Alexander
Soddy Repetiteur
The British pianist and conductor, Alexander Soddy, has already developed a reputation as a musician of distinction. Born in Oxford in December 1982, he was educated as a chorister at Magdalen College, Oxford, and at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied conducting and singing, and was a piano pupil of Michael Dussek. A choral scholarship, studying musicology, at Cambridge University followed. After graduating in 2004, he was immediately appointed as repetiteur and conductor at the National Opera Studio in London. Awards and prizes include support from the Friends of Covent Garden (Royal Opera House), the Scottish Opera Endowment Trust, the Selwyn College Roe Prize, and the Sir Henry Richardson Award for piano accompaniment.
As an accompanist, Alex has performed in venues across the UK and Europe, including London’s Wigmore Hall, The Academy of St.Martin in the Fields and the Presteigne festival. Future accompanying work includes a lieder recital with Michael Schade in Eppan, Italy and as an official accompanist upon the MS Europa for the inaugural Stella Maris International Vocal Competition.
Alexander has worked as a repetiteur for a number of opera companies in the UK including English National Opera, English Touring Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He conducted the UK premiere of Mosolov’s Der Held at Cambridge as well as a critically acclaimed production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. He assisted Simone Young for the first time on Britten’s War Requiem at Snape Maltings and Peter Grimes at the Vienna Staatsoper and in October 2005 joined the staff of the Hamburg Staatsoper as a repetiteur. He is now full-time assistant to Young at the Hamburg Staatsoper and with the Hamburger Philharmoniker. In his time at Hamburg he has played and assisted on nearly 40 operas, working with and coaching such singers as Lisa Gasteen, Deborah Polaski, Bernadette Cullen, Placido Domingo, John Treleaven, Franz Grundheber, Michael Schade and Teddy Tahu Rhodes, and directors such as Keith Warner, Nicholas Lehnhoff and Marco Arturo Marelli.
In 2006 he conducted Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Brighton Early Music Festival in the UK, with players from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has conducted the Hamburg State Youth Orchestra on several occasions in the city's "Laieszhalle" including the orchestra's 40 year anniversary. As a result of their work together, the orchestra awarded him the title of "Honourary Conductor for Life". In 2008 Alexander conducted the Hamburg Staatsoper International Opera Studio production of Cavalli's La Calisto to critical acclaim and in summer 2009 conducts two operas with them in a triple-bill of contemporary operas by Christian Jost and John Tavener. In season 2009/10 he will conduct Rameau's Les Indes Galantes with the Opera Studio. Alexander regularly assists Young on tour, working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, West Australian Symphony and Sydney Symphony orchestras among others. The highlights of his coming assisting work in Hamburg include completing Wagner's Ring Cycle and continuing the recordings of the Bruckner symphonies in their original versions with Young. In the 2008/9 season in the Staatsoper he conducted Mozart's Die Zauberflote to acclaim and as a result will conduct many more performances in the 2009/10 season, with L'elisir d'amore, Hansel und Gretel, Barbiere di Siviglia and Die Zauberflote.
For more information about Alex visit www.lewin-management.com.
