The troubled Bolshoi Theater announced its new music director on Monday at a press conference in Moscow: 36-year-old conductor Tugan Sokhiev, who has been appointed to help rehabilitate the reputation of the venerable theater after a series of scandals.
Sokhiev is currently music director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. His appointment is effective immediately.
Vladimir Urin, the Bolshoi's general director, introduced Sokhiev to journalists during the press conference. "I have had the opportunity to hear Maestro Sokhiev on numerous occasions," said Urin. "To my mind he is a highly gifted musician."
He also called Sokhiev, "one of the most in-demand young conductors in the West."
Sokhiev succeeds Vasily Sinyaisky, 66, who resigned suddenly in December, two weeks before he was due to conduct a high-profile new production of Verdi's opera Don Carlos.
Sokhiev said, "I am delighted to become music director and chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theater--one of the highest honors for any conductor...together with my ongoing plans with my orchestras in Toulouse and Berlin, I look forward to working with my new colleagues in Moscow and to many wonderful music experiences in the years to come."
Several top officials and dancers of the Bolshoi have either resigned or been fired in the wake of a scandal that culminated in a shocking act of violence last January.
Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi's artistic director, suffered an acid attack that seriously damaged his vision.
Pavel Dmitrichenko, a former ballet soloist with the company, is now serving a six-year sentence for his role in the attack, which was carried out by a man Dmitrichenko hired to attack Filin.
The attack, and the court case that resulted, exposed extreme rivalry over roles, money and power at the venerable ballet company.
In response to the scandals, the Russian government fired the theater's longtime general director, Anatoly Iksanov, last July.
The Bolshoi dismissed Nikolai Tsiskaridze, a star dancer with the company. He had feuded with Filin, and had a long-term dispute with Iksanov that received extensive coverage in the media.
Urin, the new general director, is attempting to repair the damage done by the scandals, and sees Sokhiev as being instrumental in the rebuilding process.
"I was struck by his willingness and passion to build a musical theater according to his belief of what it should be today," Urin said. "As a result of our intensive discussions, I was delighted to conclude that despite our considerable age gap we share a similar vision."
