{"id":29433,"date":"2023-06-23T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=6518"},"modified":"2023-06-23T23:39:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T21:39:59","slug":"who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Andris Nelsons? A guide to the Latvian conductor and his best recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the acclaimed Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons… and some of his best recordings to date <\/p>

By Michael Beek\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 23 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

He\u2019s one of the most acclaimed conductors currently working, famed for his energy and passion, and is currently leader of two of the world\u2019s most respected orchestras. Here is our introduction to Andris Nelsons.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Who is Andris Nelsons?<\/h2>\n<p>Andris Nelsons is a conductor, born in Latvia. He\u2019s now one of the world\u2019s most respected and admired conductors, known in particular for his interpretations of the symphonies of <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/dmitri-shostakovich\/"\"><strong>Shostakovich<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/gustav-mahler\/"\"><strong>Mahler<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/anton-bruckner\/"\"><strong>Bruckner<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>What orchestras does Andris Nelsons conduct?<\/h2>\n<p>Andris Nelsons is currently\u00a0music director of both the <strong><a title=\""Boston\" symphony=\"\" orchestra=\"\" href=\""https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Boston_Symphony_Orchestra"\">Boston Symphony Orchestra<\/a><\/strong> and the\u00a0<strong><a title=\""Leipzig\" gewandhaus=\"\" orchestra=\"\" href=\""https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Leipzig_Gewandhaus_Orchestra"\">Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra<\/a><\/strong>. Both these orchestras featured in our list of <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/worlds-best-orchestras\/"\"><strong>the world\u2019s best orchestras<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Schumann:\" symphony=\"\" no.=\"\" spring=\"\" andris=\"\" nelsons=\"\" and=\"\" the=\"\" gewandhausorchester=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3u-IRq6Y7dc?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" web-share=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<ul><li><strong><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/news\/andris-nelsons-appointed-music-director-boston-symphony-orchestra\/"\">Andris Nelsons appointed music director at Boston Symphony Orchestra<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><h3>How old is Andris Nelsons?<\/h3>\n<p>Andris Nelsons was born on 18 November, 1978.<\/p>\n<h3>Where was Andris Nelsons born?<\/h3>\n<p>Nelsons was born in the Latvian capital, Riga.<\/p>\n<h3>Did he come come from a musical background?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Nelsons\u2019s father was a choral conductor, cellist, and teacher, while his mother founded Latvia\u2019s first early music ensemble.<\/p>\n<p><sup id=\""cite_ref-1"\" class=\""reference"\"\/>Nelsons was just five when his mother and stepfather (another musical figure: he was a choir conductor) took him to a performance of <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/richard-wagner-2\/"\"><strong>Wagner<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s opera\u00a0<i><strong><a title=\""Tannh\u00e4user\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-wagners-tannh-user\/"\">Tannh\u00e4user<\/a><\/strong>. <\/i>This experience had a profound effect on the future conductor<i>. <\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u2018It had a hypnotic effect on me,\u2019 he has recalled. \u2018I was overwhelmed by the music. I cried when Tannh\u00e4user died. I still think this was the biggest thing that happened in my childhood.\u2019<sup id=\""cite_ref-Morrison_2-0"\" class=\""reference"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The young Nelsons learned piano and trumpet (playing the latter for the orchestra of the\u00a0Latvian National Opera).<sup id=\""cite_ref-Morrison_2-1"\" class=\""reference"\"\/> He also sang bass-baritone in his mother\u2019s ensemble.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Andris\" nelsons=\"\" on=\"\" conducting=\"\" wagner=\"\" lohengrin=\"\" royal=\"\" opera=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cm2gj2l7BBc?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" web-share=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<h3>How did Andris Nelsons get into conducting?<\/h3>\n<p>After studying conducting in Saint Petersburg and taking masterclasses with conductors including Neeme J\u00e4rvi, Nelsons was spotted by fellow Latvian conductor <strong><a title=\""Mariss\" jansons=\"\" href=\""https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mariss_Jansons"\">Mariss Jansons<\/a><\/strong>, who has acted as a mentor for him.<\/p>\n<h3>Which other orchestras has Nelsons conducted?<\/h3>\n<p>Before the Boston and Leipzig jobs, Nelsons was chief conductor at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n<h3>Who are Andris Nelsons\u2019s favourite composers?<\/h3>\n<p>In a 2018 interview, Andris Nelsons told us: \u2018Mahler is very special for me (\u2026)\u00a0 Every note in Mahler you have to give 100 per cent. He\u2019s not a composer where you can save it at some moments and maybe give 120 per cent in other places. I think you have to burn yourself, Mahler requires it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Nelsons is also a noted conductor of Shostakovich, having conducted the entire cycle of 15 Shostakovich symphonies with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Check out our 15 <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/search\/?q=introduction+to+shostakovich+symphony"\">Shostakovich symphony guides<\/a>, written by another noted Shostakovich conductor, Vasily Petrenko.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul><li><strong><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/five-best-shostakovich-conductors\/"\">Five of the best Shostakovich conductors<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/shostakovichs-best-symphonies\/"\">Which is Shostakovich\u2019s best symphony?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><h3><b>What has Nelsons said about the joys and challenges of conducting different orchestras?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>\u2018In one sense conducting is a national, global language where one gesture means the same in one continent as it does in another,\u2019 Nelsons told us in our 2018 interview. \u2018Of course as a conductor that\u2019s your language, your technique \u2013 your gestures, your face, the energy, or charisma.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Shostakovich:\" symphony=\"\" no.=\"\" in=\"\" e=\"\" minor=\"\" op.=\"\" i.=\"\" moderato=\"\" at=\"\" hall=\"\" boston=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nQfQudLuIqg?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" web-share=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s like so many languages; I mean you look to the Baltic states, it\u2019s a small territory relatively speaking, and there are so many countries and each has different languages. Some of these countries have nothing to do with each other, like Latvian is nothing to do with Estonian, or Russian, or Lithuanian, yet they\u2019re so close and they understand each other\u2019s lifestyles and traditions. But they\u2019re also so different and they want to cherish their identity and keep that.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In the orchestra world I find it\u2019s the same; there\u2019s a universal understanding, but there is a very individual, personal approach \u2013 the taste, the colour, the aftertaste. I\u2019m relatively young, but somehow the idea of this I\u2019m very much attracted to.\u2019<\/p>\n<h2>Andris Nelsons: best recordings<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Shostakovich: Symphonies 5, 8 & 9 \/ <em>Hamlet<\/em> Suite<br\/><\/strong>Boston Symphony Orchestra<br\/><em>DG 479 5201<\/em><strong><br\/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>From <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/orchestral\/shostakovich-performed-boston-symphony-orchestra-conducted-andris-nelsons\/"\"><strong>our review<\/strong><\/a>: \u2018This Eighth goes even further [than Nelsons\u2019s previous acclaimed account of Shostakovich\u2019s Symphony No. 10], if only because this most adamantine of the 15 symphonies demands even greater concentration from performers and listeners.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The sound is a crucial component: to hear the highest frequencies of shrill piccolos and the presence of the bass in the biggest vertical shocks is to conjure up images of skyscrapers burning and toppling. And yet alongside Nelsons\u2019s unique feeling for rubato, the sheer expressive beauty of the string playing, the constant surprises when the torch passes to the many aching or screaming woodwind solos and ensembles also represent a tonal sophistication beyond Mravinsky\u2019s and Rozhdestvensky\u2019s Soviet ensembles.\u2019<\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Shostakovich-Symphony-Incidental-Music-Hamlet\\\/dp\\\/B01BIH5U1W\\\/ref=sr_1_2","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"11.2-20.8","sid":"term-classicalmusic-4-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 \/ Wagner: <em>Lohengrin<\/em> Prelude<\/strong><br\/>\nLeipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra<br\/><em>DG<\/em><\/p>\n<p>From <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/orchestral\/bruckner-symphony-no-4-wagner-lohengrin-prelude\/"\">our review<\/a><\/strong>: \u2018This disc starts with the Prelude to Act I of Wagner\u2019s\u00a0<i>Lohengrin<\/i>, that \u2018first example of hypnotism in music\u2019 as Nietzsche called it. Certainly it is hypnotically beautiful here, played with faultless intonation and a sublime crescendo. (\u2026) [The Bruckner] is performed here with great conviction, as much as in any recording in recent years.\u2019<\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Bruckner-Symphony-Wagner-Lohengrin-Prelude\\\/dp\\\/B07886HD1K\\\/ref=sr_1_1","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"8.4-15.6","sid":"term-classicalmusic-4-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Berg: Violin Concerto \/ Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 \/ Schleiermacher: Relief for Orchestra<\/strong><br\/>\nBaiba Skride \/ Gewandhausorchester Leipzig<br\/><em>Accentus Music (DVD)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>From <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/orchestral\/berg-violin-concerto-mendelssohn-symphony-no-3-schleiermacher-relief-for-orchestra\/"\"><strong>our review<\/strong><\/a>: \u2018Andris Nelsons\u2019s official opening concert as principal conductor of the Gewandhausorchester offers top-flight music-making being allowed to do its own talking (..) The sound is a feast in its own right \u2013 a lovely balance of clarity, spaciousness, and glowing warmth.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018With Skride\u2019s unfussy account of Berg\u2019s musical portrayal of the winsome personality, illness, death, and imagined heavenward ascent of Manon Gropius, Alma Mahler\u2019s teenage daughter, the work becomes as moving as it should be. (\u2026) Mendelssohn\u2019s <i>Scottish<\/i> Symphony is played with poise and gorgeousness.\u2019<\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Berg-Concerto-Gewandhausorchester-Accentus-ACC20443\\\/dp\\\/B07F7W7ZS2","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"5.6-10.4","sid":"term-classicalmusic-4-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Meet the acclaimed Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons… and some of his best recordings to date <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":29434,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings.jpg",625,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings-300x168.jpg",300,168,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings.jpg",625,350,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings.jpg",625,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings.jpg",625,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/who-is-andris-nelsons-a-guide-to-the-latvian-conductor-and-his-best-recordings.jpg",625,350,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Meet the acclaimed Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons... and some of his best recordings to date","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/29433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}