RELEASED BY DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

MAY 30, 2018

**ARTISTIC VISION

**Yannick Nézet-Séguin signs new exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon

**Conductor’s yellow label commitment embraces Rachmaninov symphony and piano concerto cycles with The Philadelphia Orchestra **

**Future grand projects with New York’s Metropolitan Opera also anticipated **

Deutsche Grammophon is delighted to announce that Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, incoming Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, has signed an exclusive contract with the yellow label. The Montreal-born conductor, hailed by the Financial Times as the “greatest generator of energy on the international podium”, will record a broad range of symphonic and operatic repertoire as part of his work as Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera of New York and the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, and as an Honorary Member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE). The contract signing was announced in Hamburg on 30 May 2018, during his nine-city tour of Europe and Israel with The Philadelphia Orchestra. **

Maestro Nézet-Séguin’s DG projects will include complete cycles of Rachmaninov’s symphonies and piano concertos, with soloist Daniil Trifonov and The Philadelphia Orchestra; the next opera in his acclaimed Mozart series, Die Zauberflöte, to be recorded with the COE and an outstanding cast this summer at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus; Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov’s first album of solo arias, with the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal; Mahler’s Symphony No.8 and a continuation of the Stravinsky ballet cycle – plans include Petrushka and The Firebird – with The Philadelphia Orchestra; and Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor K466 with Seong-Jin Cho and the COE. He also intends to record with the Metropolitan Opera forces – an exciting prospect, given the rave reviews received by his first DG recording with the Met: the best-selling Carmen, starring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna.

“I am genuinely thrilled by the prospect of making music with Deutsche Grammophon,” comments Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “We will build on the work that we have recorded together over the past seven years and develop exciting new projects as well. The yellow label has documented major landmarks of my time as Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, including Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Stokowski’s transcriptions of works by Bach and Stravinsky, and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, and of my ten years as Chief Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, including the world premiere recording of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Piano Concerto with Marc-André Hamelin. I look forward to exploring fresh territory with the team when I start work as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera in September, to realising the plans we have for recording with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, and to making further recordings with wonderful DG artists like Lisa Batiashvili, Elīna Garanča and Rolando Villazón. Not to mention the continued pleasure of live performances with such amazing musicians as Martha Argerich, Hélène Grimaud, Jan Lisiecki and Yuja Wang. I truly believe that artists today must reach out to audiences worldwide and communicate their passion for the life-enhancing experience that classical music and opera provides.”

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first album for Deutsche Grammophon, made in 2011, was the recording of Don Giovanni that marked the launch of his Mozart opera cycle – a series which also now includes the Grammy-nominated Le nozze di Figaro, and whose latest instalment, La clemenza di Tito, will be released this summer. Other highlights for the yellow label include complete cycles of the symphonies of Schumann and Mendelssohn with the COE; Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Trifonov and The Philadelphia Orchestra; and Duets with Rolando Villazón, Ildar Abdrazakov and the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal. His first DG recordings with the Rotterdam Philharmonic featured Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6 “Pathétique” and collaborations with Lisa Batiashvili and Andreas Ottensamer. Released next week is The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra Collection, a 6CD collection of previously unissued live recordings hand-picked by Nézet-Séguin, whose arrival as Chief Conductor in 2008 marked the start of a new golden era in this orchestra’s history. The release is timed to coincide with the Jubilee concerts in Rotterdam on 9/10 June – the highpoint of this year’s centenary celebrations.

“Over the past decade Yannick Nézet-Séguin has risen to become one of the world’s leading conductors, a charismatic force of nature who brings great music to life in a way that few others are able to do,” notes Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon. “As Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, he holds two of the most important and influential posts in classical music. He has also achieved remarkable success as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain, placing it on the international orchestral map, as Chief Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, whose Honorary Conductor he becomes at the end of this season, and as a regular guest conductor with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, which made him an Honorary Member two years ago. We look forward to working closely with Yannick, exploring the full range of his artistry, particularly his very special gift for working with singers in the Classical and Romantic vocal and choral repertoires, and to enriching the DG catalogue with the new recordings we make together. ”