Robert Houssart
Conductor
It is astonishing what the Dutch guest conductor Robert Houssart got out of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in terms of rhythmic swing and precision in detail, especially in the intricately shimmering prelude to the third act
Robert Houssart brings the improvisatory flexibility of his early organ training to conducting in multiple fields. His work in the theatre in both opera and ballet is complemented by a commitment to new music, and he works closely with a number of leading composers.
He serves as Resident Conductor at Royal Danish Opera, where he has conducted around 150 performances of operas, ballets and concerts, including new operas such as Louise Alenius’s Manualen, David Bruce’s Nothing and several major works by Thomas Adès: The Exterminating Angel, Powder Her Face and the Wayne MacGregor ballet The Dante Project. In 2019 he led the world premiere of Hans Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen. He enjoys a close relationship with the Royal Danish orchestra and with the new music ensemble, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen. He has won three Danish Reumert prizes for Opera of the Year.
Houssart made his debut with the Australian premiere of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre at the Adelaide Festival, and early in his career worked as a pianist, vocal coach and conductor at La Monnaie, English National Opera and Opera North and Opéra Comique, as well as Theater an der Wien. His repertoire is wide-ranging: he has conducted Mozart and Wagner at Longborough Festival, Tchaikovsky in Dresden, Bernstein with the Hallé, Puccini with Opera North and Strauss at Luzerner Theater.
Current highlights include returns and debuts at Opéra de Paris, Semperoper Dresden, Opéra National du Rhin, Opernhaus Zürich, Grand Theatre de Genève, Angers Nantes Opéra, Opéra de Lausanne and Copenhagen Opera Festival among others.
Appointments
- Resident Conductor, Royal Danish Opera
