Emil Tchakarov in Leningrad
Dvorak - Symphony No.9
Leningrad Symphonic Orchestra,
Emil Tchakarov, conductor
Grand Hall of Leningrad Philharmonic, 13.06.1987.
Radio Petersburg
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Emil Tchakarov
Born in Bourgas, Bulgaria in 1948, Emil Tchakarov first took up the baton at the age of eleven. When he was fifteen he began to study con¬ducting at the Sofia Conservatory and eight years later was the youngest prizewinner at the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin. Consequently the Maestro invited him to act as his assistant in opera productions in Salzburg and Berlin.
Emit Tchakarov has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the French National Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, has led the Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. He has collaborated with the Leningrad Philharmonic regularly for many years, conducting them many times in Leningrad itself and has also made numerous recordings and has been on many tours with them, appearing in Germany, Austria and Italy. On 1 September 1989, Emil Tchakarov was appointed permanent guest conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.
Emil Tchakarov was well-known as a conductor of opera, having appeared at the Royal Covent Garden Opera, London (Eugene Onegin), the Metropolitan Opera in New York (II Barbiere di Siviglia), the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Tannhauser), the Teatro San Carlo, Naples (Carmen), the Teatro La Fenice, Venice (La Boheme) and in Houston, USA (Boris Godunov, Aida).
In 1986 Emil Tchakarov founded the New Year's Festival in Sofia which takes place annually with the participation of artists of international renown. Here he conducted the Sofia Festival Orchestra (which he also initiated) and with whom he regularly made sound recordings and video films. Emil Tchakarov passed away prematurely in 1991 at the age of 43.
