Eliahu Inbal

Conductor

IN THE MAGAZINE

In the magazine

A new recording of Brahms' Symphony No. 1 and Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its Conductor Laureate Eliahu Inbal was released at the end of July.

NEW RECORDINGS

Eliahu Inbal's recording of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is the first purely orchestral release by the fledgling SWR Symphony Orchestra.

Our three-part series of interviews marking Eliahu Inbal's 85th birthday kicks off with musings and memories about his musical roots.

more articles in the magazine

SAT 28.02.

20:00
Seoul Arts Center - Music Hall

FRI 27.03.

19:30
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

SAT 28.03.

19:30
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

Biography

In Inbal, one can trace the clear traits of role models and teachers such as Franco Ferrara and Sergiu Celibidache; he possesses the strength for tranquillity and the sense to create unbridled passion and dramatic effect. (Die Welt)

Since winning first prize in the Cantelli Conducting Competition at the age of 26, Eliahu Inbal has enjoyed a career of international renown, conducting leading orchestras around the world. Over the years, he has been appointed principal conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony (hr-Sinfonieorchester), Teatro La Fenice in Venice, RAI National Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Czech Philharmonic, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, who named him conductor laureate in 2014. From 2019 until 2022, Eliahu Inbal served as principal conductor of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and also became its conductor laureate in 2023.

During his tenure with the hr-Sinfonieorchester (1974-1990), where he is still honorary conductor, Eliahu Inbal distinguished himself with his outstanding musicianship. Based near Zurich, the charismatic Israeli conductor has garnered international acclaim for his interpretations of Mahler and Bruckner on a number of award-winning recordings (Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque), and was the first to record the original versions of Bruckner’s symphonies. He has received special recognition particularly for his interpretations of Dmitri Shostakovich’s symphonies.

In the 2025/26 season, Eliahu Inbal will celebrate his 90th birthday with performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13, ‘Babi Yar,’ with the KBS Symphony Orchestra. He will also return to the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. In recent years, orchestra tours and guest conducting engagements have taken him repeatedly to Japan and Spain, as well as to the orchestras in Monte Carlo, St. Petersburg, La Scala in Milan and the Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Brucknerfest Linz (with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin), the SWR Symphony Orchestra, and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne.

He has conducted opera at such renowned houses as Paris, Glyndebourne, Munich, Stuttgart, Zurich, and Madrid, among others. He celebrated the 2013 Wagner anniversary year with highly acclaimed performances of Tristan and Isolde at the Festival de Opera de A Coruña and Parsifal at the Vlaamse Opera (International Opera Award 2014). Eliahu Inbal has also been awarded the national Italian critic’s prize Abbiati and Viotti for his exceptional interpretations of Wagner’s Ring cycle with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.

Eliahu Inbal’s extensive discography includes the complete symphonic works of Berlioz, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Ravel, Schumann, Shostakovich, Scriabin, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, and the Second Viennese School. He has recorded these works with the hr-Sinfonieorchester as well as with the Philharmonia Orchestra London, Orchestre National de France, Vienna Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the Czech Philharmonic. His performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 (full version by D. Cooke), part of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Mahler cycle, was also released on DVD.

Born in Israel, Eliahu Inbal studied violin and composition at the Jerusalem Music Academy before completing his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris on the recommendation of Leonard Bernstein. His teachers there included Louis Fourestier, Olivier Messiaen, and Nadia Boulanger. He was also greatly influenced by Franco Ferrara in Hilversum (Netherlands) and Sergiu Celibidache in Siena (Italy). In 1990, the French government named Eliahu Inbal an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. In February 2001 he was awarded the Golden Medal of Merit from the city of Vienna. He received the Goethe Badge of Honour from the City of Frankfurt and the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany in 2006.

2025/26 season

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References

"Where Mozart was convincing, Mahler was downright inspiring. Almost across the board, the audience rose and celebrated all the artists, who had visibly given their all, with unending applause. This performance was undoubtedly a resounding success and a pleasure to be a part of."

klassik-begeistert, Daniel Janz, 19/10/2022

"Inbal, an old master, knew instinctively how to make known to the audience the full force of Bruckner's singularity beyond any limitations of the circumstances. The Bruckner Festival thus took place in the not-quite-full house, whose walls shook at the end of the eighty minutes from enthusiastic cheers and applause."

Österreichisches Volksblatt, September 2019

"This work [...] sounded incredibly cohesive under Inbal´s direction. Like a revolution via musical notes. A colourful yet still urgent music. Art that might possibly help -- if only to merely survive. Conductor and orchestra interpreted Shostakovich with thrilling intensity and the highest ability."

Badische Zeitung, Johannes Adam, 14/11/2018