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Claus Peter Flor, conductor

Short Biography

Born in Leipzig in 1953, Claus Peter Flor learnt the violin and clarinet before studying conducting in Weimar, in Leipzig with Rolf Reuter, and later with Rafael Kubelik and Kurt Sanderling. He was awarded the Mendelssohn Scholarship by the Ministry of Culture in 1979 and also won first prize at competitions in Poland and Denmark. He was Principal Conductor of the Suhler Philharmonic and from 1994 General Music Director of the Berliner Sinfonie Orchester. From 1991-94 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia and held the same position, along with that of Artistic Advisor, from 1991-1996 at the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich. He is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

In 1988 he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, and has since returned twice. He has also appeared with the Munich Philharmonic, the Radio Symphony orchestras of Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Leipzig, and the Dresdener Philharmonie. Flor has returned regularly to the Vienna Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, the Cologne and Berlin radio symphonies, the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, the Royal Concertgebouw and the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Guest engagements have included London Symphony, La Scala (Milan) and the NHK Symphony in Tokyo. Since his American debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1985 he has also worked with the Boston Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and New York Philharmonic. His operatic engagements have included the Berlin Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper (Berlin), Bayerische Staatsoper and Semper Oper (Dresden). He conducted a new Schaaf production of Entführung at the Staatsoper in Hamburg and in 1997 he conducted performances of Zauberflöte at the Cologne Opera. In January 2000 he conducted Freischütz at the Berlin Staatsoper, followed by Meistersinger in Brussels, where he returns for Figaro in 2001.

Claus Peter Flor has made many recordings for BMG Classics/RCA Victor Red Seal. His recordings with the Berlin Symphony have included Martinu symphonies, the Cherubini Requiem and a New Year's Day concert of popular classics. He has recorded Franck's Symphony in D minor and Dvorak's Symphony no.8 with the Royal Philharmonic. In 1992 his recordings of Mozart's Coronation Mass with The Philharmonia and Shostakovich's 10th Symphony with the Royal Concertgebouw were released, followed by a highly acclaimed disc of Weber symphonies/Freischütz Overture, and his Mendelssohn cycle with the Bamberg Symphony has been praised by critics all over the world. His latest BMG releases have been Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with the NDR Symphony (Hamburg Radio) and Mendelssohn’s "Walpurgisnacht" oratorio with the Bamberg Symphony, and in May 1999 Orfeo released the world premiere recording of Bruch’s Oratorio "Moses" also with the Bamberg Symphony. Future releases will include works by Haydn, Szymanowski and Janacek with the Philharmonia on BMG.

July 2000/470 words

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