THE CONDUCTOR
"Spellbinding playing of mesmerising artistry, with Dumay's ravishingly finespun sound throughout the range and faultless intonation constant sources of wonder." (Classic CD)
The violinist Augustin Dumay has established himself as one of the major talents of his generation . He was recently described by The Strad as "the legitimate heir of the Royal Belgian line of Ysaye, Dubois and Grumiaux" , of whom he was a disciple.
International recognition came in 1979, when Herbert von Karajan made Augustin Dumay his guest artist for a gala concerto in Paris, alongside Yo-Yo Ma. Dumay was immediately invited to perform Bartok's Concerto No.2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Colin Davis, a performance which brought great public and critical acclaim. |
|
Since then, Augustin Dumay's international has continuously gained momentum, and he has become the regular guest of the world's leading orchestras , including the Berlin Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Suisse Romande, Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre National de France, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He has played with some of the most prestigious conductors of our time : Sir Colin Davis, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Sanderling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Emmanuel Krivine, Frans Bruggen, Marc Minkowski and Kurt Masur among many others.
Augustin Dumay appears in recital in the world's most celebrated halls : Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall, La Scala, Berlin Philharmonie, Geneva's Victoria Hall, the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Tokyo Suntory Hall and Taipei National Concert Hall. He also performs in many international festivals , including Montreux, Bath, Berlin, Lucerne, Monaco, Aix-en-Provence, Leipzig, Montpellier, Ravinia, New York Mostly Mozart, Nantes's Les Folles Journées and Amsterdam's Robeco Series.
Highlights of his concerto engagements over the next two seasons include the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Radio France Philharmonic, Kyoto Symphony, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Rio de Janeiro's Petrobas Pro Musica, Berliner Symphoniker, Lausanne Chamber, Ulster Orchestra, China Philharmonic, as well as a World tour with the Guangzhou Symphony. Recital appearances will include the Enescu Festival Bucharest, and Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts.
In December 2003, Augustin Dumay became the principal conductor of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie in Belgium, with whom he appears as conductor and soloist across Europe. He was also the artistic director of the Menton Festival from 2002 to 2005, establishing it internationally as one of the most sought after musical events on the French Riviera.
Mr Dumay's recordings - many of which have won some of the industry's most prestigious prizes (Grand Prix du Disque, Gramophone Award, Grammy Award) - can be found on Deutsche Grammophon, and EMI. His two most recent releases - the complete Beethoven violin sonatas (with Maria João Pires) and Mozart's works for violin and orchestra (play-directing with the Camerata Salzburg) have received universal critical acclaim :
- "this is the stuff that dreams are made of. Augustin Dumay and Pires offer powerful and refreshingly direct interpretation" (The Strad).
- "one of the most cultivated, selfless duos on the circuit" (The Telegraph).
- "without exaggeration one of the finest Mozart violin concerto discs ever made" ( Classic CD).
- "his supreme stylistic command is matched by his elegant stylistic approach" ( BBC Music Magazine).
