
The American conductor David Levi has performed opera, operetta, musical theatre, ballet, and orchestral works with prominent companies throughout Europe, and both North and South America. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the Manhattan School of Music.
Resident at Oper Köln from 1993 to 1997 as Assistant to the Music Director, James Conlon, he conducted: La Damnation de Faust; Elektra; Eugene Onegin; Hänsel und Gretel; The Nose; Otello; Sweeney Todd and La Traviata.
He was Chorus Master of the Paris Opera from 1997 to 2002.
He has been a regular guest conductor at the Wiener Volksoper, where his engagements have included: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hello, Dolly! My Fair Lady, and South Pacific.
In 1989, he founded Opera Spanga with stage director Corina van Eijk. Productions included: Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Elektra, The Rake’s Progress and Il Trittico. Films included: Rigoletto and Samson and Dalilah.
In 2015, he founded TerrOpera in the Southwest of France. Productions include: A Soldier’s Tale (2016), La Voix Humaine (2017), and Les Fantastiques (The Fantasticks) (2019).
He has been engaged by several of the world’s leading ballet companies, including: Romeo e Giulietta (Balletto del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma); Firebird and Petrushka (Wiener Staatsballett); Ballo della Regina, Napoli, and La Sylphide (Den Kongelige Ballet¬—Copenhagen) and Anna Karenina, Eugene Onegin, and Giselle Rouge (Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg). His performance of Stravinsky’s Concerto in D with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center was hailed by the New York Times as “one of the finest in years”.
Further European opera, operetta and musical theater engagements include: the European première of A View From the Bridge at the and a new production of Rebecca at the Theater Magdeburg.
His recordings include: South Pacific (Ferruccio Furlanetto, Marjana Lipovsek, Wiener Volksoper); Anatevka/Fiddler on the Roof (Mörbisch Seefestspiele); Abraham: Viktoria und ihr Hussar (Mörbisch Seefestspiele); Leokadiya Kashperova Cello and Piano Sonata No.1 (Susan Edward, World Premiere Commercial Recording), and soundtracks for Une vie à t’attendre (Thierry Klifa, 2004) and Le héros de la famille (Thiery Klifa, 2006).