Emmanuel Villaume

Latest News

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra appointment

Emmanuel Villaume has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava.


Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra appointment

In October 2008, Emmanuel Villaume was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Chicago's WFMT critic Andrew Patner interviews Maestro Villaume:

Conversation with Emmanuel Villaume - Part One

Conversation with Emmanuel Villaume - Part Two

A discussion with Emmanuel Villaume:

Los Angeles Opera Podcast - Bizet's Carmen

Maestro Villaume gives an extended interview to Bruce Duffie of The Opera Journal:

Interview with Emmanuel Villaume

 

NEW RECORDINGS:

LA RONDINE (DVD)

Maestro Villaume conducts the Washington National Opera Orchestra. With Ainhoa Arteta and Marcus Haddock.

Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus with attention to nuance and balance.

Eric Myers
Opera News

Intelligent and refined conducting from Villaume.

Diana Leva
Musica & Dischi

"Emmanuel Villaume leads the Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus with, alternately, verismo punch, sweetness, and warmth, making the best case I've heard for the opera..."

Robert Levine
ClassicsToday.com

 

SOUVENIRS

Maestro Villaume conducts the Prague Philharmonia and soprano Anna Netrebko in works by Charpentier, Grieg, Lehar and Offenbach.

"The Prague Philharmonic Choir and the Prague Philharmonia under the insightful, sympathetic baton of Emmanuel Villaume give an excellent account of themselves throughout, clearly marking the individuality of each piece. They are full of feeling, lively or quietly delicate, as the situation demands, but never sentimental or overwhelming the singer. They perfectly cushion Netrebko's voice as well as that of her guests, contributing effectively to an overall pleasing effect, which is the dominant impression left by this recital."

Musicweb

 

FRENCH HEROINES - Airs d'opéras français

French Heroines - Airs d'opéras français has been released on CD on the Decca label. Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Orchestra Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo with Nathalie Manfrino, soprano.
Works by Gounod, Massenet, Delibes, Debussy.

Read more

In the press

Conductor Emmanuel Villaume invests the parade of oh-so-hummable Lehar tunes with authentic lilt and flow, securing fine playing from the orchestra.

John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

 

Conductor Emmanuel Villaume was key to the success of the production, with his masterful leadership of the orchestra. His sense of tempo and pacing were evident in the performance, which never flagged; he used the vocal cues to inaugurate several of the numbers and, in doing so, never masked the dialogue with the orchestral sound. When the music required it, Villaume gave a vivid sound, as at the opening of the second act with the Hungarian-style dance and, in contrast, with the “Vilja” song, he elicited a more subtle tone.

Seen and Heard International

 

Lehar's melodies and songs - “Vilja”, “The Merry Widow Waltz”, “You’ll Find Me At Maxim’s” and “Every Woman” never sounded better than under conductor Emmanuel Villaume’s deft leadership of the Lyric orchestra.

Chicago Critic

 

The orchestra, led by Emmanuel Villaume, is in superb form.

Betty Mohr, Southtownstar.com

 

Conductor Emmanuel Villaume elicited playing of idiomatic vitality and brassy bravado...

Lawrence Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

 

Conductor Emmanuel Villaume projects the effervescence of this vital, perpetually youthful score. It was a marvelous evening.

Howard Kissell, New York Daily News

 

Spoleto Festival Orchestra and violin superstar Sarah Chang bring the house down -

Villaume and friends deliver overwhelming, emotion-drenched music. The second festival orchestral extravaganza at the Gaillard featured a pair of Western music's most exalted monuments: the quality of music that we've come to expect from Maestro Emmanuel Villaume's vaunted festival concerts. The evening's first half was devoted to Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77, the only fiddle concerto that the German romantic master left us. And violin Goddess Sarah Chang — this year's distinguished soloist — gave us a rendition to remember, with some brilliant help from her orchestral colleagues. Villaume and company offered precise and sensitive support — plus some spectacular playing of their own in the extended orchestral passages. The capacity crowd showed its appreciation with an explosive standing ovation, taking us to intermission. In the Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ("the Pathétique"), from the first movement's opening bassoon lament, I knew this would be a performance to remember. After the first gloriously brassy climax, the music settled into the famous "yearning" theme that seems to pine for happiness just beyond reach. It morphed gradually into an anguished outcry, with burning gushes of throbbing string sound, echoed by aching woodwinds. The second movement lightened things up a bit, with its flowing quasi-waltz in 5/4 meter. The following section, a jaunty march-caricature, was delivered with a sort of celebratory glory that I've never heard in this music before. In the finale, Villaume drew wrenching, razor-sharp pangs of naked grief from them as they descended into the music's final, bottomless pit of unrelenting gloom. I've never, ever heard such wretched sadness from an orchestra before.

Lindsay Koob, Charleston City Paper

Read more