Emil Chakarov

Emil Tschakarow ( Bulgarian Емил Чакъров ; born June 29, 1948 in Burgas , Bulgaria , † August 4, 1991 in Paris ) was a Bulgarian conductor and student of Herbert von Karajan .

Tschakarow studied conducting at the Sofia Conservatory from the age of 15 . In 1970 he won the International Conducting Competition of the Herbert von Karajan Foundation Berlin, and his idol Karajan hired him as an assistant in Berlin and Salzburg. From 1974 to 1978 he was chief conductor of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra . In 1979 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera . As a result, he conducted many well-known orchestras around the world, but especially the Leningrad Philharmonic , with which he made several records and of which he became permanent guest conductor with the 1989/90 season. Between 1983 and 1986, Tschakarow was chief conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders in Antwerp .

At the end of the 1980s it became internationally known when CBS Records , shortly afterwards completely taken over by Sony , wanted to close the gap in Russian operas in their catalog and Chakarov was designated as the conductor of all known Russian operas. Within only four years, recordings by Eugene Onegin , Queen of Spades , Boris Godunow , Prince Igor , A Life for the Tsar and Khovanshchina were made , all with the Sofia Festival Orchestra , which Tschakarow himself founded in 1986 with the participation of Alexis Weissenberg . CBS / Sony hired well-known singer stars for the recordings, such as Nikolaj Gjaurow , Nikola Gjusselew , Juri Masurok , Wiesław Ochman , Anna Tomowa-Sintow and even Nicolai Gedda in the fall of his career. The recordings received excellent reviews and stayed in the catalog for a long time.

Chakarov died in 1991 at the age of only 43.

Today the city of Burgas's concert hall and summer classical music festival bear his name.

Web links

• In memory of Emil Tchakarov , collegiummusicum.org (English)