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Dinah Lu Publicist 206.215.4719 | [email protected]

Shiva Shafii Director of Communications 206.215.4758 | [email protected]

THOMAS DAUSGAARD AND THE SEATTLE RELEASE REVELATORY PERFORMANCES OF ’S PRELUDE TO ANTICHRIST AND ’ AN ALPINE SYMPHONY

SEATTLE SYMPHONY SHINES WITH DAUSGAARD AT THE HELM IN CONDUCTOR’S FIRST ALBUM AS NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR

ALBUM FEATURES PREMIERE ORIGINAL VERSION RECORDING OF LANGGAARD’S PRELUDE TO ANTICHRIST

AVAILABLE NOW ON APPLE MUSIC AND AMAZON

SEATTLE, WA – Incoming Music Director and the release live recordings of Rued Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist and Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony on September 13, 2019. Dausgaard’s inaugural album with the Seattle Symphony as its Music Director features powerful performances of works that pair for an intriguing exploration of the ’ fascination with the Antichrist.

Langgaard’s opera Antichrist – first staged in 2002 in a performance conducted by Thomas Dausgaard – is an apocalyptic vision of the world before Judgement Day, the time when Antichrist reigns and the time Langgaard felt he was living in. Prelude depicts the moments before the Last Judgement and the calamity that pervades humanity. While Langgaard, one of the most prominent composers from Daugaard’s native country of , has had works played by many major orchestras across the country, Seattle Symphony’s performance in April

2019 marked the US premiere of the original version of Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony bring Strauss’ An Prelude to Antichrist. Where Langgaard paints a picture Alpine Symphony to audiences at Benaroya Hall in June 2017. The of chaos and confusion, Strauss brings one of hope and ensemble bolstered extra woodwinds and horns, two tubas, and exotic percussion such as a wind machine and thunder sheet. salvation. An Alpine Symphony was at one point Der Antichrist, named after Nietzsche’s book of the same name. But Alpine draws only indirectly from this reference. Of his work, Strauss wrote that it represented “moral purification through one’s own strength, liberation through work, worship of eternal, magnificent nature.”

The album marks an exciting new era for the orchestra and its new Music Director. Thomas Dausgaard “sends out a kind of force field from the podium, inspiring the musicians and wrapping the audiences up in his joy and enthusiasm. He compels them to listen, to involve themselves with the music” (The Seattle Times).

Digital downloads and CDs are available through all major online music retailers and streaming services and will be available worldwide on September 13th, 2019. This recording is also in an immaculate 5.1 Dausgaard conveys the intensity of Judgement Day in Langgaard’s digital surround version engineered by 2017 Grammy Prelude to Antichrist during an April 2019 performance. Photo by Brandon Patoc. Award winner for Best Surround Sound, Dmitriy Lipay.

To obtain a physical or digital review copy of the release, photos, liner notes or any other information on Seattle Symphony Media, please contact Dinah Lu at [email protected].

RECORDING DETAILS

RUED LANGGAARD Prelude to Antichrist (original version premiere recording)

RICHARD STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

Thomas Dausgaard, conductor Seattle Symphony

Following their critically-acclaimed recordings of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 and the Nielsen , Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony return with inspiring and powerful performances of works rooted in the fascination of the Antichrist. Dausgaard has a deep connection to the music of his countrymen and is well- regarded for his interpretations of Strauss – this album couples the Danish Rued Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist with Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony, capturing the thrill of live performance on disc. This recording is also available in an immaculate 5.1 digital surround version engineered by 2017 Grammy winner for Best Surround Sound, Dmitriy Lipay.

LANGGAARD PRELUDE TO ANTICHRIST, BVN 170:1 Total Timing: 12:32 // Catalog Number: SSM1023 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay // Label: Seattle Symphony Media

RICHARD STRAUSS EINE ALPENSINFONIE (“AN ALPINE SYMPHONY”) Total Timing: 45:58 // Catalog Number: SSM1023 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay // Label: Seattle Symphony Media

The Seattle Symphony is grateful to Joan Watjen for her generous support of SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA CDs in memory of her husband Craig.

Recorded in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington. Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist was recorded live in concert April 4, 6 and 7, 2019. Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony was recorded live in concert June 15 and 17, 2017.

Both Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist and Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony were presented as part of the Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season. The performances of Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist was sponsored by Seattle Symphony 2018 GiveBIG supporters. Thomas Dausgaard’s performances on April 4, 6 and 7, 2019 received additional support from the Scan|Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun. His performances on June 15 and 17, 2017 were generously underwritten by Leona Pazina and Susan Pazina, in memory of Robert Pazina, through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle.

Digital downloads and CDs are available through iTunes, Amazon, Acoustic Sounds and HD Tracks. Recordings can be streamed through Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Primephonic.

THOMAS DAUSGAARD CONDUCTOR

Music Director of the Seattle Symphony, Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard is esteemed for his creativity and innovative programming, the excitement of his live performances and his extensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings. A renowned recording artist with over 70 discs to his name, Dausgaard’s releases with the Seattle Symphony have garnered critical acclaim resulting in international honors including a 2017 Gramophone Award nomination for Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 (Deryck Cooke version), Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year Award, and a 2019 Best Orchestral Performance Grammy nomination for Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4. An avid champion of contemporary works and the music of his homeland, Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony will release the much-anticipated cycle of symphonies by .

Performing internationally with many of the world’s leading orchestras, Dausgaard is also the Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and Honorary Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

Dausgaard has been awarded the Cross of Chivalry by the Queen of Denmark and elected to the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA Launched in 2014, Seattle Symphony Media is the Seattle Symphony’s independent Grammy Award-winning in- house record label. The Symphony has an extensive catalogue of nearly 150 recordings, which have brought forth five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy Award nominations and two Emmy Awards throughout its history. The Seattle Symphony was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. Under the direction of Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Symphony's in-house record label features both “core repertoire” and some of the eclectic and contemporary programming for which the Seattle Symphony has become recognized. The label includes both studio recordings and performances captured live in concert, allowing the organization an unprecedented breadth of repertoire choices.

All recordings are made in the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall and engineered by the Grammy Award-winning recording engineer Dmitriy Lipay. Using the Symphony’s own state-of-the-art in-house recording studio, recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing on stage with naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range. Distributed by Naxos of America, the recordings are available in both physical and digital formats from a variety of retailers. Digital content is available in stereo, “Mastered for iTunes,” 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 500,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.

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