
Lawrence Foster
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“Lawrence Foster seems to have been put on this planet to conduct Enescu’s music. He is clearly a true believer and he understands every technical nuance and every expressive twist and turn”.
(The Telegraph)
Lawrence Foster is known for his exhilarating and expressive performances across a wide range of repertoire, enjoying a major international career spanning the US, Europe, and Asia. Recognised as one of the most eminent conductors of Enescu’s music, Foster’s interpretations are celebrated for their faithfulness to the score and deep artistic devotion: “Lawrence Foster seems to have been put on this planet to conduct Enescu’s music. He is clearly a true believer and he understands every technical nuance and every expressive twist and turn” – The Telegraph.
For the 2025 – 2026 season, Lawrence Foster’s engagements include performances with the London Philharmonia alongside Evgeny Kissin, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest, the NCPA Orchestra in China, and a tour in Poland with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, among others. Foster will also return for concerts with the Polish National Radio Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo.
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Following his tenures as Music Director of Opéra de Marseille and Artistic and Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Foster continues to be in demand for both operatic and symphonic programmes. Recent and upcoming collaborations include performances of Brahms, Prokofiev, Enescu, Copland, Korngold, Kurt Weill, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Mahler, Berg, and Penderecki, with orchestras such as the Bruckner Orchester Linz, Würth Philharmonic Orchestra, and Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, in addition to his regular collaborations with Opéra Marseille and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra.
A long-standing and iconic figure in the classical music world, Foster was awarded the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood in 1966, became assistant conductor to Zubin Mehta at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and chief guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969. He has since held music directorships with the Houston Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, and the Aspen Music Festival and School, among many others.
Foster is particularly appreciated as an interpreter of the works of George Enescu and has made a comprehensive survey of commercial recordings of Enescu’s music. He served as artistic director of the George Enescu Festival from 1998 to 2001, reopening the doors of this great cultural event after the fall of communism in Romania. In 2023, Lawrence Foster was awarded the Romanian National Order of Merit, Commander, for his contribution to Romanian culture and the promotion of the music of Enescu.
With a discography of exceptional breadth and acclaim, Lawrence Foster has established himself as one of today’s most distinctive recording conductors. He has taken on works across the symphonic, concerto and operatic repertoire, winning both critical praise and awards. His recording of Enescu’s Oedipe (EMI) was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque from the Académie Charles Cros in France.
In recent years he has recorded intensively for Pentatone, including Schumann’s symphonies, orchestral works by Kodály, Bartók and Ligeti, as well as concertos by Bruch, Korngold, Rachmaninov, Grieg and Chopin in collaboration with leading soloists. His Pentatone operatic projects include Othello, Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La Fanciulla del West, among others.
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Season Highlights
Silesian Philharmonic
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GEORGES BIZET: Symphony No. 1 in C major
EDOUARD LALO: Le Roi d’Ys Overture
ALBERT ROUSSEL: Bacchus et Ariane Suite No. 2
“Szmon Nehring and the Polish National Radio Orchestra (…) were helped by the clear authoritative conducting of Lawrence Foster, the orchestra’s new Principal, who – unlike most of the other conductors on the podium here – truly listens to where the soloist is leading. Foster (…) is a conductor who deserves a far more glittering reputation than he has. There are very few of his generation still conducting who have the calm perception that he brings to all his music making.”
“We must salute the magnificent work of Maestro Lawrence Foster [with Orchestre de l’Opéra de Marseille in Mozarts’ The Magic Flute], who left his mark on the musical score. Far from giving in to the current fashion that wants to play fast and strong, the maestro takes advantage of measured tempi that let the orchestra play and find that unity of sound that we notice in each sentence. Shades, phrasing, colours, support of the singers, everything is there in an impeccable style where everything is thought through.”
“Lawrence Foster’s conducting is remarkably balanced and sounds just right. Despite his natural and overall relaxed approach as well as much warmth and refinement, Schubert’s music never loses its rhetoric force in these fine performances.”
“Incorporating his vast knowledge of the intricacies of each piece, Foster never lost control over the massive orchestra; at the same time, his passion for the music was conveyed through the fiery vigor of his conducting. <…> Despite the often-jarring tonal shifts, Foster guided the orchestra’s interpretation of each variation masterfully, effectively communicating each movement’s distinct character.” ‑Joshua Bell wows in Houston Symphony”
“Guest conductor Lawrence Foster easily gained the large audience’s approval with his no-nonsense approach, as he had also done just the previous evening, when he easily led the phenomenal pianist Garrick Ohlsson and the orchestra through a sublime performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto”
“Foster clicked with the musicians of the Residentie Orkest. Having warmed up with “Le chasseur maudit’…Foster knew how to unite the musicians in one heartbeat. The performances of Faure’s ‘Pelleas et Melisande and Debussy’s ‘La mer’ proved that the rich tradition of the Residentie Orkest still is very much alive”
“Lawrence Foster conducts with the strength of those who know how to loosed the leash to let the music live. <…> The conductor intervenes just like a captain navigating amongst skiffs in order to organise this musical flow. It’s beautiful and exhilarating”
“The Orchestere Philharmonique de Marseille under the experiences Lawrence Foster is on splendid form, playing with tight ensemble, verve and colour.”
“It was, however, a real pleasure to hear the score so lovingly conducted by Lawrence Foster, who drew warm French colors from the Orchestre PHilharmonique deRadio France. It was in the pit, rather than on the stage that the magic of Roussel’s work was best realised.”