Biography
Jonathan Darlington is currently Music Director Emeritus of Vancouver Opera, having completed a highly successful term of almost 20 years as Music Director. He has led the innovative company in productions ranging from Mozart through Verdi, Puccini and Strauss to Tan Dun and Jake Heggie. He is fluent in several languages and, although born and educated in England, made his home several years ago in Paris.
Whether on the concert platform or in the opera house, the list of world-class ensembles that Jonathan Darlington has conducted is impressive. Most recently these include the Vienna Philhamonic at the Staatsoper, the Staatskapelle Dresden at the Semperoper, the Orchestre National de France, the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Paris Opera Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, L’Orchestre de Paris …….
Engagements in the immediate future see him return to the Wiener Staatsoper (Don Carlo, L’Elisir d’Amore, Madame Butterfly), the Semperoper Dresden (Iphigénie en Tauride and La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein), the Paris Opera (Le Parc) and Frankfurt Opera (Der Prinz von Homburg).
Jonathan possesses a vast symphonic and operatic repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary and has a reputation for structuring concert programs that take the listener on a fascinating musical journey owing to their strong inner dramaturgical thread,
News & Reviews
Der Opernfreund Review – DECEMBER 6, 2019
"The conductor for the evening was the Englishman Jonathan Darlington who has already many times before been a guest in the Semperoper orchestra pit. Born in 1958, he impressed on opening night with his feeling for tempo and drama. He led the singers,...
Behind-the scenes of Iphigenie auf Tauris
"The conductor is the only person who can connect and make that bridge. Your gestures have to give the musicians an idea as to what is going on on stage but I try and do that when working with the singers by mouthing the words so there's a connection." -...
Bachtrack Review – OCTOBER 28, 2019
"The feeling that the British conductor Jonathan Darlington - who was Music Director until 2011 of the Duisburg Philharmonic - had for tempi, drama and the interpretative whims of the singers, together with his vibrant and charismatic energy made him the...
Darlington conducts both scores with understanding and conviction. He brings lots of energy and a sense of ebb and flow to the second movement of La Mer and there’s admirable vigour to his reading of the third movement.
– Music Web International
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