Biography

“Conducting the MDR Symphony Orchestra was Karsten Januschke, who already enjoys a very good reputation. The reason why became clear in the “Reiheins” concert. Januschke breathed new life into Dvorak's Symphony 'From the New World'. This is no hyped-up young star ailing about on the podium to push himself into the Best Of list, but rather a great talent working on sophisticated ways of connecting the musical work to musical partners. The enthusiastic final applause was warmly shared by orchestra and conductor together.”
Leipziger Volkszeitung on the concert at Gewandhaus Leipzig

Within the space of a few years, Karsten Januschke has made a name for himself in the eld of concerts and opera as a great talent of the younger generation of conductors. Characterised by a natural authority and and expressive conducting technique, his communication with orchestras, soloists and singers is commanding and collegial. The prerequisite for his rehearsals is an in-depth study of the work in hand, and he takes an approach that combines a clear sound concept with great eciency producing concerts and performances of extraordinary emotion and artistic flexibility.

After a production of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa at the Tiroler Festspiele in July 2024, which was celebrated by both the press and the public, Karsten Januschke will open the 2024/25 season at the Staatstheater Darmstadt with a new production of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Requiem for a Young Poet paired with Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel. Following this, he will make his debut at the Komische Oper Berlin with The Magic Flute in a production by Barrie Kosky, and he will conduct a series of performances of The Flying Dutchman at the National Theatre Prague. Additionally, Karsten Januschke will lead the new production of Aribert Reimann's Melusine at the Frankfurt Opera, honoring the composer who passed away in 2024.

In recent years, Karsten Januschke has made notable debuts at the Semperoper Dresden, the New National Theatre Tokyo, and the National Theatre Prague with Don Giovanni, as well as at the Bavarian State Opera, the National Theatre Prague (with Zemlinsky's A Florentine Tragedy) and the Volksoper Vienna. He has received repeat invitations to the Frankfurt Opera (for new productions of Lost Highway by Olga Neuwirth, Handel's Tamerlano, and Oenbach's The Bandits), the Stuttgart State Opera (for Hansel and Gretel and The Marriage of Figaro), Bregenz (Fidelio), and Oper im Steinbruch. In 2021, Oehms Classics released the album Love and Despair featuring bass Andreas Bauer Kanabas and the Latvian Festival Orchestra under the direction of Karsten Januschke.

In symphonic concerts he conducted the world premiere of a work by Farzia Fallah with the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the German premiere of a concerto by Katherine Balch with the State Orchestra Darmstadt featuring cellist Maximilian Hornung. Additionally, Karsten Januschke has appeared as a guest conductor in the symphonic realm with ensembles such as the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the DSO Berlin, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, the RSO Vienna, the Budapest Philharmonic, and Ensemble Modern.

A defining period in Karsten Januschke‘s career was spent at the Oper Frankfurt where he was solo repetiteur from 2008 and subsequently became Kapellmeister. He conducted works from every era here, such as Don Carlos, La Traviata, Eugen Onegin or Bartók’s Bluebeard. Mozart‘s works soon emerged as a particular focus and his spirited and energetic renditions, especially of the Da Ponte operas, have conrmed his position as an expert.

Originally from Schleswig-Holstein, Karsten Januschke studied piano and musicology, and completed his conducting studies with Prof. Georg Mark at the Vienna Conservatoire with honours. During this time, he worked at the Vienna State Opera as a solo repetiteur and conductor of children‘s operas, as well as at the
Theater an der Wien and later at the Bayreuth Festival.

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Trailer: Don Giovanni Mozart - National Theatre Prague 

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Trailer: "Die Banditen" Jaques Offenbach - Oper Frankfurt 

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