Armin Jordan

Bio: Known for his gentle hand and preternatural gift for delicate understatement in his work (often referred to as a "minimalist"), the Swiss-born classical conductor Armin Jordan will be best remembered, posthumously, as the musical director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande from 1985-1997.A Lucerne native, Jordan came of age in Fribourg and studied theology,… More Bio: Known for his gentle hand and preternatural gift for delicate understatement in his work (often referred to as a "minimalist"), the Swiss-born classical conductor Armin Jordan will be best remembered, posthumously, as the musical director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande from 1985-1997.A Lucerne native, Jordan came of age in Fribourg and studied theology, literature, and law, but thereafter settled on music as a full-time career, first with a stint as assistant conductor in Biel, Switzerland, in 1957, and then as maestro of several Swiss opera houses: Zurich from 1963-1968, St. Gallen from 1968-1971, and Basel from 1971-1989, a period when he also conducted the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. Jordan developed a heightened affinity and gift for conducting the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (for which he is best known in Europe) and Richard Wagner (which cemented his reputation in the United States). Indeed, Jordan's 1985 debut in the U.S. entailed leading numerous performances of Wagner's Parsifal in Seattle. Thirteen years later, he conducted Tristan & Isolde in that city, as well.Thanks in no small part to the nature of his work, Jordan's cinematic involvement was decidedly limited, save appearances in a handful of filmed operatic and symphonic performances (such as his conducting of the 1995 concert film Felicity Lott: In Recital). One exception arrived in 1982, when Jordan portrayed Amfortas in Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's film-opera Parsifal, adapted from Wagner's opera, and conducted the film as well. The role took advantage of Jordan's great, imposing figure, flat face, and deep-set, expressionistic eyes. It did not, however, utilize his singing voice, as Syberberg dubbed in that of the bass-baritone vocalist Wolfgang Schöne.Armin Jordan died in his sleep, in a Zurich hospital, on September 20, 2006. He was 74. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi