Bertrand de Billy

Bertrand de Billy, (born 1965 in Paris), is a French conductor. Since autumn 2002 Bertrand de Billy is Chief Conductor artistic director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (VRSO).

Born and educated in Paris he first played as musician himself and then conducted various orchestras in his hometown before moving to Germany in order to focus on building his career as an opera conductor. He began as first conductor and managing General Music Director at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau, and went on to Berlin and Vienna, where he attracted attention with the premiere of “Carmen” at the Vienna Volksoper for the first time in 1994.

From 1996 to 1998 he was first conductor there, and his and his interpretations of Mozart and of Harry Kupfer’s ”Boris Godunow” remain unforgettable to this day. His international career developed rapidly; he performed at the State Operas in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and as of 1996 at Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Monnaie in Brussels and Opera National of his native city Paris.

Further engagements led him to Washington, Los Angeles and the New York Metropolitan Opera, where he performs regularly since 1997 and conducted the new production of Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” last year.

From fall 1999 to July 2004, Betrand de Billy was Chief Conductor of the newly renovated Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. During this time he conducted no less than 16 premieres (most recently the celebrated production of Wagner’s "Der Ring des Nibelungen"). In 2004 his 5-act version of Verdi’s "Don Carlos" (directed by Peter Konvitschny) at the Vienna State Opera was met with great acclaim. In 2007 he performed the premiere of Massenet’s “Manon” with Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna. In the next few years, he will conduct both, new productions and revivals on this house.

Collaboration with the RSO Wien began in the spring of 1998 with Massenet’s “Maria Magdalena” at the Festival OsterKlang and continued at the Sommerfestival Klangbogen with the productions “Werther”, “Luisa Miller”, “Idomeneo”, “Fidelio” as well as the project “Verdi-Marathon”. In the Mozart Year’s summer 2006, they are followed by new productions of “Don Giovanni” and almost at the same time the Don Juan paraphrase “Flammen” by Erwin Schulhoff, a Czech composer who was killed in the concentration camps.

Bertrand de Billy has recorded numerous CD-productions with the RSO Wien, among them the highly debated Mozart / da Ponte-cycle, d’Albert’s “Tiefland”, excerpts of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”, piano concertos by Ravel and Gershwin with Pascal Rogé as well as Schubert’s Symphony in C-Major. A recent release of Beethoven’s “Eroica” was highly acclaimed by the press.

In concert, de Billy and his Vienna RSO developed a large number of world premieres and first performances in Austria of contemporary composers – including Cerha, Kurtag, Schlee, Jarrell, Dutilleux, HK Gruber, Rihm, Staud, Mernier, Romitelli, Widmann, Berio, B.A. Zimmermann, Messiaen and Henze. In addition, he began a Mahler-cycle and placed 20th century classics (Debussy, Ravel, Berg, de Falla, Hindemith etc) next to the continuous maintenance of classic and romanticism. Bertrand de Billy has been performing at the Salzburger Festspiele with the VRSO every year since 2002.

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