Semyon Bychkov (conductor)

For the pilot, see Semyon Trofimovich Bychkov.

Semyon Mayevich Bychkov (Russian: Семён Маевич Бычков, Russian pronunciation: [sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmaɪvʲɪtɕ bɨtɕˈkof]; born November 30, 1952) is a Soviet-born conductor.

Biography

Childhood and studies in Russia

Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) to Jewish parents, Bychkov studied at the Glinka Choir School for ten years before moving to the Leningrad Conservatory where he was a student of Ilya Musin. While at the Conservatory, Bychkov played volleyball for the Leningrad Dynamos. In 1973 he won the Rachmaninov Conducting Competition and was invited to conduct the Leningrad Philharmonic, a great honour in Soviet Russia. His family suffered from official antisemitism and he decided to leave the country.

Studies and career in the United States

In 1974 (or 1975), at age 22, he emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union. Bychkov attended Mannes College The New School for Music and was director of the Mannes College Orchestra. From 1980 to 1985, Semyon Bychkov served as Chief Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony and as principal guest conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his debut conducting Carmen at the New York City Opera on September 30, 1981 (the run of 6 performances were his only appearances with that company). He became music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic in 1985 and held that post until 1989. On 4 July 1983, he became a United States citizen. It was during his time as Chief Conductor of Michigan's Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra that Bychkov's name came to international attention. In 1986, following a series of high-profile cancellations that resulted in invitations to conduct the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he was signed to a 10-year recording contract with Philips Classics Records, and made his debut recording conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.

Career in Europe

From 1989 to 1998, Bychkov was music director of the Orchestre de Paris. He became Principal Guest Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, Principal Guest Conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1992, Chief Conductor of Dresden's Semperoper in 1998 and chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne in 1997. He remained in Cologne until 2010, during which time he made a series of recordings including Brahms' Symphonies No. 1-4, Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 4, 7, 8, 10 and 11, Mahler's Symphony No. 3, Rachmaninov's The Bells and Symphonic Dances, Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben and Eine Alpensinfonie, Verdi's Requiem, as well as Strauss' Elektra, Daphne and Wagner's Lohengrin which won BBC Music Magazine's Record of the Year 2010.

Bychkov made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2003 with a new production of Elektra and returned later that year to conduct Boris Godunov. He conducted Queen of Spades (2006), Lohengrin (2009), Don Carlos (2009), Tannhäuser (2010), La bohème (2012) and Die Frau ohne Schatten (2014) at Covent Garden, and Boris Godunov (2004) and Otello (2007 and 2012) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In Italy, Bychkov conducted Tosca (1996) and Elektra at La Scala (2007), Milan; a new production of Don Carlo in Torino (2006); and numerous productions at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, including award-winning productions of Jenůfa (1993), Schubert's Fierrabras (1995) and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1997). Bychkov made his Paris Opera debut with Un Ballo in Maschera (2007) and returned to conduct Tristan und Isolde (2009); and in Vienna he has conducted Elektra (2000), Tristan und Isolde (2001), Daphne (2003) and Lohengrin (2005), as well as Der Rosenkavalier (2004) at the Salzburg Festival.

2012 marked Bychkov’s 60th year which he celebrated with performances with the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna and Tel Aviv. In 2012, he assumed the newly created Günter Wand Conducting Chair with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with whom he appears annually at the BBC Proms.

Semyon Bychkov holds the Otto Klemperer Chair of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and was appointed 2015's Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards.

Personal life

Bychkov is married to the pianist Marielle Labèque.

Selected discography

Album	Ensemble/Soloists	Label	Date
WAGNER - Lohengrin	Johan Botha, Adrianne Pieczonka, Petra Lang, Kwangchul Youn, Falk Struckmann, Eike Wilm Schulte, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, NDR Chor, Prager Kammerchor, BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE 2010 DISC OF THE YEAR	PROFIL, EDITION GÜNTER HÄNSSLER PH 09004	2009
RICHARD STRAUSS - Ein Alpensinfonie, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche	WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne	PROFIL, EDITION GÜNTER HÄNSSLER PH 09065	2009
VERDI - Messa da Requiem	Violetta Urmana, Olga Borodina, Ramón Vargas, Ferruccio Furlanetto, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, NDR Chor, Chor des Teatro Regio Turin, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne	PROFIL, EDITION GÜNTER HÄNSSLER PH08036	2008
RACHMANINOV - The Bells, Symphonic Dances	Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Evgeny Akimov, Vladimir Vaneev WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, Lege Artis Chamber Choir, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne	PROFIL, EDITION GÜNTER HÄNSSLER PH07028	2007
RICHARD STRAUSS - Elektra	Felicity Palmer, Deborah Polaski, Anne Schwanewilms, Graham Clark, Franz Grundheber WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne	PROFIL, EDITION GÜNTER HÄNSSLER HO5022	2006
SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony No. 10, GLANERT - Theatrum bestiarum	WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne	AVIE AV 2137	2007

External links

• Semyon Bychkov official website
• Semyon Bychkov at AllMusic
• Article 'Semyon Bychkov - The Maestro of Cologne'

Cultural offices
Preceded by Julius Rudel	Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra 1985–89	Succeeded by Maximiano Valdés
Preceded by Hans Vonk	Principal Conductor, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne 1997–2010	Succeeded by Jukka-Pekka Saraste