Alexander Soddy
The British conductor Alexander Soddy was born in Oxford and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Cambridge University. After completing his studies in 2004, he was engaged as repetiteur and conductor at the National Opera Studio in London and won numerous awards. Alexander Soddy became general musical director of the Mannheim National Theatre in the 2016/17 season. To date, he has conducted the premières of Aida, Genoveva, Fidelio, Don Giovanni, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Pelléas et Mélisande and Peter Grimes there, as well as numerous revivals including Hansel and Gretel, Madama Butterfly, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Parsifal. He has also been a regular guest conductor at the Bavarian and Berlin State Operas, where he most recently returned with The Magic Flute and La Bohème. In Mannheim he is artistic director of the Musikalische Akademie des Nationaltheater-Orchesters Mannheim. Concert engagements have taken him to the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, Niedersächsische Staatsorchester Hannover, Royal Swedish Orchestra, Norwegian National Opera Orchestra and Oregon Symphony Orchestra This spring he conducted the Orquesta de Valencia and Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2013 to 2016 he was principal conductor at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where he conducted the new productions of Der Rosenkavalier and Macbeth, among others. From 2010 to 2012 he was the conductor at the Hamburg State Opera. In the 2008/09 season he débuted at the house with Mozart’s The Magic Flute subsequently conducting performances including La Bohème, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Gounod’s Faust and Bizet’s Carmen. He conducted 2017 mit La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera New York and will return next season. In spring he will make his début at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with Carmen. He débuted at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2018, conducting Il barbiere di Siviglia.