Kirill Petrenko Takes over the Musical Direction of the New Production “Der Ring Des Nibelungen” in 2013
As has been known for some time, the Russian conductor Kirill Petrenko is to take over the musical direction of the new production “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (Staging: Frank Castorf) at the Bayreuth Festival in the Wagner anniversary year 2013. The festival management is pleased that he has now signed his contract, definitively confirming him as the “Ring” conductor.
Kirill Petrenko hails from Omsk, Russia, and relocated with his family to Austria in 1990. In 1997, he took up his first engagement as Kapellmeister at the Vienna Volksoper. From 1999 to 2002, he served as General Music Director at the renowned State Theatre in Meiningen. There, in 2001, his conducting of the “Ring” (Staging: C. Mielitz) garnered international attention. From 2002 to 2007, Kirill Petrenko was General Music Director at the Komische Oper Berlin, where he collaborated with directors such as Calixto Bieito, Andreas Homoki, and Peter Konwitschny, among others.
Since his engagement in Meiningen, his international career as an opera and concert conductor has rapidly and successfully developed, leading him to the podium of almost all major opera houses and orchestras worldwide. From September 2013, Kirill Petrenko will become General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.