Semyon bychkov biography of michael
Semyon bychkov biography of michael w...
Semyon bychkov biography of michael
Source: The Spectator
Semyon Bychkov has rather unspectacularly become one of the world’s most sought after conductors, and at present he is in London to conduct a series of performances of Wagner’s now least often staged canonical opera, Tannhäuser, at the Royal Opera House.
He was trained in St Petersburg, at that time Leningrad, by the apparently legendary Ilya Musin; but at least as important was the long-time chief conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeny Mravinsky, an old-style orchestral tyrant, the sensational results of whose leadership can still be heard in many recordings.
Semyon Bychkov has rather unspectacularly become one of the world’s most sought after conductors, and at present he is in London to conduct a series of performances of Wagner’s now least often staged canonical opera, Tannhäuser, at the Royal Opera House.
He was trained in St Petersburg, at that time Leningrad, by the apparently legendary Ilya Musin; but at least as important was the long-time chief conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeny Mravinsky, an old-style orchestral tyrant, the sensational results of whose leadership can still be heard in many recordings.
Bychkov felt constrained, oppressed in the Soviet Union, and was allowed to leave in 1975, going to the United States via Vienna and Rome. He conducted first student orchestras, then fairly famous US ones, until he returned to Europe in 1983, and was soon conducting the Royal Concertgebouw.
In 1985 he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, replacing first Riccardo Muti and