Bertrand de Billy

He was born in Paris where he studied music. Starting as a member of the orchestra, he soon took on conducting. 1993-95 he was the first Kapellmeister and the Deputy Music Director at the Anhalt Theatre in Dessau, 1996-98 he held the same position at the Vienna Volksoper and 1999-2004 he was Music Director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Bertrand de Billy worked with orchestras at the Opera Houses in Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Gran Théâtre de la Monnaie, the Opéra National de Paris as well as in Washington and Los Angeles. He frequently conducts at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Salzburg Festival and has close links with the Theater an der Wien, the Wiener Musikverein and the Wiener Konzerthaus.

He conducted eight opera productions at the Theater an der Wien in the last 10 years, one of the latest being Debussy´s Pelléas et Mélisande. In April 2010 he was conducting Weber´s Der Freischütz and 2010 / 11 Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos and Poulenc´s Dialogues des Carmelites.

Works of many contemporary composers were performed for the very first time under Bertrand de Billy with the Vienna RSO. He has started a Mahler Cycle, thus encompassing the classics, Romantics, and the 20th century composers.

There are numerous CDs and DVDs of works conducted by Bertrand de Billy: among them the much discussed Mozart/Da Ponte-Cycle played by the Vienna RSO, d’Albert´s Tiefland, excerpts from Wagner´s Tristan and Isolde, the complete original French version of Don Carlos at the Wiener Staatsoper, La Bohème with Netrebko and Villazón, the complete Ring and Tristan performed in Barcelona. There is also a cycle of symphonies by Beethoven and numerous orchestral pieces by various composers and of various styles.