Bertrand De Billy
Orchestre Suisse Romande - Messiaen Turangalîla Symphony
In Geneva, at the head of the OSR, Bertrand de Billy delivered a brilliant and dazzling interpretation, at once intoxicating and sensual, particularly in the magnificent slow movement (“Jardin du sommeil d'amour”), with concise rhythms, but always without exaggeration or sensationalism, without kitsch, without ever overloading the space, and with perfect clarity, even in the densest passages.
ConcertoNet (May 14, 2025)
The Press (June 6, 2025)Season 2026/2027
ORCHESTRA PHILHARMONIQUE DE MONTE CARLO
Henri Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain..., concerto pour violoncelle et orchestra -
Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé Suite 1 & 2
Sep 13
Essen Philharmonic
Wagner – Siegfried Idyll
Bruckner – Symphony No. 3
Sep 17/18
Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra
Dvořák – Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 with Truls Mørk
Strauss – Alpine Symphony, Op. 64
Sep 27/28
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VIENNA STATE OPERA
Verdi - Otello
Oct 26/29, Nov 2/5/8Berlioz – La Damnation de Faust
Dec 17/20/23/27/29Verdi – Don Carlos
Jan 17/20/24/27/31ORCHESTRE DE LA SUISSE ROMANDE
Chaminade – Callirhoë, Orchestral Suite, Op. 37
Saint-Saëns – Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 61 with Alexandra Conunova
Suk – Pohádka, Op. 16
Feb 24 (Geneva), Feb 25 (Lausanne)BERLIN STATE OPERA
Puccini – Manon Lescaut
March 21/24/27/29BASEL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Dutilleux – Symphony No. 2 “Le Double”
Beethoven – Egmont, Op. 84
Apr 7/8VIENNA STATE OPERA
Bizet – Carmen
Apr 30, May 4/7TEATRO ALLA SCALA
Massenet - Don Quixote
May 23/29, June 4/8/11/14BERLIN STATE OPERA
Puccini – Manon Lescaut
June 26/29, July 1/3
Biography
The French-Swiss conductor Bertrand de Billy is regarded as one of the most distinguished artists both in the opera pit and on the concert platform.
He is a regular guest conductor at the Vienna State Opera, where he will return in the 2026/27 season for a new production of La damnation de Faust, as well as for Don Carlos and Otello . He will also return to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden for a new production of Manon Lescaut and make his debut at La Scala with Don Quichotte. On the concert stage, he will conduct the Essen Philharmonic and return to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and back to the Basel Symphony Orchestra.
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In the 2025/26 season, de Billy conducted revivals of Otello, Le nozze di Figaro during a tour to Japan, Manon, Idomeneo, and Der fliegende Holländer at the Vienna State Opera, a new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. On the concert stage, he performed with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Filarmonica TRT in Turin, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Graz Philharmonic, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Other highlights of recent seasons include successful new productions of La Vestale at the Opéra de Paris as well as Les Dialogues des Carmélites and Faust at the Vienna State Opera. Early in his career, engagements took him to major opera houses and orchestras worldwide, including the state operas in Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Monnaie in Brussels, Opéra National de Paris, and the opera houses in Washington and Los Angeles. He has been a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York since 1997 and at the Salzburg Festival since 2002.
He has collaborated with renowned orchestras worldwide, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Orchestre de Paris, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, RSB Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and many more.
De Billy's repertoire spans from Bach to numerous world premieres. He maintains close relationships with the Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien, Vienna Musikverein, and Vienna Konzerthaus, alongside his work with the Bavarian State Opera.
Born in Paris, he received his education there and began his career as an orchestral musician before transitioning to conducting. From 1993-95 he was first Kapellmeister and deputy GMD at the Anhalt Theatre in Dessau, and from 1996-98 he held the same position at the Vienna Volksoper. He served as the principal conductor of the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona from 1999-2004 and of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2002-2010.
Numerous CD and DVD recordings document his artistic work. Bertrand de Billy is the recipient of several high honors in France and Austria, including honorary membership of the Vienna State Opera, the rank of Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and the "Ordre national du Mérite" and "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres".
2026/27
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