Armin Jordan

Who was Armin Jordan?

Armin Jordan was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner.

Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a full mouth, often twisted in a sardonic smile, and his powerful physical presence belied the careful near-understatement of his conducting", noted The New York Times in his obituary.

Jordan was most unusual at a time when conductors flew about the world from one engagement to another. For the most part he stayed close to home in Switzerland and France. After leading a number of Swiss orchestras he became principal conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Geneva in 1985, a position he held until 1997.

Armin Jordan did not conduct in the United States until 1985. He appeared in Seattle and New York. Seattle scheduled him for Wagner's Ring in 2000 and 2001, but he had to withdraw after a few performances in 2000 because of illness. For the same reason, he canceled his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2001. He was to have conducted Mozart's opera Così fan tutte. His son, the conductor Philippe Jordan, made his own debut at the Met in 2002.