Conductor
Titus Engel
In 2020 Titus Engel was named Conductor of the Year by Opernwelt magazine. With his comprehensive view of repertoire from a wide range of musical eras, he consistently grasps works in their multifaceted relationality. Respected for his expertise in the field of historical performance practice as well as for his precise conducting of complex contemporary projects, the Berlin-based Zurich native can also be seen regularly performing central works of opera literature - he thrilled audiences with Lohengrin at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl in 2021. Always ready to break new ground in his exploration of staged concepts on the podium, he sees music theatre as a field of experimentation in which social utopias can flourish.
Starting in the 2023/24 season, Titus Engel will take over as Principal Conductor of the Basel Sinfonietta. After concerts with the Camerata Salzburg at the Salzburg Festival and at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl, where he conducts all of Brahms' symphonies, he starts the 2022/23 season with Christoph Marthaler's new production of Weber's Der Freischütz in Basel. He will then return to the Bavarian State Opera with Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel and Lehar's Giuditta as well as to Lyon with Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle and to Stuttgart with Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise. He can be heard in concerts at the Musikfest Berlin with the Big Band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, on tour with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the SWR Sinfonieorchester (ECLAT).
Guest conducting engagements have included the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, SWR and WDR Sinfonieorchester, Staatsorchester Hannover, Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the chamber orchestras in Zurich and Munich, as well as Ensemble Modern and Klangforum Wien.
He made his opera debut with the premiere of Schweitzer’s Jakob von Gunten in Dresden in 2000. Since then, he has conducted Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Theater an der Wien); Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, Berg’s Wozzeck, and Béla Bartók’s Blue Beard’s Castle (Stuttgart Opera), Offenbach’s Fantasio (Komische Oper Berlin), Mozart’s Betulia Liberata, Strauss’ Salome, and Nielsen’s Maskerade (Frankfurt Opera); Haas’ Bluthaus (Bayerische Staatsoper), Glass‘ Akhnaten (Opera Vlaanderen Antwerp/Ghent), Nunez’s La Douce (Staatsoper Berlin); Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Opéra de Lyon); Glass’ Einstein on the Beach (Grand Théatre de Genève) and Verdi´s La Traviata (Theater Basel). Titus Engel’s debut at the Teatro Real Madrid conducting the world premiere of Pilar Jurado’s La página en blanco in 2011 was widely praised by the press and audiences alike. He followed this with triumphant world premieres of Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain (2014) and Elena Mendoza’s La ciudad de las mentiras (2017). In 2016 together with Lydia Steier he brought the Swiss premiere of Stockhausen's Donnerstag to the stage at Theater Basel – Opernwelt magazine named the production “Performance of the Year”. The premiere of Chaya Czernowin's opera Infinite Now took place in 2017, which he conducted at the Opera Vlaanderen, the Nationaltheater Mannheim, and the Philharmonie de Paris. He has also led numerous world premieres (Sergej Newski, Leo Dick, Olga Neuwirth, Michael Wertmüller, Rebecca Saunders, Bernhard Gander) at the Salzburg Festival, Berliner Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, the Ruhrtriennale, and the Wiener Konzerthaus.
After studying musicology and philosophy in Zurich and Berlin he studied conducting in Dresden with Christian Kluttig. This training was supplemented by support from the Conductors Forum of the German Music Council and David Zinman's American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, as well as assistantships with Sylvain Cambreling, Marc Albrecht, and Peter Rundel. Titus Engel has recorded numerous works for radio and CD and is the founder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute, in addition to having edited several books on contemporary opera.