Danish conductor, Thomas Dausgaard, was recently described by The Daily Telegraph as "A conductor of rare conviction and insight". He is renowned for his dynamic conducting style, his fresh approach to a broad range of repertoire, his prolific discography and the exciting results he has achieved as Chief Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR and as Principal Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Dausgaard became Chief Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR in August 2004. The orchestra has developed impressively under his leadership, embracing his energy and creativity. With Dausgaard they tour worldwide, performing in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam and London and they have also recorded extensively together. Of particular note is their disc of Nielsen works which was nominated for a 2007 Gramophone award. Dausgaard and the orchestra have welcomed the new opportunities presented by the internet by making selected performances available for download. In January 2009, they will perform the inaugural concerts at the eagerly awaited new concert hall opening in Copenhagen, designed by Jean Nouvel, after which they will become the hall's resident orchestra.

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra has also flourished under Dausgaard’s direction since he took up his position there in 1997. Having brought this group from a regional orchestra to international attention over the past decade, he and the orchestra have recorded all of Beethoven's orchestral music for Simax, a project which has received outstanding critical acclaim for the individual and dynamic approach that Dausgaard and the orchestra bring to this repertoire. They continue to record prolifically, breaking with tradition as a chamber orchestra to record all of Schumann's symphonies and a selection of symphonies from Dvorak, Schubert and Bruckner for BIS, for a series which has appropriately been labelled "Opening Doors". Of the most recently recorded Schumann Symphonies, International Record Review  maintains  that  “Dausgaard's  performances  have  an

insight and authority to rank with the finest.” (Richard Whitehouse)

In October 2005 they undertook their first Japan tour which was a huge success and recent tours have included Italy, Germany, Holland, Spain, and the UK. In Spring 2008, they toured the major concert halls of the USA including New York’s Lincoln Centre and rave reviews followed them throughout all paying particular note to the Orchestra’s unique sound.

Thomas Dausgaard guest conducts several of the world's leading orchestras. He enjoys a special relationship with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducting them on tour as well as in their home city and future guest conducting engagements includes the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Konzerthausorchester, SWR Stuttgart, the Czech Philharmonic, the Verdi Orchestra Milano, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic amongst others. He works with the leading Scandinavian Orchestras, including the Oslo and Stockholm Philharmonics and has conducted the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in St Petersburg and on tour in Italy, where he also works with the RAI Turin and La Scala Philharmonic Orchestras. In the UK, Dausgaard works with the BBC Philharmonic orchestra, with whom he made his Proms debut and will work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra again in 2008/9.

Thomas Dausgaard also conducts regularly in North America. He has worked with many of the major orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony and the Montreal Symphony. He conducts the Toronto Symphony every year, and makes regular appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

Thomas Dausgaard already has a discography of more than 30 recordings with companies such as Chandos Records, Dacapo, Simax and EMI Medley. His recent releases have included Nielsen and Langgaard works for Dacapo and Berlioz for Chandos. His much praised DVD recording of Langgaard's opera Antikrist on the Dacapo label won ‘DVD of the Year’ at the 2005 International Internet Awards.

David Flanning, The Daily Telegraph reviewing the BBC Prom concert with Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR

"Dausgaard brought it (Brahms' Symphony no.1) not only freshness and drive but also depth and maturity. He deserved and received, a magnificent response from his players, crowning an inspiring concert."

The NewYork Times

Beethoven With Period Flavor and a Steely Edge

By STEVE SMITH April 1, 2008

.... the charismatic Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard is recording Beethoven’s complete orchestral works with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, with nine volumes now available on Simax, a Norwegian label.... On Sunday evening Mr. Dausgaard and his 37-member band offered a sample of what most of us have been missing with an all-Beethoven program at the Rose Theater, presented by the Great Performers series of Lincoln Center.

Apart from natural trumpets and squat timpani with hand-cranked tuning mechanisms, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra plays on modern instruments. The ensemble approaches Beethoven with the reduced forces, limited vibrato and driven tempos favored by proponents of historically informed performance, in the current jargon.

But the orchestra brings to this music a textural clarity and steely edge unattainable by most period-instrument groups. And in Mr. Dausgaard it has a conductor who molds its performances for maximum impact. In the “Coriolan” Overture, which opened the concert, the ensemble’s playing crackled with fierce electricity and dramatic urgency.

Beethoven’s debt to Mozart is evident in the Piano Concerto No. 1, a point not missed by Mr. Dausgaard .........

Mr. Dausgaard’s flair for drama was especially keen in the Symphony No. 7. In the first movement he lingered ever so slightly in the transition between the slow introduction and the Vivace section, rightly emphasizing its strangeness. The Presto had a saucy bite, and the Finale was a dizzying flurry.

07/02/2008

Gustav Mahler Sinfonia n.2 in Do minore per soprano, contralto, coro e orchestra "Resurrezione"

Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Milano Giuseppe Verdi

Direttore Thomas Dausgaard

Soprano Inger Dam-Jensen

Contralto Martina Dike

Il pubblico che ha riempito giovedì l’Auditorium di Milano, ha goduto di una esecuzione ottima sia per resa orchestrale che vocale. Ottime le prime parti, spesso costrette ad ostici passaggi scoperti e un plauso particolare agli ottoni che han saputo mantenere un perfetto impasto senza alcuno squilibrio con le altre sezioni.

La pulizia e la chiarezza orchestrale son state il filo conduttore dell’analitica ma vibrante esecuzione ad opera del danese Thomas Dausgaard, abile non solo a dividere e sovrapporre timbri, temi e tessuto armonico, ma anche a rifonderli in unità discorsiva tesa, elegante, mai sovraccarica di facili effetti e del tutto immersa nell’angosciato percorso mahleriano.

L’intervento di coro e solisti ha permesso di conoscere le voci nordiche di Inger Dam-Jensen e Martina Dike: voci educate alla cantabilità liederistica, con particolare attenzione per la cura del fraseggio e della parola e festosamente applaudite al termine della sinfonia. Così come il coro, impegnato sia in sezioni separate che nel tutti finale.......

La risposta del pubblico, vivo ed appassionato come spesso accade all’Auditorium, è stata più che entusiastica, con numerose chiamate per direttore, solisti, coro ed orchestra. Emanuele Amoroso