Concert in Villach

Alfred Eschwé
22. 08. 1949

Alfred Eschwé is a native of Vienna, Austria. Following his studies in violin, piano and conducting at the Music University of Vienna he spent a number of years conducting at various German opera houses before he accepted a full-time engagement at the Vienna Volksoper, beginning in 1989.
Since then, Mr. Eschwé has frequently appeared as guest conductor in Germany (Hamburg State Opera, State Opera “Unter den Linden” in Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich etc.), Italy (Teatro Verdi in Triest, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Reggio in Turin, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Teatro Bellini in Catania) as well as Den Norske Opera in Oslo and the New National Opera in Tokio.
In 2002, Alfred Eschwé began to conduct regularly at the Vienna State Opera. There the now famous DVD of Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón was recorded under Eschwé’s direction. Other DVD productions include the Austrian opera, Der Evangelimann (composed by Wilhelm Kienzl) and Lehár‘s Der Graf von Luxemburg.
The list of Mr. Eschwé’s audio recordings is long and varied and includes CDs for Sony Records in collaboration with Angelika Kirchschlager and Simon Keenlyside.
In addition to the field of opera and operetta, Alfred Eschwé is a sought-after concert conductor, for example, in Austria with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Niederoesterreich Tonkuenstler Orchestra, the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra (ORF) and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, in Germany with the West German Radio Orchestra Cologne (WDR), the South German Radio Orchestra Stuttgart and the Hamburg Symphonic Orchestra, in Italy, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Arena di Verona Orchestra.
No Eschwé biography would be complete without mentioning his passion for and expert knowledge of the music of Johann Strauss & Co. For decades he has joined forces with the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra with whom he has presented this repertoire around the world, including 270 concerts in Japan alone, but also tours of the United States, South Korea, Italy and Spain.

Alfred Eschwé
© by WJSO.at / Kurt Pinter