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Leo Hussain

Conductor
Principal Guest Conductor, Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra

  • British conductor Leo Hussain has established himself as a leading interpreter in his generation of Mozart, the second Viennese school and great 20th century masterpieces, breathing life into new scores and bringing fresh perspective to programming the core romantic repertoire with his musical intellect and curiosity. Formerly Music Director of the Opéra de Rouen and Salzburg Landestheater, he now conducts for many of the world’s top orchestras and opera houses, and is Principal Guest Conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic.

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  • During the 2024/25 season, Hussain’s engagements include Salome in Hannover, Die Zauberflöte at Hamburg State Opera, Hänsel und Gretel in Oslo and Saul in his debut with the Semperoper Dresden; he conducts concerts with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, George Enescu Philharmonic and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Performances in 2023/24 featured Carmen in his return to the Bayerische Staatsoper, Death in Venice for Welsh National Opera, Don Carlos in Hamburg, Salome in Frankfurt, Pelléas et Mélisande in Toulouse, and his Salzburg Festival debut conducting the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.


    Recent highlights include Die Zauberflöte in his return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Cimarosa L’Italiana in Londra for the Frankfurt Opera, Wozzeck and a new production of Die Tote Stadt in Toulouse, Lakmé in concert with the Teatro Real Madrid, Thaïs, Lortzing Der Waffenschmied and Salome at the Theater an der Wien, his debut for the Royal Swedish Opera with Carmen, and appearances at the Gothenburg and Norwegian National operas. He has also conducted concerts with the Hamburg and Vienna symphony orchestras, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra at Mozartfest Würzburg, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Orchestra and Royal Danish Orchestra. Outside Europe he has performed with the West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia, NHK Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Tokyo Spring Festival, and made his debut with the San Francisco Opera conducting Tosca.


    Hussain made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2016 conducting Enescu Oedipe, receiving high critical acclaim for "a musical performance of overwhelming impact" (Sunday Times) and an immediate re-invitation. Other notable operatic successes include Capriccio for the Santa Fe Opera, The Rape of Lucretia for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and productions at La Monnaie, English National Opera, and the Bavarian and Berlin state operas. He enjoys a strong relationship with the George Enescu Festival where he recently conducted Gurrelieder and a concert performance of Wozzeck.


    Early success at the Salzburg Festival, where he assisted Simon Rattle conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker and Valery Gergiev conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, led to worldwide symphonic debuts and close working relationships with those conductors, along with Daniel Barenboim and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Leo Hussain studied at Cambridge University and London’s Royal Academy of Music.

    2024/25 season / 462 words. Not to be altered without permission.

Performances

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"Leo Hussain was a revelation in the pit, helming a delicate, fluid, mesmerizing, echt account of a graceful score that is more succulent caviar than substantial Hauptspeise. Maestro Hussain led a propulsive, informed, precise reading that fell gratefully on the ear."

Opera Today

“… ENO’s orchestra is on fine form for Hussain, whose conducting is all grand passion and sweeping intensity, and utterly gripping.”

Guardian

"Leo Hussain has left a business card at the Wiener Konzerthaus, on which the word 'talent' shimmers in golden letters."

Der Standard

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Intermusica represents Leo Hussain worldwide

Julia Maynard
Director / Vocal & Opera
+44 20 7608 9902
jmaynard@intermusica.com

Jonathan Turnbull
Associate Artist Manager, Vocal & Opera
+44 20 7608 9907
jturnbull@intermusica.com

All artists

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Counter-tenor

Tim Mead

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Jess Gillam

Contralto

Avery Amereau