I V A N   A N G U É L O V , Conductor

In 2007, conductor Ivan Anguélov received the THE GOLDEN FEATHER Award in his hometown of Sofia for his outstanding contribution to Bulgarian culture.

Guest performances have taken the - to quote from a press article: "European-wide recognized specialist maestro for Italian repertory" - to such renowned opera houses as Bavarian State Opera Munich, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera, the Leipzig Opera House with the Gewandhausorchester, the Stuttgart State Opera, the Cologne Opera, the Opera House in Bonn, and also to Tokyo, Santiago de Chile, the Palacio the Bellas Artes in Mexico, Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Toulon, Catania and Verona. He has been working in Spain, Turkey the Netherlands, … to name but a few other venues. Wherever he performs, his “ grasp for the innate Italilianità of the music” , his “veritable ‘Italian’ Verdi-understanding” and his “sense for the balance between dynamics and restraint, for accompaniment and self-contained tonal colors” are highly esteemed.

Ivan Anguélov appeared at numerous International Festivals, such as the Arena of Aspendos, the Antibes Festival, the Verdi Festival in Prague, the International Festival in Chiemgau, or the Wagner Festival at the Neuschwanstein castle. He was also in charge of a huge Aida festival production, with Michele Crider in the lead, that was performed, among others, at Berlin,Duesseldorf, the Gerry-Weber-Stadium, the Oberammergau Passion Theatre, etc.

The award-winning conductor, who was born in Kavala/Greece, commenced his musical studies at the National Music Academy in his hometown of Sofia/Bulgaria, and completed them in Moscow and Germany (with Igor Markewitch, Carlos Kleiber and Wolfgang Sawallisch). Among the prizes and awards he won at national and international competitions, the SPECIAL PRIZE coupled with the PRINCE RAINIER III SCHOLARSHIP, in MONTE CARLO, deserves particular mention.

His various positions as Chief Conductor took Ivan Anguélov from the National Opera of Plovdiv, to Bienne and Lausanne in Switzerland, on to Bonn, and finally as GMD to the National Opera Bratislava, where he won the 1995 FURTWÄNGLER-PRIZE for particularly outstanding artistic achievements. Since 1998, he has been the Principal Guest Conductor of the Slovak Radio-Symphony Orchestra.

For his symphony concerts, the maestro conducts the likes of the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestras of Moscow, Munich, Stockholm,… the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte Carlo, with which he recorded numerous CDs, the Orchestra della RTS Italiana ( at the Lucerne Festival), the Radio Orchestras of Munich, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Sofia,… as well as with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra, or the Rheinische Philharmonie, to name but a few.

Additionally, Ivan Anguélov is a sought-after conductor for gala-evenings - with television and radio broadcast - where. among others, he has performed with renowned soloists like Dame Gwyneth Jones, Grace Bumbry, Edita Gruberova, Lucia Aliberti, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Dame Margaret Price, Denyce Graves,Neil Shicoff, Eva Marton, Paata Burchuladze,Piero Cappuccilli or Sergej Larin.

Ivan Anguelov has a vast discography. Aside from a series of symphonic music recordings, the only complete recording of Hans Werner Henze’s “Boulevard Solitude” and a complete version of Verdi´s “Il Trovatore” were released under his musical direction. A CD with ‘Famous Opera Choruses’, as well as numerous singer recitals, a.o. with John Treleaven, Torsten Kerl, Susan Anthony, Lado Atanelli, Hui He,… were also recorded under his baton. In 2005, together with Robert Dean Smith and Linda Watson, he recorded the CD Scenes from Tristan und Isolde. His previous recording with Robert Dean Smith (Wagner Portrait) was awarded the 2002 ‘Orphée d’Or’ Richard Wagner Prize in France, for the best Wagner recording of the year.

In 2005, his recording of the complete symphonies of Antonin Dvorak was released.

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