A new approach to

Historically Inspired performance

By Eugene Tzigane

What would Classical or Romantic era music sound like if we used all the historical performance practices we know of and combined them with the flexibility, emotionality, and subjective mindset of the Enlightenment or Romanticism? It is still largely an unanswered question, despite the mountains of musicological evidence and the wealth of early historical recordings available.

Though the Period Instrument movement has made great advances in historical practices, many performances of the Classical and especially the Romantic repertoire are still not free of Modernist aesthetics ideals like perfectionism and fidelity to the text. Shedding these ideas is a difficult task. Consequently, only a select group of historical practices have been cherry-picked to match our current tastes. The next step is to let go of the known and take the leap into the beautiful unknown.

Through research, intuition, and imagination, I build a living picture of the era from which a piece was born. Intellectual and emotional immersion are the keys to performing the music as if from another time. Understanding that the range of styles, techniques and tastes of an epoch opens the door to the evolution of a personal style. This would have been expected at any moment in time prior to the rise of Modernism in the 1920s. I attempt to put myself in the shoes of a composer and his or her most famous champions.

I ask myself, how did Beethoven or Liszt play? Or, how did Wagner revolutionize conducting? What were the ideals and philosophies that guided their activities as composers and performers? It's the musical equivalent of an actor on stage who embodies a character in a realistic and believable way. It is at its essence a Holistic Approach to Historically Inspired Performance Practices.

Born in Japan, raised on both sides of the Pacific and now based in Europe, Eugene Tzigane grew up in an artistic family surrounded by all kinds of literature, cinema, dance, and of course, music. From an early age, he was exposed to music of vastly different origins from Classical and Jazz (his first love), to Eastern European folk music and dance.
This eclectic mix of cultures and musical interests formed Eugene into a musician that cannot but help think beyond the usual categories, boundaries, and traditions. His insatiable curiosity drives him to constantly discover new and fresh ways of performing the old War Horses. This is informed by his endless search for improvement. The Japanese call, ‘Kaizen’, which translates roughly to ‘eternal improvement.
- Kungliga Hofkappelle, Stockholm
- PFK Prague Philharmonia on Tour to the Brucknerfest 2022
- Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester
- Aarhus Symfoniorkester
- Jyväskylä Sinfonia
- Kuopio Symphony Orchestra
- Prager Symphoniker on Tour to Germany with Camille Thomas
- Polish Baltic Philharmonic, Gdansk
Positions
- Chief Conductor & Artistic Director, Designate - Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, from Autumn 2023
- Chefdirigent - Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (NWD) 2010 - 2014
- Principal Guest - Filharmonia Pomorska, Bydgoszcz (2010-2013)
Prizes
- Grand Prize | 8th Grzegorsz Fitelberg Competition, Katowice
- 2nd Prize | 4th Georg Solti Competition, Frankfurt-am-Main
- 2nd Prize | 4th Lovro von Matačić Competition, Zagreb
Degrees
- The Juilliard School | M.M. in Orchestral Conducting | James DePreist
- Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Stockholm | Post Graduate Diploma | Jorma Panula
Awards
- Bruno Walter Memorial Award (The Juilliard School)
- Franz Berwald Memorial Prize (Royal College of Music, Stockholm)
- Bruckner Orchester Linz
- Bayerische Staatsoper
- Oper Frankfurt
- Hamburgerische Staatsoper
- Royal Swedish Opera
- London Philharmonic Orchestra
- BBC Scottish SO
- Royal Scottish National Orchestra
- Opera North
- Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
- Helsingborg Symfoniorkester
- Copenhagen Philharmonic
- Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia
- Netherlands Philharmonic
- Sinfonia Lahti
- MDR Symphonie-Orchester
- Tokyo Metropolitan SO
- Frankfurt Radio SO
- Norwegian Radio SO
- Adelaide SO
- West Australian SO
- Sinfonieorchester Basel
- Gävle Symfoniorkester
- Aarhus Symfoniorkester
- Tampere Filharmonia
- among others