Semkow Jerzy, *12 October 1928 Radomsko, †23 December 2014 Lausanne (Switzerland), Polish conductor. In 1946–51, he studied conducting with A. Malawski at the PWSM in Krakow, and in 1951–53 with B. Chajkin at the Leningrad Conservatory, where in 1954–56 he was J. Mrawiński’s assistant at the philharmonic. In 1956–58, he conducted at the Grand Theatre in Moscow; in 1959–61, he was the artistic director of the Warsaw Opera and in 1966–75, the first conductor of the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. In 1970–71, he led the Cleveland Orchestra as G. Szell’s assistant, and in 1975–79, he directed the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; in 1979–82 with the Radiotelevisione Italiana orchestra in Rome. In 1985–93, he was music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he also collaborated as a permanent guest conductor, while also holding a similar position in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (2003/04). He also worked as a teacher, conducting master classes at American universities – Yale University, University of Colorado, and Manhattan School of Music in New York.
Semkow began his artistic activity as an opera conductor. After an internship in Moscow and Milan (La Scala, 1958) and a period of permanent work in Warsaw and Copenhagen, he conducted opera performances in leading European theatres as a guest conductor, including, La Scala, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Covent Garden Theater (Mozart’s Don Giovanni, 1970), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris (Rachmaninoff’s Francesca da Rimini, 1995). He also made many album recordings, including Bizet’s Carmen with the Warsaw Philharmonic ensembles (Polskie Nagrania, 1963), Janáček’s Jenufa with the La Scala ensemble, A. Borodin’s Prince Igor with the Sofia Opera Theatre ensemble (EMI, 1998), two recordings of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in the original version – first recording with WOSPR and the Polish Radio Choir in Krakow (EMI, 1993) was awarded the French Grand Prix du Disque, Deutscher Schallplatenpreis and a Grammy Award nomination, the second one was performed with the Teatro La Fenice band (2001).
Semkow’s career on the concert stage dates back to the 1960s; in 1962, he made his debut with the National Philharmonic, in 1968 in London with the London Philharmonie Orchestra and in the United States at a concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, after which he began cooperation with the most important American orchestras, including in Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis. In Europe, he conducted, among others, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchester National de France, Orchester de Paris, Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Orchestra de la Suisse Romande. He conducted ceremonial concerts in the Vatican (Haydn’s Creation, 1983, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, 1988), in the Notre Dame Cathedral (Beethoven’s Mass in C major, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor) and the church of St. Magdalena in Paris (Mozart’s Requiem on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death) and on 30 April 2004, a concert at Wawel with NOSPR on the eve of Poland’s accession to the European Union (Beethoven’s 9th Symphony). Semkow was particularly appreciated for his outstanding interpretations of romantic music (Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Scriabin) and Mozart’s symphonies and oratorios, many of which were recorded on records (Polskie Nagrania, HMV, Columbia, Vox). Semkov lived in Paris; in 2000, he received the title of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres.
