They assure that Ivor Bolton’s stage is being “extraordinary” and that the Theater will continue to count on him
They highlight their energy and empathy with the artistic ensembles to guarantee the future of the institution
“I will do everything in my power to maintain its artistic excellence,” said the director
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The Royal Theater has announced the appointment of Gustavo Gimeno as their director musical starting in the fall of 2025, when Ivor Bolton’s contract will end.
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The appointment of the Spaniard Gustavo Gimeno, musical director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Canada) and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (until 2025), has been unanimously approved by the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Teatro Real.
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The Commission and the Board of Trustees have approved, also unanimously, the appointment of the Italian Nicola Luisotti as director emeritusan appointment and recognition that implies its regular presence in the programming, in line with what it has been doing in recent years, and a close collaboration with the musical director.
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Gustavo Gimeno will be the musical director of the Teatro Real from season 2025-2026 until 2029-2030the same period in which Nicola Luisotti will be director emeritus.
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“On behalf of the Teatro Real, I am happy to welcome our future musical director, whom characterizes his energy, style and virtuosity, and for the fact of continuing to count on the valuable collaboration of Nicola Luisotti. Over the years we have enjoyed some great musical work with Ivor Bolton and will continue to do so for the next three seasons. I look forward with deep confidence to what the future will bring us, counting on such excellent batons”, underlined the president of the Teatro Real, Gregorio Marañón.
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“I feel very honored, lucky and excited. I couldn’t feel happier”, assured Gustavo Gimeno, who directed Sergei Prokofiev’s opera ‘The Fire Angel’ for the first time at the Real last April, an opportunity in which he enjoyed “one of the most most enriching musicals” of his career.
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“I welcome with great joy the privilege of deepening my relationship with this prestigious theater, with the city of Madrid and with its wonderful audience. I am looking forward to working intensely with all the fantastic artists and professionals that make the Teatro Real one of the best opera houses in the worldas well as with its Principal Choir and Orchestra, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra and the Intermezzo Choir”.
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“I will do everything in my power to serve this distinguished institution and maintain its artistic excellence,” he added.
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The general director of the Teatro Real, Ignacio García-Belenguerhas stated that he is delighted to welcome Gustavo Gimeno as musical director of the Teatro Real from the 2025/2026 season: “We are at a crucial moment after the challenges of the pandemic and knowing that We have the best team for each phase in which we will develop our strategic plan for the next five years fills us with hope”, he said.
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Gustavo Gimeno, recalled the artistic director of the Theatre, Joan Matabosch, began his collaboration with the Royal Theater in 2019 on a tour to Moscow with the Royal Theater Titular Orchestra, invited by the Rostropovich International Festival.
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“After the wonderful experience of the tour and the extraordinary results at the head of the angel of firethis season it has become clear that he is the ideal conductor to join the Teatro Real team. His energy and empathy with the artistic ensembles and the artistic direction of the Teatro Real are the best guarantee for the institution’s future. Also, having Nicola Luisotti as part of the team consolidates the model at the highest level”, added Matabosch, who stressed that Ivor Bolton’s stage is being “extraordinary” and that the Theater will continue to count on him and Pablo Heras-Casado for some of the “major future artistic projects of the institution”.
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Nicola Luisotti He has expressed what his link with the Real represents for him: “I am delighted to continue my work with the Teatro Real, which I love so much. This place it has de facto become my familyand Madrid, in my city”.
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“This role as director emeritus honors me greatly but it also means one more thing to me: that I am getting older! But I am very happy to share my next few years in this wonderful theater with Joan Matabosch and Gustavo Gimeno, who is a conductor and a wonderful partner”, he added.
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Ivor Bolton will continue as musical director of the Teatro Real until July 2025, with Pablo Heras-Casado and Nicola Luisotti as guest principal conductors. Both Ivor Bolton and Pablo Heras-Casado will continue to have a close relationship with the Teatro Real from the 2025/2026 season and will direct operatic titles and concerts in future seasons.
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Who is Gustavo Gimeno?
Required by the most important orchestras in the world, Gustavo Gimeno (Valencia, 1976) is currently music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (since 2020) and also of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2015).
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In their ten years as music director, and with an ever-rising trajectory, Gimeno has conducted great orchestras, ensembles and soloists. Last season he was in charge of the Orquesta del Concertgebouw de Amsterdamthe Paris Orchestrathe Berlin Philharmonicthe Cleveland Orchestrathe Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestrathe San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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Under his baton musicians of the stature of Daniel Barenboim, Gautier Capucon, Leonidas Kavakos, Anja Harteros, Thomas Hampson, Bryn Terfel, Yuja Wang | o Krystian Zimerman.
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Gustavo Gimeno has made numerous recordings with the Luxembourg Philharmonic for Pentatone. His discography includes works by Rossini, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Mahler and Coll. He has recently signed a deal with Harmonia Mundi, whose first recording was Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
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In the field of opera, Gimeno has directed productions in the Zurich Opera House, Barcelona Lyceum, Palace of the Arts of Valencia and in the Royal Madrid Theaterwhere he debuted with the premiere of The Fire Angel, by Sergei Prokofiev, this season, to great public and critical acclaim.
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