Alberto Hold-Garrido - Verdi: Don Carlos (2002)

Alberto Hold-Garrido was born in Barcelona and raised in Denmark. He studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and continued his studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in the legendary conducting class of Jorma Panula. He also took classes with Sergiu Celibidache in Mainz, Germany. After his graduation from the Sibelius Academy in 1994, Hold-Garrido worked as assistant conductor at the Finnish National Opera and also at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he assisted Leif Segerstam, who eventually invited him to work as a conductor at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. From 2001 to 2003 he succeeded Segerstam in Stockholm as music director and principal conductor. In Stockholm Hold-Garrido developed a huge repertoire of operatic titles. Highlights included Don Carlos with Hillevi Martinpelto and Peter Mattei, preserved in a highly acclaimed recording, as well as a tour of Norma to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1998 with soprano Marina Mesheriakova in the title rôle. He has also had the honour to work with many distinguished stage directors, such as August Everding, Renata Scotto, and Giancarlo del Monaco. In addition to his career in Finland and Sweden, Hold-Garrido has