Biography Frank Strobel

Conductor www.frankstrobel.de

With his exceptional musicianship, versatility, technical expertise, knowledge and dedication, Frank Strobel has established himself as an eminent conductor in the world of film music. He combines a thorough grounding in the Classical, Romantic and 20th century concert repertoire with a wealth of experience as a conductor, arranger, editor, producer and recording artist. These qualities and skills give him unique insight into a rich and relatively unexplored area of the musical repertoire.

Strobel is strongly committed to the works of . In 1992 he conducted the first performance of The End of St Petersburg at the Alte Oper Frankfurt. He has also recorded Schnittke’s music for with the Moscow Philharmonic, and he led the first Russian performance of Concerto Grosso No. 5 with Gidon Kremer and the Russian National Orchestra. At the request of the composer himself, Frank Strobel has arranged 17 of Schnittke’s film music scores into concert suites. The suites were recorded and released in a series of 4 CDs by the label Capriccio/Phoenix in association with DeutschlandRadio Kultur, to great critical acclaim: the first and second issues were awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 2005 and 2006.

As well as editing and conducting the original music for silent film classics, Frank Strobel has made a speciality of arranging and performing new scores. Vintage films he has worked on include Battleship Potemkin, Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, Faust, Intolerance, Ivan The Terrible, The Knight of the Rose (Der Rosenkavalier), The Lodger, Dr Mabuse, Metropolis, Alexander Nevski, The New Babylon, Nibelungen, Nosferatu, October, Pandora`s Box, Richard Wagner, Romeo and Juliet, Tabu, as well as the Chaplin films The Circus, City Lights, The Gold Rush, The Kid and Modern Times.

Frank Strobel edited the reconstructed original music by Prokofiev for Alexander Nevsky in 2003 , which he then conducted and recorded for CD, winning the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2004. This production was subsequently performed at the Bolshoi Theatre. Robert Wiene ’s restored film Der Rosenkavalier with music by has been performed under the direction of Frank Strobel (Semper Oper Dresden, 2006) with further performances across Europe. A recording with the is available on DVD. He played a major part in the restoration of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Die Nibelungen and their scores by . In 2010 Frank Strobel conducted the world premiere of the restored Metropolis classic at the Berlin Film Festival and subsequently he premiered the restored film October at the Berlinale 2012.

He has also worked on many new German, British and American films and TV movies, including Blueprint, Die Buddenbrooks, Gloomy Sunday, Meschugge , Pope Joan, Victory and The Young Poisoner’s Handbook .

Frank Strobel enjoys particularly close professional relationships with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, MDR Radio Orchestra Leipzig, NDR Radio Orchestra Hannover, Orchestre

Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Sydney Symphony, Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonie Cologne and Tivoli Copenhagen.

Highlights of the present season include his debut at the Barbican with the London Symphony in a Tribute to John Williams programme and a further repeat at the Salle Peyel as part of the LSO’s residency, symphonic film music concerts featuring John Williams with Gothenburg Symphony, a Harry Potter programme with the Berlin Radio Symphony, Chaplin’s Gold Rush with MDR Radio Orchestra Leipzig and The Kid and Idle Class with Finnish Radio Symphony, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssee with NDR Radio Orchestra Hannover in Cologne and Hannover, a double bill with the Orchestre National de Lille featuring Metropolis and Matrix , a debut at the Bozar featuring 2001: A Space Odysseye with Brussels Philharmonic , Matrix with the NDR Radio Orchestra Hannover and performances in Hamburg and Munich, a Robert Mitchum song book programme with Dominique Horwitz and WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, the premiere of Richard Wagner (reconstruction) at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, as well as “Rosenkavalier” premieres in Luxemburg and “Metropolis” premieres in Vienna, Hannover and Lille.

From 1997 to 1998 he was Principal Conductor of the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. Since 2000 he has been Artistic Director of the European FilmPhilharmonic Institute Berlin, which distributes film music materials and manages film music productions and performances worldwide. He has participated in numerous music festivals, including the Berlin, Hong Kong and Vienna Festivals.

Many of Frank Strobel’s core film projects have been recorded on DVD. Some recent releases include Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, Metropolis, The New Babylon and Der Rosenkavalier .

2012/2013 This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by artist management.