17.01.2020
Baleff’s Ballo
On 1 February Pavel Baleff will conduct our orchestra in a performance of Verdi’s opera Un ballo in maschera. This will be the first time the celebrated Bulgarian musician, who has been Principal Conductor of the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra since 2007, has appeared at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.
Baleff studied at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. After being awarded the Radio Bulgaria award for Best Young Musician in 1993, he continued his training at the Higher School of Music in Weimar. He was awarded First Prize at the Carl-Maria von Weber Competition in Munich in 1996 and First Prize in the Bad Homburg International Conducting Competition in 2003. He has held the posts of Principal Conductor at the People’s Theatre in Rostock and at the Galle Opera House, and worked with the Komische Oper Berlin, the Semperoper Dresden, the Leipzig Opera, the Zurich Opera, and many symphony orchestras. Baleff was named Conductor of the Year in Bulgaria in 2010 following the first performance of Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Sofia. The maestro made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in the 2016/17 season and has been invited back this year. Recordings by Krassimira Stoyanova, one of the world’s leading sopranos, which were recorded under Baleff’s musical direction, have won major musical awards.
Baleff’s February appearance at the Mikhailovsky Theatre is part of a packed schedule that also includes performances in Groningen, Cannes, Sofia, and capital cities in Southeast Asia.
Baleff has strong links with Russian cultural traditions and even calls himself “a product of Russian musical education”. The library at his home in Germany includes over 200 Russian-language books on music and art. He has maintained artistic contact with Mikhail Yurovsky for many years and is proud of his acquaintance with Yury Temirkanov.
Baleff studied at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. After being awarded the Radio Bulgaria award for Best Young Musician in 1993, he continued his training at the Higher School of Music in Weimar. He was awarded First Prize at the Carl-Maria von Weber Competition in Munich in 1996 and First Prize in the Bad Homburg International Conducting Competition in 2003. He has held the posts of Principal Conductor at the People’s Theatre in Rostock and at the Galle Opera House, and worked with the Komische Oper Berlin, the Semperoper Dresden, the Leipzig Opera, the Zurich Opera, and many symphony orchestras. Baleff was named Conductor of the Year in Bulgaria in 2010 following the first performance of Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Sofia. The maestro made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in the 2016/17 season and has been invited back this year. Recordings by Krassimira Stoyanova, one of the world’s leading sopranos, which were recorded under Baleff’s musical direction, have won major musical awards.
Baleff’s February appearance at the Mikhailovsky Theatre is part of a packed schedule that also includes performances in Groningen, Cannes, Sofia, and capital cities in Southeast Asia.
Baleff has strong links with Russian cultural traditions and even calls himself “a product of Russian musical education”. The library at his home in Germany includes over 200 Russian-language books on music and art. He has maintained artistic contact with Mikhail Yurovsky for many years and is proud of his acquaintance with Yury Temirkanov.
