{{Short description|German conductor of opera and concert (1958–2024)|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Michael Boder | image = Michael Boder (1e).jpg | alt = Publicity shot of a smiling, clean-shaven man, with short hair. | caption = Boder {{circa|2000}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1958|11|09|df=y}} | birth_place = Darmstadt, Hesse, West Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|04|07|1958|11|09|df=y}} | death_place = Vienna, Austria | education = Musikhochschule Hamburg | occupation = Operatic conductor | organizations = {{ubl| Basel Opera | Liceu | Royal Danish Theatre }} | awards = | website = }}
'''Michael Boder''' (9 November 1958 – 7 April 2024) was a German conductor of opera and concert who worked internationally. He was music director of the Basel Opera from 1989 to 1993, of the Liceu in Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, and principal conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre to 2016. He conducted regularly at the Vienna State Opera, including the world premieres of Cerha's ''Der Riese vom Steinfeld'' and Reimann's ''Medea''. He also conducted the premieres of operas by Pascal Dusapin, Hans Werner Henze, Luca Lombardi, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Manfred Trojahn, among others.
== Career == Boder was born in Darmstadt on 9 November 1958.<ref name="Presse" /> His father was an opera singer, who appeared in the title role of Alban Berg's ''Wozzeck'' often, and the boy was on stage in the role of his son.<ref name="Hagmann" /> Boder studied first at the Musikhochschule Hamburg, then in Florence where he worked with Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta.<ref name="Violin Channel" /> He was an assistant to Michael Gielen at the Oper Frankfurt.<ref name="Violin Channel" /><ref name="ORF" /><ref name="Hagmann" /> In 1988, during this time, he conducted at the Opernhaus Zürich Aribert Reimann's ''Lear'', directed by Harry Kupfer.<ref name="Hagmann" />
Shortly afterwards, with the 1988/89 season, Boder became music director of the Basel Opera,<ref name="Hagmann" /> serving until 1993.<ref name="Tošić" /><ref name="Vienna" /> In 1991, he conducted there the world premiere of Luca Lombardi's ''Faust. Un travestimento''. He became a regular guest conductor at the state operas of Dresden, Hamburg and Munich. He also conducted at the San Francisco Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He was focused on contemporary music, in opera and also in concert.<ref name="Vienna" /> He contacted composers such as Reimann, Hans Werner Henze and Péter Eötvös, and discussed with them details of the music to be played, often played for the first time.<ref name="Hagmann" />
Boder made his debut at the Vienna State Opera on 15 December 1995, conducting Alban Berg's ''Wozzeck''. He conducted there also ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'' and ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' by Richard Strauss, Berg's ''Lulu'', Wagner's ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' and Hindemith's ''Cardillac''.<ref name="Vienna" /> The first scenic production of Schönberg's ''Die Jakobsleiter'' was coupled with Puccini's ''Gianni Schicchi''.<ref name="ORF" /> He conducted there the world premieres of Friedrich Cerha's ''Der Riese vom Steinfeld'' in 2002 and Aribert Reimann's ''Medea'' in 2010.<ref name="Tošić" /><ref name="Vienna" /> The ''Medea'' production, with Marlis Petersen in the title role, was filmed for DVD.<ref name="Whittall" /> Boder's style was focused on transparency for musical structures, but he also realised sensous sonorities even in complex music.<ref name="Tošić" /> His version of ''Elektra'' was described as a "nervously twitching soul document of a threatening family constellation" with brief idyllic moments of light.<ref name="Tošić" />
He conducted regularly at the Theater an der Wien, including the world premieres of Anno Schreier's ''Hamlet'' and Christian Jost's ''Egmont''.<ref name="Tošić" /> He conducted their new productions of Schubert's ''Lazarus'', Stravinsky's ''The Rake's Progress'', and von Einem's ''Der Besuch der alten Dame''.<ref name="Violin Channel" />
Boder made his debut at the Royal Opera House conducting Verdi's ''Rigoletto'' in 1988;<ref name="ROH" /> he conducted there the world premiere of ''Morgen und Abend'' by Georg Friedrich Haas, in a coproduction with the Staatsoper Berlin, in 2015.<ref name="Ashley" /> Other operatic premieres were in 1991 Penderecki's ''Ubu Rex'' for the opening of the Munich Opera Festival, in 1992 Reimann's ''Das Schloß'', in 1998 Manfred Trojahn's ''Was ihr wollt'' at the Bavarian State Opera, and in 2007 Henze's ''Phaedra'' at the Staatsoper Berlin.<ref name="Vienna" /> In 1996, he conducted the German premiere of Enescu's ''Œdipe'' in a production shown at several houses.<ref name="ORF" /> He conducted the premiere of Pascal Dusapin's ''Faustus, the Last Night'' at the Staatsoper Berlin in a coproduction with Opéra National de Lyon in 2006, and a reviewer noted that he "securely organised the sound architecture".<ref name="Kühn" /> He returned to Zürich in 2013 to conduct ''Tri sestry'' by Péter Eötvös, a work requiring orchestras at different locations in the theatre.<ref name="Hagmann" />
Boder was the general music director (GMD) of the Liceu in Barcelona from 2008 to 2012. He was subsequently chief conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre to 2016.<ref name="Violin Channel" /><ref name="Tošić" />
He was engaged in a project to commemorate Arnold Schoenberg in his 150th year of birth, with a concert at the Theater an der Wien planned on 26 April 2024, played by Klangforum Wien.<ref name="Presse" /><ref name="Violin Channel" />
Boder died suddenly in Vienna on 7 April 2024, at the age of 65.<ref name="Presse" /><ref name="Violin Channel" /><ref name="Tošić" /> Stefan Herheim, director of the Vienna State Opera, said in memory of their first interaction for Berg's ''Lulu'': "I got to know Michael as an artist whose satisfaction depended on whether he managed to get the best out of his counterpart fetch".<ref name="Violin Channel" />
== References == <references>
<ref name="Ashley">{{cite news | last = Ashley | first = Tim | url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/nov/15/morgen-und-abend-georg-friedrich-haas-royal-opera-house-london-review | title = "Morgen und Abend" review – birth, death and the longueurs in between | work = The Guardian | date = 15 November 2015 | access-date = 11 April 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="Hagmann">{{cite news | last = Hagmann | first = Peter | url = https://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/zuercher_kultur/neue-musik-als-teil-eines-ganzen-1.18043520 | title = Michael Boder | publisher = Neue Zürcher Zeitung | date = 9 March 2013 | language = de | access-date = 15 July 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Kühn">{{cite news | last = Kühn | first = Georg-Friedrich | url = http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/pascal-dusapins-faustus-the-last-night.691.de.html?dram:article_id=49358 | title = Pascal Dusapins "Faustus, the last night" / Uraufführung an der Berliner Lindenoper | publisher = Deutschlandfunk | date = 22 January 2006 | language = de | access-date = 23 July 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Tošić">{{cite news | last = Tošić | first = Ljubiša | url = https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000214953/deutscher-dirigent-michael-boder-unerwartet-gestorben | title = Deutscher Dirigent Michael Boder unerwartet gestorben | newspaper = Der Standard | date = 8 April 2024 | language = de | access-date = 10 April 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="Whittall">{{cite magazine | last = Whittall | first = Arnold | url = https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/reimann-medea | title = Reimann Medea | magazine = Gramophone | date = 8 April 2011 | access-date = 11 April 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="ROH">{{cite web | url = https://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=11821 | title = Rigoletto | publisher = Royal Opera House | access-date = 11 April 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="ORF">{{cite web | url = http://oe1.orf.at/artikel/207199 | title = Spektrum von Mozart bis zu Zeitgenössischem | publisher = ORF | language = de | access-date = 15 July 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name="Presse">{{cite news | url = https://www.diepresse.com/18347130/dirigent-michael-boder-in-wien-verstorben | title = Dirigent Michael Boder in Wien verstorben | newspaper = Die Presse | date = 8 April 2024 | access-date = 10 April 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="Vienna">{{cite web | url = https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/staatsoper/medien/detail/news/die-wiener-staatsoper-trauert-um-michael-boder/ | title = Die Wiener Staatsoper trauert um Michael Boder | publisher = Vienna State Opera | date = 8 April 2024 | language = de | access-date = 11 April 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="Violin Channel">{{cite web | url = https://theviolinchannel.com/german-conductor-michael-boder-has-died-aged-65/ | title = German Conductor Michael Boder has Died, Aged 65 | website = The Violin Channel | date = 10 April 2024 | access-date = 11 April 2024 }}</ref>
</references>
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20091031021010/http://www.liceubarcelona.cat/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32&Itemid=137&lang=en Michael Boder] Liceu Barcelona * {{discogs artist}} * {{imdb name|3695850}} * {{YouTube|OK1K7NkHms8|Michael Boder on Morgen und Abend (2016)}} (in German with English subtitles)
{{s-start}} {{s-culture}} {{succession box | title=Music Director, Gran Teatre del Liceu | before=Sebastian Weigle | years=2008–2012 | after=Josep Pons}} {{succession box | title=Principal Conductor, Royal Danish Orchestra | before=Michael Schønwandt | years=2012–2016 | after=Alexander Vedernikov}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boder, Michael}} Category:1958 births Category:2024 deaths Category:German male conductors (music) Category:Musicians from Darmstadt Category:Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg alumni Category:21st-century German conductors (music) Category:21st-century German male musicians