| Heinrich Schiff |
 Conductor and cellist Heinrich Schiff looks back on a career spanning thirty years. After studying cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra, he made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971, and has since made regular guest appearances with all the major orchestras, in the main music centres and important festivals in Europe, the USA und Japan. Already during his studies Heinrich Schiff pursued wider musical interests, for instance studying conducting with Swarovsky. At the beginning of his career he focused almost exclusively on the cello, but after 1985 conducting became an increasingly important part of his activities. Conductor colleagues regularly encouraged him with advice. For more than ten years cello performances and conducting have shared equal importance in his concert activities. Since 1990 Heinrich Schiff has held a variety of positions as principal and first guest conductor with the following orchestras: Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Northern Sinfonia, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Radio Sinfonie Orchester Stuttgart, Bruckner Orchester Linz and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Heinrich Schiff regularly performs as guest conductor with numerous international orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Hallé Orchestra Manchester, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Stockholm, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Munich Philharmonic, numerous German radio symphony orchestras, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Orchestra Santa Cecilia Rome, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Camerata Salzburg. As an opera conductor he conducted productions at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels (Die Zauberflöte and Fidelio) and in Zurich/Winterthur (The Merry Wives of Windsor). Alongside his extensive discography as solo cellist, CD releases with orchestras such as the Northern Sinfonia, the Philharmonia Orchestra London and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie document his work as conductor. The repertoire of these recordings ranges from Haydn and Beethoven to Schreker, Krenek and Lutoslawski. |
