Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” + American Suite

LPA

1. Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” Op. 95, Adagio—Allegro molto
2. Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” Op. 95, Largo

LPB

1. Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” Op. 95, Molto vivace
2. Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” Op. 95, Allegro con fuoco

Nathalie Stutzmann, initially celebrated as a contralto, has firmly established herself in a ‘new world’ as a conductor. It is fitting that Dvořák’s Symphony No 9, ‘From the New World’, should launch her exclusive agreement with the Warner Classics Erato label. The symphony is paired with Dvořák’s American Suite and performed by an American orchestra – the Atlanta Symphony. When Stutzmann inaugurated her tenure as its music director in 2022, she became only the second woman to serve as artistic leader of one of the USA’s 25 top orchestras.

“A conductor who has everything going for her,” in the words of the French newspaper Le Figaro, Nathalie Stutzmann has held another major US post since 2021: Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, which she conducted in her Carnegie Hall debut in May this year. Her recent schedule of guest engagements has also embraced concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Munich Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In May 2023, in an achievement described by the New York Times as “the coup of the year”, she made a ‘double debut’ at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, conducting two Mozart operas in new productions. Shortly afterwards she made a similarly triumphant debut at the Bayreuth Festival, conducting Tannhäuser. This led to her accolade as Best Conductor at the 2024 OPER! Awards. She is back in Bayreuth this summer.

Born near Paris, Stutzmann first enjoyed international success as a singer in the mid-1980s. Some of her earliest recordings were for Warner Classics Erato, and she later returned to the label for three albums as both singer and conductor with Orfeo 55, the instrumental ensemble she founded in 2009 and directed for 10 years: Heroes from the Shadows (released in 2014), Quella Fiamma (2017) and Contralto (2021).

Her skills as a conductor were developed through studies with the legendary Finnish teacher Jorma Panula, and through mentoring from Sir Simon Rattle and the late Seiji Ozawa. Rattle has said that, “Nathalie is the real thing … So much love, intensity and sheer technique.” When her appointment in Atlanta was announced, he predicted that she would give the orchestra “more colours and more daring…” Stutzmann herself has said that, “To respect the score is to make it alive, and the score lives because of us. The only thing we can do for the score is to dare.”

The New York Times has called Nathalie Stutzmann “a conductor who certainly knows how to challenge common wisdom,” while Bachtrack has highlighted “her reputation for freshening up the most familiar of warhorses,” making performances of well-loved works sound “as energized as a world premiere.” When she conducted Dvořák’s Symphony No 9 in Atlanta in late 2023, the performance was greeted with a standing ovation and Atlanta’s arts website ArtsATL emphasised the “sense of voyage and discovery” that Stutzmann evoked. She has said that: “My feeling about the musicians of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is that they are expressive. They are willing to share the meaning of music. That’s what we found together the first time we met – this alchemy came through the music-making. They’re interested in taking risks with me …” She has described interpretative choices as “just daring to express what you feel,” adding, “For me, to serve the music is to put your life in it.”