Norman Lebrecht

Who is Kirill Petrenko?

Norman Lebrecht profiles the shyest chief conductor in the business, Kirill Petrenko

issue 12 August 2017

Two summers ago, the BBC were offered a Proms visit by the Bavarian State Orchestra with its music director, Kirill Petrenko. The conversation went something like this.

BBC: ‘Petrenko, isn’t he the chap that conducts Liverpool?’

Munich: ‘No, that’s Vasily Petrenko. This one is Kirill.’

BBC: ‘Well, we don’t really know about him over here.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY A MONTH FREE
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Try a month of Britain’s best writing, absolutely free.

Comments

Join the debate, free for a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.

Already a subscriber? Log in