{{short description|French classical conductor (born 1949)}} {{Infobox person | name = Marc Soustrot | image = Marc-Soustrot.jpg | image_upright = 1.2 | caption = Soustrot directing Mahlers 3. symphony in Aarhus, Denmark 2017 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|4|15|df=y}} | birth_place = Lyon, France | education = {{plainlist| * Conservatoire de Lyon * Conservatoire de Paris }} | occupation = {{plainlist| * Conductor * Generalmusikdirektor }} | organizations = {{plainlist| * Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire * Beethoven Orchester Bonn * Malmö Symphony Orchestra * Aarhus Symphony Orchestra }} | awards = Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur | website = }} '''Marc Soustrot''' (born 15 April 1949) is a French classical conductor. He was the music director of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire from 1976 to 1994, and from 1995 to 2003 GMD of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn which plays in both opera and concert. He has worked at major opera houses in Europe and made several recordings, such as ''Leonore'', Beethoven's first version of ''Fidelio'', the piano concertos and symphonies by Camille Saint-Saëns, Honegger's ''Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'', and Penderecki's ''St Luke Passion''.
== Career == Born in Lyon, Soustrot first studied there at the Conservatoire de Lyon from 1962 to 1969.<ref name="aparis">Alain Pâris: ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interprétation musicale au XX siècle.'' Robert Laffont, Paris, 1995 (p.890).</ref> He continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, in particular in piano, trombone, chamber music, and conducting (under Rosenthal and Tzipine).<ref name="aparis"/> In 1974 he won first prize in the international conducting competition in London, which led to becoming assistant conductor to André Previn at the London Symphony Orchestra,<ref name="aparis"/> and in the following year succeeded Jean-Claude Casadesus as assistant conductor of the Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire of which he became music director from 1976<ref name="Frankfurt" /> to 1994. Soustrot resigned as director of the Opéra de Nantes in 1989 in protest at a 50% reduction in its state subsidy following a change of government in Nantes after local elections, also accusing the French government of diverting money from provincial companies to the Opéra Bastille.<ref>In the News. Musical chairs at Nantes. ''Opera'', Vol.41 No.3, March 1990, p.292.</ref>
From 1995 to 2003, he was GMD of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, where he conducted the first performance of Beethoven's ''Leonore'', the first version of the later ''Fidelio'', since 1806.{{citation needed|reason=LaRouche sources are bad sources - see RSN|date=January 2018}} He led the Brabants Orkest Eindhoven from 1996 to 2006. From the 2011/12 season, he has been the Malmö Symphony Orchestra's Chief Conductor, and from the 2015/16 season also conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.<ref name="Frankfurt" />
He conducted at the Staatsoper Stuttgart Gounod's ''Faust'', Bizet's ''Carmen'', and Wagner's ''Siegfried'' and Götterdämmerung. He conducted Debussy's ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' at the Semperoper in Dresden, staged by Àlex Ollé of the company La Fura dels Baus.<ref name="Frankfurt" />
In a run of Offenbach's ''Les Contes d'Hoffmann'' in Geneva, one critic wrote "The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande sparkled under Marc Soustrot, [...] Soustrot's light touch and dramatic punch gave the evening an atmosphere of momentum and musical brilliance, and helped one to forget the stylistic imbalances in the music.<ref>Andrew Clark. Switzerland: Layers within layers. ''Opera'', Vol.41 No.9, September 1990, p1111-1114.</ref> For his conducting of Berg's ''Wozzeck'', he was described as "an impressive conductor, avoiding anything artificial but aiming for what Berg had in mind: a sensual effect of magnificent sounds."<ref>Carl H Hiller. Report from Bonn. Opera, Vol.50 No.5, May 1990, p579-580.</ref>
He conducted in 2017 at the Oper Frankfurt a double bill of Debussy's cantata ''La Damoiselle élue'' and Honegger's dramatic oratorio ''Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'', again staged by Ollé, and co-produced with the Teatro Real Madrid.<ref name="Honegger" /> A reviewer noted that the conductor "creates a unique musical wonderworld" ("Soustrot erschafft eine einzigartige musikalische Wunderwelt"),<ref name="Concerti" /> with pianos, celesta and Ondes Martenots highlighting special moments.<ref name="Concerti" /> Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich wrote in the Frankfurter Rundschau: "Umsichtig und stilgenau differenzierten Gastdirigent Marc Soustrot und das Opernorchester zwischen der behutsam abgetönten Debussy-Klanglichkeit und dem breiten Pinsel einer auch gröbste Wirkung souverän einbeziehenden Interpretation der Honegger-Textur." (Prudently and precise in style, the guest conductor Marc Soustrot and the opera orchestra differentiated between the carefully toned Debussy sonority and an interpretation of the broader brush of the Honegger texture, including even crude effects souvereignly).<ref name="Jungheinrich" />
He is from a musical family; his younger brother is the trumpet-player Bernard Soustrot.<ref name="aparis"/>
== Recordings == His discography includes Auber's ''Fra Diavolo'' with Monte Carlo forces,<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/auber-fra-diavolo-mw0001850804 Marc Soustrot / Auber: Fra Diavolo] AllMusic</ref> Saint-Saëns piano concertos (with Romain Descharmes),<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/saint-sa%C3%ABns-piano-concertos-nos-1-and-2-allegro-appassionato-mw0003019316 Romain Descharmes / Marc Soustrot / Malmö Symphony Orchestra / Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2] AllMusic</ref> cello concertos n° 1 & 2 (with Gabriel Schwabe) and symphonies with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra,<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/saint-sa%C3%ABns-symphonies-vol-3-mw0002867616 Marc Soustrot / Malmö Symphony Orchestra / Saint-Saëns: Symphonies, Vol. 3] AllMusic</ref> Bizet's Symphony in C, ''Carmen'' and ''L'Arlésienne Suites'',<ref>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Oct/Bizet_sy_DACOCD775.htm Georges Bizet (1838-75) / Symphony in C major / Carmen Suite / L'Arlésienne No. 1 / L'Arlésienne No. 2]</ref> Debussy's ''La Mer'' and ''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune'' and Ravel's ''Daphnis et Chloé'' (Suite No. 2) with the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de Loire.<ref>[http://www.mdt.co.uk/debussy-la-mer-prelude-a-loire-marc-soustrot-disque-dom.html Debussy La Mer, Prelude a l`apres-midi d`un Faune / Ravel Daphnis et Chloe Suite, Pavane pour une Infante defunte. Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de Loire / Marc Soustrot.]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Larger works recorded in Bonn include Beethoven's ''Leonore'' (1806 version) with the Kölner Rundfunkchor and Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn,<ref name="Godfrey" /> and Krenek's opera ''Karl V''.<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/ernst-krenek-karl-v-mw0001548297 David Pittman-Jennings / Marc Soustrot / Ernst Krenek: Karl V] AllMusic</ref> He recorded Penderecki's ''St Luke Passion'' with the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, the NDR Chor and the Mainzer Domchor.<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/penderecki-passio-et-mors-domini-nostri-jesu-christi-secundum-lucam-mr0002682561/credits Marc Soustrot / Penderecki: Passio et mors Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam] AllMusic</ref>
In 2009 Soustrot recorded Philippe Gaubert's ''Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle''<ref>[http://www.resmusica.com/2010/05/17/le-chevalier-et-la-damoiselle/ ''Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle'']</ref> and other works with the Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg.<ref name="Gaubert" /> He recorded in 2015 Honegger's ''Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher'' with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona.<ref name="Frankfurt" /> In 2017, he records Camille Saint-Saëns ''Complete Piano Concertos 1-5'' and other ''works for piano and orchestra'' with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra (Naxos 2017).
== Awards == In 1974 Soustrot won First Prize in the international competition of the Rupert Fondation de Londres, and in 1975 the First Prize of the Besançon International Music Festival. He was awarded the title of a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 2008.<ref name="Frankfurt" />
== References == {{Reflist | 30em | refs =
<ref name="Godfrey">{{cite web | last = Godfrey | first = Paul Corfield | url = http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Jun14/Beethoven_Leonore_94868.htm | title = Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) / Leonore (original version of Fidelio, 1805) | publisher = musicweb-international.com | year = 2014 | accessdate = 13 July 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Jungheinrich">{{cite web | last = Jungheinrich | first = Hans-Klaus | url = http://www.fr.de/kultur/theater/jeanne-d-arc-frauen-gen-himmel-a-1295274 | title = Frauen gen Himmel / Honeggers spektakuläre "Jeanne" mit dem Debussy-Prolog "La Damoiselle élue" an der Oper Frankfurt | publisher = Frankfurter Rundschau | date = 12 June 2017 | language = German | accessdate = 20 June 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Concerti">{{cite web | url = http://www.concerti.de/oper/opern-kritiken/oper-frankfurt-jeanne-darc-au-bucher-11-6-2017/ | title = Opern-Kritik: Oper Frankfurt – Jeanne d'Arc au Bucher / Verdreckte Anti-Utopie | publisher = concerti.de | date = 11 June 2017 | language = German | accessdate = 20 June 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Frankfurt">{{cite web | url = http://www.oper-frankfurt.de/en/ensemble-guest-artists-opera-team/conductor-coaches/?detail=249 | title = Marc Soustrot / Conductor | publisher = Oper Frankfurt | accessdate = 16 June 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Gaubert">{{cite web |url = http://www.telerama.fr/musiques/le-chevalier-et-la-damoiselle-orchestre-philharmonique-du-luxembourg-dir-marc-soustrot,53610.php |title = Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle |publisher = telerama.fr |language = French |accessdate = 13 June 2017 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160814223432/http://www.telerama.fr/musiques/le-chevalier-et-la-damoiselle-orchestre-philharmonique-du-luxembourg-dir-marc-soustrot,53610.php |archivedate = 14 August 2016 }}</ref>
<ref name="Honegger">{{cite web | url = http://www.oper-frankfurt.de/en/season-calendar/la-damoiselle-elue-/-jeanne-darc-au-bucher/?id_datum=448 | title = La Damoiselle élue / Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher | publisher = Oper Frankfurt | accessdate = 16 June 2017 }}</ref>
}}
== External links == * [http://operabase.com/a/Marc_Soustrot/11005/fr Marc Soustrot] on Operabase * [https://nl.ambafrance.org/Concert-d-adieu-de-Marc-Soustrot ''Concert d’adieu de Marc Soustrot, Chef d’orchestre du Brabants Orkest''] on ambafrance.org * {{discogs artist}} * [http://www.nordicartistsmanagement.com/artists/marc-soustrot-conductor Mar soustrot conductor] on Nordic Artists * [https://www.opera-online.com/fr/items/personnalities/marc-soustrot Marc Soustrot] on Opera online * [http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/musdico/Soustrot/170174 Marc Soustrot] on Encyclopédie Larousse * [https://en.karstenwitt.com/marc-soustrot-biography Marc Soustrot] on Karstenwittmusikmanagement * [http://www.nordicartistsmanagement.com/artists/marc-soustrot-conductor Marc Soustrot, Conductor] nordicartistsmanagement.com * [http://www.baudouin-opera.com/artists/soustrot.html Marc Soustrot biography] on baudouin-opera.com * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9srAs4ss2kU César Franck: Symphony in D minor] Marc Sestrot conductor, on YouTube
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Soustrot, Marc}} Category:French male conductors (music) Category:Musicians from Lyon Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni Category:21st-century French conductors (music) Category:21st-century French male musicians