Bio
First Prize winner and Special Prize of the Orchestra at the 8th International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition, Nathanaël Iselin is a young French conductor currently based in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. He is the Conductor-in-Residence of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Nathanaël started his career as assistant conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the first person to hold that position in Denmark. Shortly thereafter he won the prestigious Jorma Panula Competition in Finland. He was then appointed Conductor in Residence of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the past season include conducting the Danish National Radio Orchestra, and the orchestras of Odense, Aalborg, Sønderjylland, Lahti, Vaasa, Jyväskylä, Iceland and Picardie, in pieces such as Bruckner 3rd symphony, Dvořák 8th, Beethoven 8th… Back in 2019 he conducted the Copenhagen Philharmonic in a performance for Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark.
On various other occasions Nathanaël had the chance to conduct such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the Singapore Symphony, the Finnish Radio, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Philharmonie Konstanz.
On the lyrical scene, Nathanaël regularly conducts at Opera Hedeland, Denmark, where he led fully-staged youth audience productions of Carmen and Rigoletto. He recently recorded Peter Heise’s opera Drot og Marsk. He will return in 2023 to conduct the main production of La Cenerentola. He also worked at the Bern Opera, Switzerland, as a second conductor and assistant for a production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.
Nathanaël Iselin has studied orchestra conducting in four of the most prestigious music universities in Europe : the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, the Hochschule der Künste in Zürich and the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Whilst a student he has been mentored by such renowned conductors as Iván Fischer, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, Susanna Mälkki, Sakari Oramo, Michael Schønwandt, Giordano Bellincampi, Johannes Schlaefli, Thomas Søndergård, Alexander Vedernikov, Simone Young and Jaap van Zweden.
His studies at the Paris Conservatoire have given him both a love of and an insight into the music of French impressionism such as Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and Ravel’s La Valse. He has lived in Switzerland, Denmark, France, Iceland, the Netherlands and Finland, taking the chance to deepen his love for Finnish music – Sibelius and Rautavaara in particular.
As a percussionist, he has performed with the Ensemble Intercontemporain-CNSMDP, the Limoges Opera, the Nouvelle Europe Orchestra, led by conductors such as David Zinman, Dennis Russell Davies and Matthias Pintscher.
Repertoire List
Symphonic
| J. Adams | The Chairman Dances | |
| Lollapalooza | ||
| J.S. Bach | Brandenburg Concerto No.3 | |
| Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor | ||
| Bartók | Concerto for orchestra | |
| Romanian Folk Dances for orchestra | ||
| Beethoven | Symphony 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | |
| Egmont Overture | ||
| Coriolan Overture | ||
| Prometheus | ||
| Violin Concerto | ||
| Violin Romanze 1 & 2 | ||
| Piano Concerto 3, 4, 5 | ||
| Berg | Lied der Lulu | |
| Berlioz | Symphonie Fantastique | |
| Roman Carnival Overture | ||
| Bizet | L’Arlésienne, Suites 1 & 2 | |
| Borodin | Polovtsian Dances | |
| In the Steppes of Central Asia | ||
| Bottesini | Double-bass Concerto No.2 | |
| Boulez | Messagesquisse | |
| Brahms | Symphony 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Violin Concerto | ||
| Akademische Festouvertüre | ||
| Variations on a Theme by Haydn | ||
| Hungarian Dances | ||
| Britten | Simple Symphony | |
| Bruckner | Symphony 3 | |
| J. Bull | In Nomine a 5 | |
| S.-E. Bäck | Decet | |
| Chaminade | Flute Concertino | |
| Copland | Clarinet Concerto | |
| Debussy | La Mer | |
| Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune | ||
| Delibes | Pizzicato | |
| Donizetti | English Horn Concertino | |
| Dukas | L’Apprenti Sorcier | |
| Dvořák | Symphony 7, 8, 9 | |
| Cello Concerto | ||
| Slavonic Dances | ||
| Serenade for Strings, Op.22 | ||
| Elgar | Enigma Variations | |
| Enescu | Chamber Symphony | |
| Romanian Rhapsody 1 | ||
| Fauré | Pavane for orchestra | |
| Falla | The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite 2 | |
| J. Gade | Tango Jalousie | |
| N. Gade | Echoes of Ossian, Overture | |
| Gluck | Alceste, Overture | |
| Gounod | Faust, Overture | |
| Grieg | Piano Concerto | |
| Peer Gynt, Suites 1 & 2 | ||
| Holberg Suite | ||
| Våren | ||
| Haendel | Concerto Grosso HWV 322 | |
| J. Haydn | Symphony 83, 85, 96, 101, 102, 104 | |
| L’isola disabitata Overture | ||
| Il Terremoto | ||
| G. Helsted | Decet | |
| Hummel | Trumpet Concerto in Eb | |
| Ibert | Divertissement | |
| Janáček | Lachian Dances | |
| W. Kilar | Orawa | |
| Kodály | Dances of Galánta | |
| Ligeti | Kammerkonzert | |
| M. Lindberg | Corrente | |
| Lutoslawski | Symphony 3 | |
| Mahler | Symphony 1, 4, 5 | |
| Mendelssohn | Symphony 3, 4 | |
| Violin Concerto | ||
| A Midsummer Night’s Dream | ||
| The Hebrides Overture | ||
| Moussorgsky | Pictures at an exhibition | |
| Mozart | Symphony 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 | |
| Piano Concerto 23 | ||
| Clarinet Concerto | ||
| Oboe Concerto | ||
| Requiem | ||
| Don Giovanni Overture | ||
| Le Nozze di Figaro Overture | ||
| Die Zauberflöte Overture | ||
| La Clemenza di Tito Overture | ||
| Sinfonia Concertante for four winds | ||
| Serenade in C moll KV 388 | ||
| Divertimento KV 136 | ||
| Divertimento KV 138 | ||
| Nielsen | Symphony 4 | |
| Clarinet Concerto | ||
| Maskarade Overture | ||
| Aladdin Suite | ||
| Offenbach | Barcarolle | |
| Purcell | Dido and Aeneas, Ah, belinda | |
| When I am laid in Earth | ||
| Prokofiev | Romeo and Juliet, Suite 2 | |
| Classical Symphony | ||
| Peter and the Wolf | ||
| Piano Concerto 1, 2 | ||
| Rachmaninov | Symphonic Dances | |
| The Rock | ||
| Piano Concerto 2 | ||
| Prelude Op. 23, No. 5 (orch. Iselin) | ||
| Rautavaara | Hommage à Liszt Ferrenc | |
| Ravel | La Valse | |
| Daphnis et Chloé, Suite 2 | ||
| Ma Mère l’Oye | ||
| Le Tombeau de Couperin | ||
| Pavane pour une infante défunte | ||
| Gaspard de la Nuit (orch. Constant) | ||
| Piano Concerto in G major | ||
| Sheherazade, La Flûte Enchantée | ||
| L’heure espagnole, Oh, la pitoyable aventure | ||
| Reinecke | Flute Concerto | |
| Rimsky-Korsakov | Scheherazade | |
| Rossini | Il barbiere di Siviglia, Overture | |
| La scala di seta, Overture | ||
| Saint-Saëns | Symphony 3 | |
| Cello Concerto 1, op33 | ||
| Violin Concerto 3, op61 | ||
| Danse Macabre | ||
| Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso | ||
| Sarasate | Zigeunerweisen | |
| Schubert | Symphony 1 | |
| Symphony 8, unfinished | ||
| Schumann | Symphony 3, 4 | |
| Piano Concerto | ||
| Cello Concerto | ||
| Overture, Scherzo and Finale, op52 | ||
| Schönberg | Kammersymphonie No.1, op9 | |
| Shostakovich | Symphony 5, 9 | |
| Chamber Symphony op.110a | ||
| Piano Concerto 2 | ||
| Cello Concerto 1 | ||
| Sibelius | Symphony 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 | |
| Violin Concerto | ||
| Pelleas and Mélisande | ||
| Tapiola | ||
| Valse Triste | ||
| Luonnotar | ||
| Finlandia | ||
| N. Skalkottas | Five Greek Dances | |
| Smetana | Doktor Faust Overture | |
| E. Smyth | Concerto for Violin and Horn | |
| R. Strauss | Don Juan | |
| Der Rosenkavalier Suite | ||
| Four Last Songs | ||
| Ariadne auf Naxos, Grossmächtige Prinzessin | ||
| J. Strauss | Radetzky March | |
| J. Strauss II | Die Fledermaus, Overture | |
| Pizzicato Polka | ||
| Stravinsky | The Rite of Spring | |
| The Firebird | ||
| Petrushka | ||
| Pulcinella Suite | ||
| A Soldier’s Tale | ||
| Renard | ||
| Dumbarton Oaks | ||
| Concertino for 12 instruments | ||
| Octet | ||
| Symphonies of Wind instruments | ||
| F.v. Suppé | Light Cavalry Overture | |
| Tchaikovsky | Symphony 1, 4, 5, 6 | |
| Violin Concerto | ||
| Piano Concerto 1 | ||
| Rococo Variations for Cello | ||
| Swan Lake Suite | ||
| Nutcracker Suite | ||
| Vaughan Williams | The Lark Ascending Songs of Travel |
|
| Verdi | La forza del destino, Overture | |
| La Traviata, Overture | ||
| Vivaldi | The Four Seasons | |
| Sinfonia RV 169 | ||
| Wagner | Tristan und Isolde, Vorspiel und Liebestod | |
| Lohengrin, Vorspiel | ||
| Lohengrin, Akt 3 Vorspiel | ||
| Tannhäuser, Vorspiel | ||
| O, du mein holder Abendstern | ||
| Siegfried Idyll | ||
| Walton | Viola Concerto | |
| Weber | Clarinet Concertino, op.26 | |
| J. Williams | Star Wars Overture | |
| D. Wirén | Serenade | |
| F. Zappa | Dog breath, Uncle Meat |
Opera
| Bizet | Carmen |
| Heise | Drot og Marsk |
| S. Landi | La morte d’Orfeo |
| Mozart | Don Giovanni * |
| Le Nozze di Figaro * | |
| Puccini | La Bohème * |
| Ravel | L’enfant et les sortilèges * |
| Rossini | La Cenerentola * |
| Smetana | The Bartered Bride |
| Stravinsky | Renard |
| Verdi | Aida |
| Rigoletto |
* in preparation
Contemporary
| S. Beamish | Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten (2013) |
| D. Bjarnason | Bow to string (2010) |
| R. Corbisier | Une guerre aveugle (2015 – world premiere) |
| M. Goulet | Beach Ball (2017) |
| Symphonic Chocolates (2012) | |
| Citius Altius Fortius (2008) | |
| B. Gísladóttir | Hringla (2022) |
| Flashes from the various east (2017) | |
| Vape (2016) | |
| P. Graham | A Portrait of Paris (2013) |
| S. Gubaidulina | Sieben Worte (1982) |
| Glorious Percussion (2008) | |
| B. Gunge | Uden titel (2001) |
| G.F. Haas | Was mir Beethoven erzählt (2020) |
| F. Karlsson | Happy, happy hell in that they (2017) |
| G. Kristinsson | Flekar (2021) |
| J. Linkola | Scorpio (2021) |
| A.G. Madsen | Träume nicht (2021 – world premiere) |
| Á. Másson | Capriccio (2015) |
| K. Ólafsson | Mar (2020) |
| N. Pantsulaia | Hydra (2018) |
| M. Ratkje | Paragraf 112 (2014) |
| Concerto for voice (2015) | |
| A. Schnelzer | A Freak in Burbank (2009) |
| P. Sejlund | Bubbles (2010) |
| R. Šerkšnytė | Fires (2010) |
| C. Shaw | Entr’acte (2011) |
| I.Skarphéðinsdóttir | Pons papilloma (2021) |
| M. Skoryk | Melody |
| N. Stookey | The composer is dead! (2009) |
| A. Tarrodi | Paradisfåglar II (2013) |
| H. Tómasson | It relaxes me, the repetition (2018) |
| V. Vaka | Gemæltan (2020) |
| F. Waksman | Protonic Games (2012) |
| Shuai Zhang | Concerto for Di (2019) |
| R. Zwicki | 123456789 (2021 – world premiere) |
| A. Þorvaldsdóttir | Archora (2022) |
| Cathamorphosis (2020) | |
| Metacosmos (2017) |