Born in Toro, Spain, Jesús López Cobos graduated in Philosophy at the Madrid University, and in Composition at the Conservatory of Madrid. He then studied orchestra and chorus conducting at the Music Academy in Vienna. Winner of the Besançon and Copenhagen (Nikolai Malko) Competitions, he made his debut in Prague as Symphony Conductor, and in Venice as Opera Conductor. In 1971 he started to conduct the Berlin Opera until 1990, having been his General Music Director since 1981. With this Opera he visited Washington and Japan; in the latter he conducted the first complete performance of Wagner's complete Ring Cycle. In 1975 he made his debut in Los Angeles and London with their respective Philharmonic Orchestras. During six years he was Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic, and toured with them in Japan and Spain. He conducted regularly all the big European and American Orchestras, besides participating in the most famous international Festivals: Edinburgh, Salzburg, Berlin, Prague, Luzern, Montreux, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Hollywood Bowl, etc.
He was Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra 1990-2000), and also of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1986-2001) having recently been appointed their Emeritus Music Director. He also was artistically responsible of the French Youth Orchestra during 3 Seasons, and Music Director of the Spanish National Orchestra (1984-1988).
López Cobos was the first Spanish Conductor at the Milano Scala, the London Covent Garden, the Opera of Paris, and at the New York Metropolitan. At present López Cobos has started again to conduct opera regularly, and collaborates frequently with the Bastille Opera in Paris. His next opera projects, , will lead him again , to New York Metropolitan for “Manon”,Chicago etc. besides the productions at Opera House Teatro Real in Madrid of which he is the Music Director since September 2003.
His wide discography includes an important number of recordings for Phillips, Decca, Virgin, Teldec, Telarc, Denon, Claves, Cascavelle, etc. With the Cincinnati Orchestra, he recorded exclusively for Telarc works by Falla, Ravel, Bizet, Franck, Mahler, Respighi, Villa-Lobos, Shostakovich, etc. He also made a cycle of the Bruckner Symphonies. With the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra he recorded for Denon a cycle of the Haydn Titled Symphonies, and for Teldec a series of Rossini operas, among which El Barbiere di Siviglia and La Italiana in Algeri have already been edited.
Lopez Cobos conducted the closing concert of the Madrid Teatro Real as concert hall, and the opening concerts of the National Auditorium in 1988. He was the first conductor to receive the Principe de Asturias Prize of Arts, and he is Honour Member of the Berlin Opera. The German Government gave him the highest reward, the First Class Merit Cross of the German Republic, for his contribution to their culture. The Cincinnati University nominated him “Doctor Honoris Causa” for Arts, he received from the Spanish Goverment the Beaux Arts God Medal and the French Government distinguished him with the title of Officer de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and recently he was granted the Prize of the CEOE Foundation.
2005
