Artist Biographies
Semyon Bychkov
Semyon Bychkov is Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, a post he assumed in 1997. With the Orchestra, he maintains a full concert schedule in Cologne, tours internationally, and has built an archive of recordings and broadcasts. From 1980 to 1985, Mr. Bychkov served as music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony and as principal guest conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic; he was music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1985 to 1989. From 1989 to 1998 he was music director of the Orchestre de Paris, and during the 1990s he served as principal guest conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic and of Florence's Maggio Musicale. Mr. Bychkov also served as chief conductor of the Semper Opera in Dresden (1998-2003); during his tenure, he conducted new productions of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. Born in Saint Petersburg in 1952, Mr. Bychkov studied with Ilya Musin at the Conservatory there, winning first prize in the 1973 Rachmaninoff Conducting Competition. He emigrated to the United States in 1975.
Mr. Bychkov made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 1989, and in 2002, he appeared with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne as part of the SFS Great Performers Series. Mr. Bychkov led the Orchestra most recently in 2006, in performances of Shostakovich, Saint-Saëns, and Golijov. In addition to this week’s concerts, Mr. Bychkov will conduct the SFS next week in performances of Dutilleux’s Métaboles, Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor, and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. As an opera conductor, Mr. Bychkov made his La Scala debut in 1997 with Puccini’s Tosca and returned there in 2005 to conduct Elektra. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2004 with Boris Godunov and later that year debuted at the Salzburg Festival with Der Rosenkavalier. During last season, he conducted Lohengrin in London and Tristan und Isolde in Paris, among other opera and symphonic performances.
Semyon Bychkov’s recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 with the Berlin Philharmonic won Belgium’s Caecilia Award and was named Stereo Review’s Record of the Year. His recording of Eugene Onegin with the Orchestre de Paris received the Echo Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, the Academie du Disque Français, and the Academie Lyrique Bruno Walter Prize. Mr. Bychkov’s recent recordings include Wagner’s Lohengrin, Verdi’s Requiem, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells and Symphonic Dances, and Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 4, 10, and 11.
Nuccia Focile
Soprano Nuccia Focile, born in Militello, Italy, studied with Elio Battaglia at the Turin Conservatory. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with this week’s concerts. Ms. Focile’s roles have included Nannetta in Falstaff, Violetta in La Traviata, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Musetta and Mimi in La Bohème, and Pamina in The Magic Flute. Ms. Focile has appeared at opera houses worldwide, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, La Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Paris Opera.
In the 2008-09 season, Nuccia Focile performed the title role in Janáček's Jenůfa with the Welsh National Opera, and Nedda in Pagliacci with the Metropolitan Opera. Future engagements include Mimi in La Bohème at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Despina in Così fan tutte at the Dallas Opera and Los Angeles Opera; Violetta in La Traviata, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, and Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito at the Seattle Opera; and Musetta in La Bohème at Covent Garden.
Ms. Focile’s operatic recordings include Eugene Onegin with conductor Semyon Bychkov; Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, and Don Giovanni with Sir Charles Mackerras; and Donizetti’s L'assedio di Calais with David Parry. Other recordings include Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with Sir Neville Marriner, Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben, and a solo album of Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini songs.
Frank Lopardo
Frank Lopardo, a native of New York, made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 2000 as soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. His most recent appearance with the SFS was in Verdi’s Requiem in 2006. Among Mr. Lopardo’s operatic roles are Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, and Alfredo in La Traviata, as well as the Mozart repertory and the bel canto roles of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini. He has performed at opera houses throughout the world, including several appearances at the San Francisco Opera. This season, he will sing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Cleveland Orchestra and will reprise his role as Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In the 2008-09 season, Mr. Lopardo sang the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as Rodolfo in La Bohème with the Pittsburgh Opera.
Mr. Lopardo is soloist on the Telarc recording of the Berlioz Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony, which won the 2004 Grammy award for Best Choral Recording. His discography also includes Mozart’s Requiem and Don Giovanni (EMI), Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and L’Italiana in Algeri (Deutsche Grammophon), and Verdi’s Falstaff and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (BMG). He can be seen on the Deutsche Grammophon video of Falstaff, and also as Alfredo in La Traviata and Ferrando in Così fan tutte, both available on CD and video from Decca.
Mikhail Petrenko
Mikhail Petrenko was born in Saint Petersburg in 1976. He graduated from the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, where he mastered more than thirty roles in the Russian and European repertory, many of which he performed with the Conservatory’s Musical Theater. He was awarded diplomas at the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition for Young Opera Singers in Saint Petersburg in 1998 and at the Elena Obraztsova Competition for Young Opera Singers. He was also a prizewinner at the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition and a finalist and diploma winner at the 2000 Maria Callas New Verdi Voices Competition in Parma. Mr. Petrenko appeared most recently with the San Francisco Symphony in 2006, in performances of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13.
In July 2009, Mr. Petrenko sang the role of Hagen in Götterdämmerung with Sir Simon Rattle at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, a performance which will be reprised at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2010. Mr. Petrenko also appeared recently at the BBC Proms as the Storm Knight in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kashchei the Immortal with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; as Hunding in Die Walküre at the Hamburgische Staatsoper; and in Il Trovatore at the Royal Opera House. Future engagements include Gremin in Eugene Onegin with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at the Toulon Opera, and Sarastro in The Magic Flute with the Canadian Opera Company.
Ragnar Bohlin
Ragnar Bohlin began his tenure as Chorus Director of the San Francisco Symphony in March 2007. Born in 1965, he served as choirmaster of Stockholm’s Maria Magdalena Church and holds a master’s degree in organ and conducting and a postgraduate degree in conducting from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Mr. Bohlin studied with renowned choir director Eric Ericson and has studied orchestra conducting with Jorma Panula. On a British Council scholarship he studied piano with Peter Feuchtwanger in London, and through a Sweden-America Foundation scholarship he visited choruses throughout the US. He has studied singing with the great Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda and has also appeared as an oratory tenor.
With Stockholm’s KFUM Chamber Choir, the Maria Magdalena Motet Choir, and the Maria Vocal Ensemble, Mr. Bohlin has toured internationally and won numerous prizes in international competitions. He has appeared regularly on Swedish radio with the Swedish Radio Choir, the Maria Vocal Ensemble, and the Maria Magdalena Motet Choir, and he has worked frequently with The Ericson Chamber Choir, the Royal Philharmonic Choir, and the Opera Choir of Stockholm. With the Maria Vocal Ensemble and guests Rigmor Gustafsson and Lena Willemark, Mr. Bohlin recorded a CD of new jazz music by composer/pianist Elise Einarsdotter and lyrics by great poets, including E.E. Cummings.
In October 2007, Mr. Bohlin conducted the world premiere of a new requiem by composer Fredrik Sixten, broadcast on Swedish Public Radio. Mr. Bohlin’s recording of a Saint Mark Passion by Sixten was released in Sweden in March 2008. He teaches regularly at the Royal Academy in Stockholm and in February 2008 was invited to be a visiting professor at Indiana University. Last year he also conducted and recorded a performance with trombonist/composer Christian Lindberg and the Swedish Radio Choir.