Recognized by The New York Times as a “virtuoso video opera director”, Brian Large has more than six hundred programs of opera, symphony and ballet to his credit. Born in London, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music. After graduation from the University of London with Doctorate degrees in both Music and Philosophy his post-graduate work brought him to Vienna and Prague where his interest in Czech and Slavic opera led him to write and publish definitive books on the music of Smetana and Martinů. He has also contributed to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and The Grove Dictionary of Opera.

The 2011-12 schedule will take Brian Large from Europe to North and South America to tape opera, concerts, recitals, galas and special events in traditional venues as well as unique locales – some for HD broadcast thereby reaching significantly expanded audiences in movie theaters internationally.

Highlights of Brian Large’s 2010-11 season included galas at Disney Hall with Gustavo Dudamel and Juan Diego Flores and at Carnegie Hall with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic – both taped for PBS; Mahler Symphony No. 7 with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony; Mahler Symphonies No. 2 & No. 3 and Richard Strauss Heldenleben with Mariss Jansons and the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he directed his 20^th annual New Year’s Day Concert with Franz Welser-Möst and the Vienna Philharmonic

Operatically, from Vienna Dr. Large taped Donizetti’s Anna Bolena with Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca while in the U.S. he documented Rene Pape in the title role of Boris Godunov at the MET and Placido Domino in Daniel Catán’s Il Postino at the los Angeles Opera.

Recent DVD releases include: 2011 New Year’s Day Concert (Welser Möst, VPO, DG); Mark Adamo Little Women (Di Donato, Summers, Houston, Naxos); Elgar Symphony No. 2 (Solti, LPO, ICA); Leoncavallo I Pagliacci (Domingo, Slatkin, Washington, Kultur) Mozart Così fan tutte (A. Fischer, Salzburg, EuroArts); Don Giovanni (de Billy, Salzburg, EuroArts); Puccini La Rondine (Villaume, Washington, Decca); Schoenberg “Gurrelieder” (Jansons, Munich, BR); Richard Strauss Heldenleben (Kempe, RPO, ICA); Verdi Un Ballo in Maschera (Doming, Solti, Salzburg, Arthaus); Wagner Lohengrin (Nelsson, Bayreuth, EuroArts); Tannhäuser (Mehta, Munich, Image); Metropolitan Gala 1991 (Freni, Domingo, Pavarotti, Levine, MET, DGG); A Musical Odyssey in St. Petersburg (Decca); and “Celebration” (Florez, Dudamel and L.A. Phil, DG).

Brian Large has received Emmy Awards in 1992 for The Metropolitan Opera Gala celebrating the Company’s 25th Anniversary at Lincoln Center (Levine) and, again in 1993, for the “live” transmission of Tosca from Rome seen worldwide on 106 television networks. Dr. Large also received a Peabody Award in 1987 for the historic live CBS telecast "Horowitz in Moscow" from the famed Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. The British Television Society recognized him as "Best Television Director" in 1981 for the Chereau/Boulez Der Ring der Nibelungen, in 1990 for "The Three Tenors" from the Baths of Caracalla, Rome and, again, in 1993 for Stiffelio (Carreras) from Covent Garden. The British Academy of Film and Television also recognized Dr. Large in 1990 as "Best Television Director” for "The Three Tenors". Further, for outstanding achievement in the field of television direction, the British Television Society honored Dr. Large in 1993 with its Judges’ Award for career achievement. On New Year’s Day 2011 he televised his twentied Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Day Concert (Welser-Möst) – the most prestigious international classical music programme transmitted “live” each year to millions of viewers. For the excellence of his opus of more than six hundred programmes the 44^th annual Golden Prague Festival (2007) recognized Brian Large with a special “Tribute” for his contributions to the industry and also named his 2006 Salzburg DVD of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro as “Best Performing Arts Programme – Opera”. The French Government has named Dr. Large a “Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters”.

Brian Large joined the BBC in 1965 as a director with special responsibility for music and opera on television. Five years later he was appointed chief opera producer. During this period he televised BBC productions of Burning Fiery Furnace, Idomeneo and Peter Grimes (all with Pears and Britten); La Traviata (Harwood), Macbeth (Johnson, Shicoff, Bailey, Ghiaurov), Amahl and the Night Visitors, Hansel and Gretel, Love for Three Oranges and Die Fliegender Holländer (Jones, Bailey). He commissioned Benjamin Britten to write for television Owen Wingrave (Baker, Fischer, Pears; Britten) whose world premiere he also televised in 1972. At this time for The Royal Opera, Dr. Large directed Tosca (Jurinac), Aida (Jones, Bumbry, Craig; Downes) and Otello (Cossutto, Cappuccilli; Downes). Additionally, he directed numerous programs by Sir Frederic Ashton and Sir Kenneth Macmillan from The Royal Ballet, among others Cinderella (Collier, Dowell), Sleeping Beauty (Sibley) and “Elite Syncopations” (Mason). Apart from The Royal Ballet he also worked with Fonteyn and Nureyev.

While at the BBC Brian Large directed numerous live telecasts of concerts with Claudio Abbado (Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Argerich), Daniel Barenboim (Dvorak Cello Concerto with du Pre), Sir John Barbirolli (Elgar symphonies and Delius orchestral works); Leonard Bernstein (Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Sibelius’s Symphony No 5); Sir Adrian Boult (Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Baker, Pears and Shirley-Quirk; symphonies by Elgar and Vaughn Williams); Britten (Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with Rostropovich; and symphonies); Sir Colin Davis (Shostakovich’s Cello Concerti 1 & 2 with Rostropovich); Kiril Kondrashin (Brahms’ “Double Concerto” with Oistrakh and Rostropovich); Igor Stravinsky ( his “Firebird Ballet”); and Sir William Walton (his Belshazzar’s Feast).

Subsequent to taking leave of the BBC in 1980, Brian Large has continued to direct opera for The Royal Opera including Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Domingo, Baltsa; Prêtre), La Bohème (Cotrubas, Shicoff; Gardelli), Die Fledermaus (Te Kanawa, Prey; Mehta), Der Rosenkavalier (Te Kanawa; Solti), Aida (Studer; Downes), Don Carlo (Cotrubas, Lima; Haitink), Falstaff (Bruson; Giulini), Luisa Miller (Ricciarelli, Domingo, Bruson; Maazel). In recent years he has also directed from London’s Royal Opera telecasts of Romeo et Juliette (Alagna; Mackerras), Lorin Maazel’s world premiere of 1984 (Keenlyside, Damrau; Maazel), Otello (Te Kanawa, Domingo; Solti), Simon Boccanegra (Te Kanawa; Solti), Stiffelio and Il Trovatore (Cura, Hvorostovsky; Rizzi). From the Glyndebourne Festival he has televised The Makopoulos Case (Silja; Sir Andrew Davis) and Le Comte Ory (Massis; Sir Andrew Davis).

Throughout his career, Dr. Large's name has been associated with all the performing arts. He has collaborated with many of the world's foremost conductors including, among others, Claudio Abbado (Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic), Daniel Barenboim (Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic), Pierre Boulez (Vienna Philharmonic), Gustavo Dudamel (Los Angeles Philharmonic); Valery Gergiev (Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic), Bernard Haitink (Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Vienna Philharmonic), Mariss Jansons (Vienna Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk), Carlos Kleiber (Vienna Philharmonic), Sir Neville Marriner (Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Dresden Staatskapelle), Riccardo Muti (Chicago Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, La Scala), Georges Prêtre (Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic), Seiji Ozawa (Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony), Sir Simon Rattle (Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic); Sir Georg Solti (Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Opera Covent Garden); and Franz Welser-Möst (Cleveland Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic).

Following the 1977 internationally televised Royal Opera House Gala celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, invitations came for Dr. Large to direct performing arts programs for many international television networks and opera companies including: Vienna State Opera: Anna Bolena (Netrebko, Pido) La Fille de Regiment (Dessay, Flores), Die Zauberflöte (Norrington), Pique Dame (Freni, Mödl, Kasarova, Atlantov, Chernov, Leiferkus; Ozawa), Lohengrin (Studer, Domingo; Abbado), Manon (Gruberova, Araiza), Un Ballo in Maschera (Pavarotti, Cappuccilli; Abbado), Khovanshchina (Ghiaurov; Abbado), Il Viaggio a Reims (Caballé, Gasdia, Valentini-Terrani, Merritt, Raimondi; Abbado), Elektra (Marton, Studer, Fassbänder; Abbado), Wozzeck (Behrens, Grundhaber; Abbado); Galas: Sevilliana 1992 (Baltsa, Berganza, Jones, Carreras, King, Ghiaurov), 50^th Anniversary Re-Opening Vienna State Opera 5 November 2005 (Isokoski, Baltsa, Botha, Domingo, Terfel, Furlanetto; Ozawa, Mehta, Thielemann, Gatti, Welser-Möst); Vienna Volksoper: Lehar’s Das Land des Lächelns (Botha); Wiener Festwochen: 1995 Rathausplatz Concert Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony (Mehta); 1996; Theater an der Wien: Le Nozze di Figaro (Studer, Raimondi; Abbado); Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Chernov), Così fan tutte (Muti), Don Giovanni (Muti), Le Nozze di Figaro (Muti); Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo (Bartoli; Harnoncourt); Die Fledermaus (Dussmann, Brendel; Harnoncourt); Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella (Hampson; Harnoncourt); Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Salzburg Festival: Lulu (Petibon; Albrecht); Romeo et Juliette (Villazon; Nézet-Séguin); Eugene Onegin (Mattei; Barenboim); La Traviata (Netrebko, Villazon; Rizzi), Die Zauberflöte (three times: Levine, Muti, Solti), La Clemenza di Tito (Röschmann, Kasarova, Shade; Harnoncourt), Da Ponte Trilogy (Claus Guth with Netrebko, Röschmann, Dasch, Schafer, Persson, Leonard, Petibon, Skovhus, Schrott; Harnoncourt, de Billy, Adam Fischer), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Studer, Marton, Moser, Hale; Solti), Ariadne auf Naxos (Polaski, Dessay; von Dohnanyi), Der Rosenkavalier (Pieczonka, Kirchschlager, Persson; Bychkov), From the House of the Dead (Ghiaurov; Abbado), Puccini/Berio’s Turandot (Schnaut, Botha; Gergiev), Un Ballo in Maschera (Domingo, Nucci; Solti), The Rake’s Progress (Hadley; Camberling); Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Malfitano, Jones; Russell-Davies); and Bregenz Festival: La Bohème (Villazon; awarded the 2003 “Grand Prix” Golden Prague Award).

Additionally, Dr. Large has directed concerts for the Vienna Philharmonic: the annual New Year’s Day Concert from 1989 to 1993 and, again, from 1997 to 2010; St. Florian (Boulez 1996); Salzburg Festival in 1996, 1998-2000, 2002, 2005-2006 (Gergiev, Harding, Harnoncourt, Maazel, Ozawa, Rattle, and Thielemann; and 2006 Salzburg Mozartwochen (Muti); and Musikverein (Thielemann, 2008).

Deutsche Oper Berlin Orpheus in der Unterwelt (Migenes), Macbeth (Zampieri, Shicoff, Bruson, Morris; Sinopoli), Die Tote Stadt (Armstrong, King), Salome (Malfitano, Rysanek; Sinopoli), Rihm's Oedipus (World premiere) and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Winbergh, Brendel) and two concerts at the Dresdner Frauenkirche with Angela Gheorghiu and Cecilia Bartoli, respectively; Bayerische Staatsoper: Norma (Gruberova), Roberto Devereux (Gruberova), Lucrezia Borgia (Gruberova), Hindemith’s Cardillac (Sawallisch), Mozart’s Munich Version Idomeneo (Nagano), Reimann's King Lear (World premiere), Die Fledermaus (Kleiber), Tannhäuser (Meier, Kollo, Weikl, Moll; Mehta), Tristan und Isolde (Meier, Lipovsek, West, Moll; Mehta) and Wolfgang Sawallisch’s 75^th Birthday concert); Prinzregententheater: Rodelinda (Röschmann; Bolton), Rinaldo (Daniels; Bolton), Rake’s Progress (Bostridge, Tear), Tristan und Isolde (Behrens, West; Maazel) and the Easter Monday Concerts (Maazel 1997-99); Staatsheater am Gärtnerplatz: “Theater a la Mode” (a Baroque pastiche); Baden Baden Festival: Der Rosenkavalier (Fleming, Damrau, Koch, Hawlata, Kaufmann; Thielemann), Damrau in Recital; Salzburg Festival Henze’s L’Upupa (World premiere Aikin, Ainsley, Görne; Stenz); Bayerischer Rundfunk Radio Symphony Orchestra: annual concerts (Jansons; Maazel 1995 to 2009), two Vatican concerts honoring Pope Benedict XVI (Jansons; Thielemann); and Munich’s Olympic Stadium: the Opening Concert of the 2006 World Cup Games (Domingo, Damrau, Lang, Lang; Jansons, Mehta, Thielemann). From the Waldbühne: A Night of Dances and Rhapsodies (Jansons, BPO); Italian Night (Abbado, BPO); Russian Night (Ozawa, BPO); American Night (Rattle BPO) and French Night (Prêtre, VPO).

At La Scala: Adriana Lecouvreur (Freni, Cossotto; Gavazzeni), Andrea Chenier (Marton, Carreras; Chailly), Il Trittico (Gavazzeni) I Lombardi (Dimitrova, Carreras), Nabucco (Dimitrova, Bruson; Muti); Arena di Verona Madama Butterfly (Kabaivanska), Tosca (Marton, Aragall), Turandot (Dimitrova, Martinucci), Aida (Chiara, Cossotto, Martinucci), Attila (Nesterenko), Nabucco (Dimitrova, Bruson), Rigoletto, Il Trovatore (Bonisolli).

From the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg Brian Large has televised opera under the musical direction of Valery Gergiev: Fiery Angel (Gorchakova, Leiferkus), Sadko (Diadkova), Khovanshchina (Ognovenko), Pique Dame (Guleghina, Borodina, Grigorian), Mazeppa (Diadkova, Putilin), the original “St. Petersburg” version of La Forza del Destino (Gorchakova, Grigorian); as well as ballet: Jewels and Don Quixote.

At the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris The Cunning Little Vixen (Mackerras, Hytner); Alceste (von Otter; Gardiner) and Orpheé (Kozena; Gardiner), while from the Théâtre des Champs Elysées he televised “Viva Vivaldi” with Bartoli. For Opera de Lyon he taped L’Elisir d’Amore (Gheorghiu, Alagna; Pido).

With Bartoli/Harnoncourt Dr. Large directed two concerts -- Mozart and Haydn -- from Austria’s Styriarte Festival. With the same forces, he televised Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte (both Flimm productions) from Opernhaus Zürich.

In 1974 Wolfgang Wagner invited Dr. Large to Bayreuth to collaborate on documenting the works of his grandfather, Richard Wagner, on television. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (twice: Kollo and Jerusalem) initiated a series that over the next twelve years included Tannhäuser (Studer, Versalle, Brendel, Sotin; Sinopoli), Parsifal (Jerusalem; Stein), Der Fliegender Holländer (Estes, Balslev, Salminen, Schunk; Nelsson), Lohengrin (twice: Schneider and Nelsson) and, perhaps, one of the most acclaimed programs in the history of classical music on television -- the Boulez/Chereau Der Ring der Nibelungen. For the latter the Royal Television Society named Dr. Large “Best Television Director” in 1981

Since 1979, Dr. Large has directed over 90 “opera”, “recital” and “gala” telecasts from the Metropolitan Opera with James Levine (except as indicated). In addition to the Emmy Award-winning Aida (Millo, Zajick, Domingo, Milnes), other Metropolitan Opera telecasts include Bluebeard’s Castle (Norman, Ramey), Fidelio (Mattila, Heppner, Pape), Les Troyens (Norman, Troyanos, Domingo), Lulu (Migenes), Carmen (Baltsa, Carreras); Billy Budd (Croft, Langridge, Morris; Bedford), The Ghost of Versailles (Stratas, Fleming, Horne, Hagegǻrd, Clark), L’Elisir d’Amore (Battle, Pavarotti), Andrea Chenier (Guleghina, Pavarotti, Pons), Fedora (Freni, Domingo; R. Abbado), I Pagliacci (Stratas, Pavarotti, Pons), Boris Godunov (Pape, Gergiev), Così fan tutte (Vaness, Bartoli, Hadley, Croft, Allen), Idomeneo (Cotrubas, Behrens, von Stade, Pavarotti), Le Nozze di Figaro (Battle, Vaness, von Stade, Raimondi), Die Zauberflöte (Battle, Serra, Araiza), Boris Godunov (Pape; Gergiev); Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Shicoff, Morris; Troyanos; Dutoit); Dialogues of the Carmelites (Norman, Ewing, Crespin), La Fanciulla del West (Daniels, Domingo, Milnes), Madama Butterfly (Malfitano, Leech), Manon Lescaut (Mattila, Giordani; Levine), La Rondine (Gheorghiu; Armiliato); Il Tabarro (Stratas, Domingo, Pons), Tosca (a live Lincoln Center Plaza relay with Guleghina, Licitra, Morris), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Battle, Blake, Nucci), La Cenerentola (Bartoli, Vargas, Corbelli, Alaimo), L’Italiana in Algeri (Horne, Montarsolo), Semiramide (Anderson, Horne; Conlon), Samson et Dalilah (Borodina, Domingo, Leiferkus), Erwartung (Norman), Arabella (Te Kanawa, Brendel; Thielemann), Ariadne auf Naxos (twice: Norman and Voigt), Elektra (twice: Nilsson and Behrens), Salome (Mattila, Terfel Jerusalem; Gergiev), The First Emperor (World premiere; Domingo; Tan Dun), Eugene Onegin (Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Pique Dame (Gorchakova, Borodina, Söderström, Domingo, Hvorostovsky, Putilin), Hamlet (Keenlyside, Dessay), Aida (first with Leontyne Price’s “live” farewell operatic appearance; again with Millo, Pavarotti), Un Ballo in Maschera (twice with Pavarotti), Don Carlo (Freni, Bumbry, Domingo, Ghiaurov), Falstaff (Freni, Horne, Bonney, Plishka), La Forza del Destino (Sweet, Domingo), I Lombardi (Pavarotti, Ramey), Nabucco (Guleghina, Pons, Ramey), Otello (Fleming, Domingo, Morris), Rigoletto (Pavarotti), Simon Boccanegra (twice: Milnes and Chernov), Stiffelio (Sweet, Domingo), La Traviata (Cotrubas, Domingo, MacNeil), Il Trovatore (Martin, Zajick, Pavarotti, Milnes); Zandonai Francesco da Rimini (Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil), Weill The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny (Stratas, Varnay); Wagner Lohengrin (Marton, Rysanek, Hoffmann), Die Meistersinger (Mattila, Heppner, Morris), Parsifal (Meier, Jerusalem, Mazura), Tannhäuser (Marton, Troyanos, Cassilly, Weikl) as well as a second complete Der Ring der Nibelungen (Behrens, Norman, Ludwig, Lakes, Jerusalem, Morris, Moll; Schenk). From the Metropolitan Opera Dr. Large has also televised the 1983-84 “Spring Centennial Gala”, a recital with Pavarotti and Levine, a concert with Price and Horne, the 1991 25^th Anniversary Gala, the 1996 James Levine’s 25^th Anniversary gala, the 1998 Pavarotti’s 30^th Anniversary gala and the 2006 Farewell Gala to General Manager Joseph Volpe.

In the United States Dr. Large has televised operas from: Los Angeles Opera: La Damnation of Faust (Graves, Groves, Ramey; Nagano), Il Postino (Domingo), Nicholas and Alexandra (Domingo; Rostropovich), and La Traviata (Fleming, Villazon, Bruson; Conlon); Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel “Inaugural Concert” (October 2009) and “Celebration (Florez, October 2010); San Francisco Opera: Aida (M. Price; Pavarotti), La Bohème (Freni, Pavarotti), L'Africaine (Verrett, Domingo), Mefistofele (Benakčova, Ramey), Orlando Furioso (Horne), Turandot (Marton; Runnicles) and the 75^th Anniversary Gala; Houston Grand Opera: La Cenerentola (Bartoli, Gimenez, Corbelli, Dara; Campanella), Floyd’s Willie Stark Nolen; DeMain), Aida (Freni, Domingo, Wixell), Adam’s Nixon in China (DeMain) and Adamo’s Little Women (Di Donato; Summers); Lyric Opera of Chicago: Faust (Freni, Kraus, Ghiaurov; Prêtre); Washington National Opera: Die Fledermaus (Anderson, Brendel); I Pagliacci (Villarroel, Domingo; Slatkin), La Rondine (Haddock, Arteta; Villaume), and Le Cid (Domingo; Villaume); Philadelphia Opera: Faust (Masterson, Vanzo, Morris) as well as concerts from the Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra; from Carnegie Hall a decade of Opening Night gala events featuring the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony – among others; American Ballet Theater: Don Quichotte, and a gala including Paquita, Les Sylphides and Giselle as well as a "triple bill" of one-act ballets emanating from Lincoln Center and San Francisco.

In addition, Dr. Large has directed numerous recital programs featuring Vladimir Ashkenazy, Benjamin Britten, Yehudi Menuhin, Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Daniel Barenboim, Rudolf Serkin, among others, as well as concerts with Cecilia Bartoli, Diana Damrau, Renee Fleming, Mirella Freni, Angela Gheorghiu, Anja Harteros, Marilyn Horne, Eva Marton, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Luciano Pavarotti, among others.

Dr. Large is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music London