The Dresden-born conductor moved eventually to the front row of the young generation of conductors with his sensational substitution at short notice of Valery Gergiev in the Ring of the Nibelung (Wagner) and Parsifal at the MARIINSKY THEATRE in January/March 2003.
After his studies of violin, trumpet, piano and choir conducting and his studies at the Music University “Carl Maria von Weber” (orchestra conducting), as well as numerous master classes (e.g. with Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache, Miltiades Caridis, Ilya Musin, Valery Gergiev) he was accepted for the FÖRDERPROGRAMM DIRIGENTENFORUM DES DEUTSCHEN MUSIKRATES (a promotion program for young conductors).
At the beginning of his international activities he won numerous conductor contests (Wettbewerb der Europäischen Gemeinschaft “Franco Capuana” Spoleto, Italy, 1996; “Bottega” Treviso, Italy, 1994; Internationales Dirgentenforum Hamm, 1993; “Conduct for Dance” London, 1993, etc.). From 1998 to 2002 he was Austria’s youngest chief conductor at the STADTTHEATER KLAGENFURT. Since 2002 he has been Permanent Guest Conductor of the MARIINSKY THEATRE St. Petersburg (The Ring of the Nibelung, Parsifal, Tristan and Isolde, Flying Dutchman, Falstaff, Don Carlo, Aida, La Traviata, Le nozze di Figaro, Ariadne auf Naxos, Lucia di Lammermoor etc.)
During the season 2003/04 he started his successful cooperation with Anna Netrebko (e.a. Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor and various gala concerts).
He celebrated a sensational success in May 2007 at Paris National Opera House jumping in by very short notice with „Lohengrin“ (featuring Waltraud Meier and Ben Heppner).
He conducts a vast repertoire, his multilingualism (native German speaker, speaks Italian on a similar level as his mother tongue, excellent French, Russian and English) and his long-standing activity at Italian, Russian and French opera houses and orchestras are prerequisites for authentic interpretations in the most eminent parts of the international opera repertoire.
Remarkable also his stilistic versatility, from early baroque music to the contemporary repertoire. He collaborates regularly with first-rate orchestras, choirs and soloists in the tradition of the „historically informed“ movement (Concerto Köln, Cappella Coloniensis), as well as, certainly, with „normal“ symphonic orchestras.
During previous seasons he has made his debut among other with Israel Philharmonic (April 2008 ), Orchestre de Paris (May/June 2008), RAI Torino (June 2008), Radiosymphony Madrid (May 2008), Moscow Philharmonic (March 2008), Russian National Philharmonic (November 2008), Swedish Radiosymphony (October 2008),Washington National Opera (May 2009), Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf (October 2009), Hamburgische Staatsoper (November 2009), Concerto Köln (February 2010), Théatre des Champs-Elysées (February 2010), Teatro Real Madrid (March 2010), Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Lissabon (April 2010), New National Theatre Tokio (October 2010), Wiener Staatsoper (November 2010), Operà de Nice (May 2011), Oper Frankfurt (April 2011), Arena di Verona ( February 2012).
In the season (2012/13) he looks forward to come back several times to Vienna State Opera („Werther“, „Nabucco“, „Barbiere“, „Ariadne auf Naxos“, „Cenerentola“, „Boris Godunov“) and the opera houses of Tokio („Aida“), Ekaterinburg („Boris Godunov“). He will have debuts at the „Bolshoi“ in Moscow („Macbeth“), Finnish National Opera Helsinki („Traviata“) and Malmö („Luisa Miller“).
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