Music Director - Chief Conductor
Mikhail Tatarnikov
Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Theatre
Mikhail Tatarnikov graduated from the Faculty of Opera and Symphony Conducting of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. Rimsky-Korsakov (class of the Honoured Artist of Russia, prof. A. Polishchuk).
In 2006, he made his debut at the Mariinsky Theatre with the ballet Metaphysics with the music of Prokofiev's Second Symphony, a year later he performed as an opera conductor (The Love for Three Oranges by Prokofiev). In total, under his direction, more than forty works were performed at the Mariinsky Theatre: The Flying Dutchman and Tristan and Isolde by Wagner, The Magic Flute and Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart, The Maid of Pskov and Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov, Attila by Verdi. He was an assistant to Valery Gergiev in the production of Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2012-2018, Mikhail Tatarnikov was the music director and chief conductor of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where he presented a number of premiere performances, symphonic programs and concert performances of operas. He performed with the Mikhailovsky Theatre Orchestra on tour in Japan.
Since 2020, he has been the artistic director of the international music festivals at Château de Valrose (Nice, France) and in San Marino.
In 2020, he performed at the 100th Salzburg Festival.
Since October 2023, Mikhail Tatarnikov has been the music director and chief conductor of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. On the Siberian stage, Mikhail Tatarnikov served as music director and conductor of a number of opera productions that have been successfully received by both professional critics and local audiences: Rigoletto (directed by V. Starodubtsev, 2024), Eugene Onegin (directed by V. Kekhman, 2024), Le Rossignol (directed by V. Starodubtsev, 2025), La boheme (directed by V. Kekhman, 2025). Thanks to Mikhail Tatarnikov, a large-scale cycle of Grand Symphony Concerts was launched at the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in 2024. M. Tatarnikov is the music director and conductor of this cycle. As part of the concert programs on the Novosibirsk stage, the symphony orchestra of the theatre performed such large-scale works as the First Violin Concerto by S. Prokofiev, Pictures at an Exhibition by M. Mussorgsky, the Fifth Symphony by G. Mahler, the Violin Concerto by J. Brahms.
On May 12, 2025, a large-scale event took place on the stage of the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre - the premiere of Mikhail Glinka's opera Ivan Susanin in a concert and scenic production, timed to coincide with two important dates: the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the theatre, the history of which began with this opera on May 12, 1945. Mikhail Tatarnikov was the music director and conductor of the production (directed by V. Starodubtsev).
He is the production conductor of the operas Billy Budd by Britten at the Mikhailovsky Theatre (Russian premiere), The Demon by Rubinstein at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Manon Lescaut by Puccini at the Berlin State Opera, The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov at the Paris Opera, Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saens in concert performing on the stage of the Champs-Elysees Theatre, Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky and The Gambler by Prokofiev at the Monte Carlo Opera, Prince Igor by Borodin at the Hamburg State Opera, The Makropulos Affair by Janacek at the San Francisco Opera. He has conducted in many foreign theatres, including Teatro alla Scala, the Bordeaux Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin, the National Opera of Bergen, the Austrian Theatre An der Wien, the Grand Theatre (National Opera) in Warsaw, the Latvian National Opera, the Brussels Royal Theatre La Monnaie and others.
As a symphonic conductor, Mikhail Tatarnikov has worked with the National Orchestras of France, Denmark, Latvia and Scotland, the Philharmonic orchestras of Rotterdam, Monte Carlo, Oslo, Seoul, the orchestras of Polish Radio and Radio France, the symphony orchestras of Birmingham, Bournemouth, Tokyo, Seattle, as well as with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra.
He collaborated with such famous stage directors as Dmitri Tcherniakov, Jurgen Flimm, Dmitry Bertman, etc., as well as artists: Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Roberto Alagna, Kristine Opolais, Aida Garifullina, Ildar Abdrazakov, Neil Shikoff, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Vadim Repin, Nikolai Lugansky, Peter Donohoe, Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov.
- Winner of the special prize of the Annual Theatre Award “Golden Soffit”– For the theatrical expressiveness of conducting solutions (2013).
- A commemorative sign and a diploma “Tchaikovsky” – For the contribution to the development of Russian musical culture (2016).
- Diploma holder of the Golden Mask National Theatre Festivals in the nomination “The Best Work of a Conductor” for the performances Billy Budd, Romeo and Juliet (Mikhailovsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 2012/13), Eugene Onegin (Opera and Ballet Theatre named after P. Tchaikovsky, Perm, 2022)
- Winner of the Perm Krai Prize in Culture and Art for 2022 for his work on the performance Eugene Onegin (2023)
- Certificate of Honour from the Novosibirsk City Administration (2025)
- Letter of appreciation from the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation (2025)
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