Mihail Angelov

Maestro Mihail Angelov is a Bulgarian conductor. He began studying music at the age of twelve and his talent was soon discovered by the great pianist Dimitar Nenov. In 1956, Angelov graduated from the Conservatory in the class of Vladi Simeonov and for two years performed with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, where he was appointed second conductor to maestro Vasil Stefanov. Between 1958 and 1960, Angelov completed postgraduate studies in opera and symphonic conducting at the Moscow Conservatory under Prof. Boris Khaikin and Prof. Leo Ginzburg, which he graduated early with full honors. After returning to Bulgaria, he became one of the founders of the Sofia Soloists Orchestra, which over time established itself as one of the leading Bulgarian musical ensembles. He was director and chief conductor of the opera theaters in Ruse, Plovdiv, Burgas and Blagoevgrad. Between 1961 and 1991, Mihail Angelov was successively appointed conductor, deputy chief conductor, chief conductor and director of the Sofia Opera. Since 2005, he has been chief conductor of the Stefan Makedonski Music Theatre. He has performed as a choral conductor of the Danube Sounds, Kaval and Morfova-Prokopova choirs, with whom he has won awards at international choral competitions in Llangollen, Arezzo, Amsterdam and Debrecen. He has toured as a guest conductor with the Moscow and Leningrad Philharmonics, the Berlin Opera Orchestra, the Zagreb Radio Orchestra, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Verdi Theatre in Trieste, the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, the Berlin State Opera, the operas in Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade, Istanbul and Ankara. A long-term collaboration connects Maestro Angelov with the teachers of the Conservatory, Prof. Hristo Brambarov, Prof. Iliya Yosifov and Prof. Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin. Angelov's students include famous performers such as Ghena Dimitrova, Neli Bozhkova, Valeri Popova, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Stoyan Popov, Ivan Konsulov, Boyko Tsvetanov and Tsvetan Mihaylov. Maestro Angelov's repertoire includes 39 works, 17 of which he premiered on the Bulgarian stage. Among them are the operas "Gallant Indies" by Rameau, "Dido and Aeneas" by Purcell, "Theatre Director" by Mozart, "The Italian Girl in Algiers" and "The Thieving Magpie" by Rossini, "Stiefelio" by Verdi, "The Little Fox" by Stravinsky, "Semyon Kotko" by Prokofiev, "Khan Krum" by A. Yosifov, the ballets "Carmen" by Bizet-Shchedrin, "Suite in White" by Lalo, "The Fountain of the White-footed" by A. Raychev, "The Shadow" by Tekeliev. From his marriage to the opera singer Maria Dimitrova, he has a son, pianist Lyudmil Angelov. His second wife is Valery Popova.