A
renowed Israeli conductor in both the operatic and symphonic worlds,
Asher Fisch is especially celebrated for his interpretative command of
core German and Italian repertoire of the Romantic and post-Romantic
era, in particular Wagner, Brahms, Strauss, and Verdi. Mr.
Fisch also conducts a wide variety of other repertoire from Gluck to
contemporary works, and serves as an advocate of living composers such
as Avner Dorman and others.
Starting as an assistant to Daniel
Barenboim, Fisch went on to be the associate conductor of
the Berlin State Opera. In 1995, he conducted Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at
the Los Angeles Opera. Afterwards he was appointed as Music
Director of the Wiener Volksoper (1995-2000), of the New Israeli Opera
(1998-2008), Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Opera
(2007-2013), where he concluded his tenure conducting the Opera's
quadrennial Wagner Ring Cycle in summer 2013. In 2014, Mr. Fisch became
the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the West Australian
Symphony Orchestra (WASO).
Since his debut in the
United States, he has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera
of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and San Francisco Opera. A regular
guest at leading European opera houses, Mr. Fisch has conducted all the
major German and Austrian opera houses including Berlin, Munich,
Dresden, Leipzig, Vienna, Milan's Teatro alla Scala, Paris Opera, the
Royal Opera House, and Covent Garden. Among North American symphony
orchestras, Mr. Fisch has conducted those of Boston, Chicago,
Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas,
Seattle, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, St. Louis, Montreal, Toronto,
and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. In Europe he has appeared
at the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony
Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Orchestre National de France,
among others.
Mr. Fisch has long
maintained strong and enduring ties to the Bayerische Staatsoper
(Munich) and in the 2015-16 season conducted five titles including
Massanet's Werther, Puccini's La bohème, Manon Lescaut and Turandot, Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer. He also returned to the Teatro Regio di Torino to conduct Bizet's Carmen.
Guest symphony orchestra engagements include the Melbourne Symphony,
Staatskapelle Dresden, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Badische
Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, Nashville Symphony (debut), Milwaukee
Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra.
Mr. Fisch is also an
accomplished pianist and released his first solo disc of Wagner piano
transcriptions in 2012 on Melba. He often play-conducts, and frequently
participates in chamber music and vocal recitals.
Among his recent engagements: in Munich (Der Fliedenge Höllander; La Traviata; Falstaff; Un ballo in maschera; La Forza del destino; Il Trovatore; Otello); New York (Tristan und Isolde; Carmen); Torino (Die Zauberflöte); Dresden (Der Fliedenge Höllander; Hansel und Gretel Arabella); Naples (Fedora) ; Tokyo (Tannhauser); Mahler's Second symphony in Bologna and concerts in Perth, Sydney, Tokyo and Stuttgart; Liederabend in Ravello; Fidelio, Adriana Lecpuvreur and all Beethoven's Symphony cicle at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna; Tosca, La Bohème, Thannauser, Otello in Munich.
Plans include, amongs other, Otello, Lohengrin in Bologna; Lear in Madrid.
January 2022