet Revolution , usually simply called the Prague Sinfonia . He was invited by Czech television to conduct the concerts in honor of President Václav Havel with Renée Fleming and this orchestra.

Christian Benda has appeared at international festivals and has given concerts with soloists such as Lazar Berman , Paul Badura-Skoda , Michel Béroff, Till Fellner , Francois-René Duchâble, Mikhail Rudy , Josef Suk , Vladimir Spivakov , Pierre Amoyal , Uto Ughi, Jean- Jacques Kantorow , Bruno Giuranna, Paul Tortelier , Boris Pergamenschikow , Philippe Entremont , Jean-Philippe Collard, Cristina Ortiz, Marc Coppet. Benda conducts with vocal soloists such as Barbara Hendricks , Cheryl Studer and Simon Estes .

He appears regularly as a cellist with Bach's solo suites, Haydn and Dvořák's cello concertos, Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, and Schumann's and Stamitz's cello concertos. As a cellist he has made recordings with Vladimir Spivakov, Josef Suk, Norbert Brainin, Paul Badura-Skoda such as B. Brahms' Double Concerto and Beethoven's Triple Concerto or Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante.

Performances as a composer

As a composer, Christian Benda created the concept of micro-opera. His compositions were premiered in the Vienna Konzerthaus and in Prague's Smetana Hall with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, filmed by Czech television. He performed his own compositions but also melodramas of his ancestors with actors and directors on the stage of the Wiener Schauspielhaus, Volkstheater, Burgtheater and the Comédie Francaise in Paris such as: Maddalena Crippa, Andrea Jonasson, Hertha Schell , Peter Uray , Brigitte Quadlbauer, Mercedes Echerer , Erika Pluhar , Jean-Luc Bideau , and Francois Rochaix.

Recordings by Christian Benda

In addition to the complete recording of Schubert's symphonic overtures with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, Christian Benda has symphonic works by Alfredo Casella and Malipiero, the complete works for piano and orchestra by Frank Martin with Paul Badura-Skoda, Haydn's violin concertos with Jean-Jacques Kantorow, JS Bach's music Sacrifice , the Hamburg symphonies by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach, François Philidor overtures as well as works by members of the Bohemian family of musicians Benda from the 18th century such as Jiri Antonin Benda's symphonies and melodramas as well as violin and violin concertos by Frantisek and Jan Jiri Benda with Josef Suk and Ariane Pfister-Benda accepted as a soloist. In 2019, Sony Classical released two CDs with works by Mozart and Salieri.

Web links

See also

personal data
SURNAME Benda, Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss cellist and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Brazil