Music to the Bournonville Ballets: Napoli

Peter Ernst Lassen
Peter Ernst Lassen was born in Copenhagen and educated as a pianist and conductor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He continued his studies in Salzburg with Herman Scherchen (1962), in Berlin with Herbert von Karajan (1962/63) and in Bayreuth with Karl Böhm (1963).
Peter Ernst Lassen was engaged as conductor at the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra during 1963-66 and for the Danish Radio Orchestra during 1966-70.
1972-88 he was the resident conductor at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, conducting both opera and ballet. During this period he also gave several concerts with danish regional orchestras as well as at the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He also conducted concerts with the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra and the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
From 1983 he was a frequent guest at the Hamburg State Opera, where he in 1988 became resident conductor and conducted a large number of ballets and operas. During this period he also gave concerts with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.
In 1991 he was appointed Music Director for the Ballet and conductor at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, where he since then has conducted ballets as well as operas.
Peter Ernst Lassen has guested the Bayerische Staatsoper, München, the English National Ballet, The Norwegian Opera, and the Stockholm Opera.
He has conducted guest productions on tours to the Metropolitan Opera New York, Vienna State Opera, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Paris Opera, Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden, to all the major cities of Japan, and to Beijing and Shanghai.
Since 1994 Peter Ernst Lassen has been a regular guest conductor at the Royal Operahouse, Covent Garden and in 1996 he was appionted Principal Guest Conductor for the Birmingham Ballet Symphonia. In July 1997 he conducted at the closing Gala at the Royal Opera House, London. In October 1994 he gave his debut at Opera National de Paris, Bastille, and was reinvited for the opening Gala performance of Palais Garnier. In 1999 he conducted two new ballet productions at the Paris Opera, and joined the Ballet National on a tour to Dijon.
From the season 2001/02 Peter Ernst Lassen is frequently guesting the Finnish National opera, Helsinki, the Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
In spring 2004 he gave his debut at the Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin, and was reengaged for the 2004/05 season.
In the years as resident conductor at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen he studied and conducted the Bournonville-repertoire, which he with this CD-set presents with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra.