Russian conductor Anton Legkii has been second conductor at the National Theatre Mannheim since the 2024-25 season. He will conduct a new production of Cimarosa’s Il direttore d’orchestra and revivals of Don Giovanni, Hansel and Gretel and The Bat, as well as a symphonic Mozart matinee, a new production of Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Così fan tutte.
From 2017 to 2024, he was second conductor at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, where he was responsible for the musical direction of three new productions each season. These included Tancredi (Monteverdi) in combination with Through his Teeth (Luke Bedford), Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Cole Porter’s Kiss me Kate, Handel’s Alcina, Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa, Orpheus in the Underworld (J. Offenbach), Lehár’s The Land of Smiles, as well as ballet evenings such as Giselle, Othello (ballet based on a collage of contemporary and baroque music), Gounod’s Faust, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Verdi’s La Traviata and The Bat by Johann Strauss.
In 2023, he conducted the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra in Sønderborg (DK) in symphony concerts featuring Lalo’s Cello Concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony. He enjoyed great success as a guest conductor in Altenburg-Gera. Prior to 2022, Anton Legkii conducted regularly at the State Opera in Yekaterinburg. He also makes guest appearances at the Pilsen Opera House and works regularly as a guest répétiteur at the Prague State Opera.
In 2016, Anton Legkii won first prize at the International Conducting Competition in Teplice (Czech Republic) and received the European Music Academy President’s Award.
From 2012 to 2014, the young conductor was Kapellmeister at the Omsk Opera House, where he conducted the world premiere of A. Smyonov’s opera The Prisoner of Omsk right at the start of his tenure. He then conducted 20 different works at this theatre, including Ruslan and Ludmilla (M. Glinka), The Nutcracker (P.I. Tchaikovsky), Carmen (G. Bizet), and La Belle Hélène (J. Offenbach).
At the same time, he continued his studies at the Gnesin Academy with Prof. Soloviev in Moscow, where he had the opportunity to observe conductors such as G. Rozhdestvensky, V. Sinaisky, V. Gergiev, V. Spivanov and D. Kitayenko. After graduating from high school, Anton Legkii studied choral, opera and orchestral conducting at the Ural State Conservatory with Prof. Groshikova and Prof. Kartashov, graduating in 2015.
To complete his education, he completed postgraduate studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Univ.Prof.Dr. Johannes Wildner from 2015 to 2017.
During his studies, Anton Legkii conducted various choirs (including the Ural State University Choir and the Tchaikovsky Academy Choir) and, at the age of 19, became principal conductor of the Ural State Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted in Yekaterinburg and on tour with numerous programmes from a wide range of eras and styles.
He completed his primary and secondary education at a college specialising in music and choral singing and was considered a highly talented pianist and singer.
He received his first musical training at the age of five, when he was accepted into the Yekaterinburg Boys’ Choir and began intensive training in piano, solfeggio and choral singing.
09/2025
