Hilary Griffiths

Biography

British conductor Hilary Griffiths, living in Germany, has been Artistic Director of the Eutin Festival since 2019. He has held appointments as General Music Director of the Symphony Orchestra and Opera in Regensburg, Chief Conductor of the State Opera Prague, Music Director of the Oberhausen Opera, Principal Conductor at the Cologne Opera and Director of the Opera Studio, and Music Director of the Eutiner Festspiele (1991–2006) and the Wuppertaler Bühnen (2009–2012). He works as a guest conductor throughout Europe, has made several visits to the Far East, Australia and South America, and has appeared at the festivals of Edinburgh, Schwetzingen, Wiesbaden, Würzburg, Prague, Litomyšl, Tenerife, Hong Kong and Perth (Australia), among others. He has conducted a very broad repertoire of symphonic works and more than 100 operas including the complete middle and late Verdi and all the regularly performed operas of Mozart, Rossini and Puccini. He concentrates also on the German repertoire (Wagner, R. Strauss, d’Albert, Zemlinsky, Berg, Schönberg, Henze) and on the Czech repertoire (Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček, Martinů) as well as on the contemporary music. In the recent years he has conducted Il matrimonio segreto, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Un ballo in maschera, Rigoletto and Madama Butterfly for the Tenerife Opera Festival, Porgy & Bess for the State Opera Istanbul, Tosca, Aida and Zauberflöte at the Cologne Opera, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Der Freischütz, Il trovatore and Der Vogelhändler at the Eutin Festival. In Wuppertal he conducted Fidelio, L’elisir d’amore, Hänsel und Gretel, The Cunning Little Vixen, Greek Passion, Idomeneo, La bohème, Arabella, A Florentine Tragedy, Gianni Schicchi, Falstaff and Der fliegende Holländer as well as the world premiere of La porta della legge by Salvatore Sciarrino, which was invited to the Lincoln Center Festival in New York and the Iberoamerican Festival of Theatre in Bogotá. In 2013 in Wuppertal, he conducted a highly acclaimed production of Bluthochzeit by Wolfgang Fortner (DVD, WERGO label). He has also conducted La Cenerentola, Don Pasquale, Le nozze di Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, Fidelio and Otello at the Opéra de Colombia, Bogotá and Il barbiere di Siviglia at the English National Opera, London. At the State Opera Prague, Hilary Griffiths has conducted over 200 performances from 24 different productions and has prepared 12 new productions since 1992 including Salome, Eine florentische Tragödie, Der Zwerg, Die Zauberflöte, Erwartung, La bohème, Tiefland, I vespri siciliani and Death in Venice. In 2014 he prepared the highly acclaimed production of Tannhäuser at the State Opera.

2020/21 Season