Oscar Strasnoy
Oscar Strasnoy (born November 12, 1970) is a French-Argentine composer, conductor and pianist. Although primarily known for his stage works, the first of which "Midea (2)" premiered in Spoleto in 2000, his principal compositions also include two secular cantatas and several song cycles. Career. Oscar Strasnoy was born in Buenos Aires and studied piano, conducting and composition there at the Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música (with Aldo Antognazzi and Guillermo Scarabino), at the Conservatoire de Paris (with Guy Reibel, Michaël Levinas and Gérard Grisey), where he won in 1996 a Premier Prix à l’Unanimité (first prize) and  the Hochschule für Musik, Frankfurt (with Hans Zender). He was the Music Director of the Orchestre du Crous de Paris (1996–1998). He was one of the founding recipients of the Grüneisen Foundation (Mozarteum Argentino) conducting scholarship, and of the French Government Scholarship. In 1999 he was invited by Peter Eötvös to Herrenhaus-Edenkoben in Germany. Luciano Berio awarded him the 2000 Orpheus Prize for his chamber opera "Midea (2)" produced at the Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto in 2000 and at the Rome Opera in 2001. He was also artist in residence at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, in  2003 at the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto (Institut français), and in 2006 at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria, Italy. In 2007 he received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for Music Composition. Radio France, in association with the parisian Théâtre du Châtelet, featured Strasnoy as the main composer of the Festival Présences 2012, a retrospective of most of his works in 14 concerts in January 2012. Compositions. Oscar Strasnoy has composed twelve stage works, including operas performed at Spoleto, Rome, Paris (Opéra Comique, Théâtre du Châtelet), Hamburg, Bordeaux, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires), Berlin  State Opera; a live-accompanied silent film score for Anthony Asquith's "Underground" which premiered at the Louvre in 2004 and was subsequently played at the Cine Doré in Madrid, the Mozarteum Argentino, Kyoto, and Tokyo) and a secular cantata, "Hochzeitsvorbereitungen (mit B und K)". He also composed several pieces of chamber, vocal and orchestral music, including his song cycle "Six Songs for the Unquiet Traveller" which premiered in 2004 performed by the Nash Ensemble and Ann Murray in a concert to inaugurate the newly refurbished Wigmore Hall in London. In January 2012 a retrospective of his work in 14  concerts has been presented at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris as part of the Festival Présences of Radio France. Strasnoy's works are primarily published by Universal Edition (Vienna) Chant du Monde (Paris) and Billaudot (Paris). His opera "Midea" is published by Ricordi (Milan). Discography. 2020: Kuleshov, Piano Concerto. Alexandre Tharaud, Les Violons du Roy conducted by Mathieu Lussier CD Erato/Warner Classics. 2018: Luther, Oratorio. Staatskapelle Halle conducted by Michael Wendeberg CD Arthaus. 2018: Two Schubert Menuets (from "Fünf Menuette mit sechs Trios"), nº 3 and nº 5, arrangement for octet, Isabelle Faust & Friends. CD Harmonia Mundi. 2017 : Berceuse (from "Five Little Pieces for Piano", ed. Billaudot), Mara Dobresco, piano. CD Paraty 107159. 2016: Hanokh, by Erwan Keravec, bagpipe, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, soprano and Vincent Bouchot, baritone, CD Vox. 2014: An Island Far, Ensemble 2e2m, dir. Pierre Roullier, CD Le Chant du Monde. 2013: Orchestral works, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk and Susanna Mälkki CD Aeon 2013: Geschichte (fragment), CD du Festival d'Automne de Varsovie. Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart. 2010: Un retour, Ensemble Musicatreize, dir. Roland Hayrabedian 2007: "Hochzeitsvorbereitungen (mit B und K)" CD Chant du Monde, Ensemble 2e2m, dir. Pierre Roullier 2000 : Two tangos ("Derrumbe" and "Mano Brava") Paris-Buenos Aires, CD Bis records 1998: Bloc-notes de Midea (5), CD Hochschule für Musik Köln/Conservatoire de Paris, cond. Peter Eötvös Bibliography. 2009 La stratification de la mémoire Colection 2e2m 2010 Un retour Livre-CD Actes-Sud 2017 Automaton, Monroe-Books, Berlin