Alexander Anisimov

Biography

Was born in Moscow, started his musical education at the Moscow Choir School named after A. V. Sveshnikov and the Leningrad Choir School named after M.I. Glinka. Studied at the Leningrad State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (class of choral conducting of E.P.Kudryavtseva), the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky (class of opera and symphonic conducting by O. A. Dimitriadi and L. M. Ginzburg) and Graduate School (class of G. N. Rozhdestvensky).

The professional career of the musician has begun at the Leningrad Small Opera and Ballet Theatre named after M. P. Mussorgsky (now Mikhailovsky). In the 1980s he worked with leading musical theatres and orchestras of the USSR. Since 1985, he began to cooperate with the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre named after S. M. Kirov (now the Mariinsky), where he conducted the prime compositions of the opera and ballet repertoire, as well as symphonic programs. In 1993 he worked with Mstislav Rostropovich on Britten’s “War Requiem” in Great Britain and Spain.

In 1980–1984 and 1989–2003 Alexander Anisimov took a position of a Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. In 1985–1989 – Chief Conductor of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre (staged the first production of the opera Fiery Angel by S. Prokofiev in the USSR, 1984), in 1998–2001 – National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (RTÉ), 2005–2009 – Busan Philharmonic Orchestra (Republic of Korea), 2003-2007 – Rostov State Musical Theatre. In 2011–2017 – Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

Since 2002 he has been an Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus; in 2018, the maestro returns to the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus as a guest conductor.

During the years of his work at the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society and the The National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Republic of Belarus, Alexander Anisimov presented the best examples of classical heritage and premieres of new works to the public in Belarus and abroad, among them: symphonies of L. van Beethoven, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninoff, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich; orchestral works of R. Strauss, R. Wagner, G. Мaler, G. Gershwin, М. Ravel; first musical performances of D. Smolsky, А. Mdivani, М. Kuznetsov, G. Gorelova; premieres of operas and ballets: М. Glinka Ivan Susanin, P. Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker, Iolanta, А. Borodin Prince Igor, G. Bizet Carmen,Y. Semenyako A New Land, Е.Glebov Kurgan, The Master and Margarita, V. Soltan King Stakh’s Wild Hunt, S. Prokofiev Мaddalena.

Under his leadership of the student’s Symphony orchestra of the Belarusian State Academy of music has prepared programs for performances on the stages of the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society, the Moscow Conservatory and Germany.

Maestro Anisimov has performed in major theatres around the world, among them The Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, The Theater Colón in Buenos Aires, Carlo Felice in Genoa, La Fenice in Venice, The Opera Bastille and The Palais Garnier in Paris, The Gran Theatre del Liceu in Barcelona, State operas of Hanover and Hamburg, The Komische Oper Berlin, Houston Grand Opera, Opera of San Francisco, Sydney Opera House. He conducted many famous orchestras in Russia and Europe, these include the Concertgebouw, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra and others. To recognize the skill of the Russian conductor, the orchestra of the Academia di Santa Cecilia in Rome presented him the conductor’s baton of Leonard Bernstein.

For many years Alexander Anisimov collaborated with The National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, with whom he staged the tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung by R.Wagner. The production won an Irish award – Allianz Business to Arts (2002). The conductor performs at the Opera of Ireland and at the Wexford Opera festival, where he made his debut in 1993 with the opera Cherevichki by P.Tchaikovsky; he is also the honorary President of the Irish Wagner Society.

Among the conductor's numerous recordings are all symphonies, the ballets Raymonda and Times of Years by А. Glazunov with The Moscow Symphony Orchestra (Naxos); all symphonies and poem “Bells” by S. Rachmaninoff with The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (Naxos); 10th Symphony by Shostakovich with The Australian Youth Orchestra (MELBA); operas Demon by А. Rubinstein (Wexford festival, Marco Polo) as well as Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by D. Shostakovich (production of The Gran Teatre del Liceu, DVD, EMI).