Carlo Rizzi

Carlo Rizzi ranks among today’s leading conductors. Equally at home in opera and the concert hall, his vast repertoire spans everything from the foundation works of the operatic and symphonic canon to rarities by Bellini, Cimarosa and Donizetti. He is in high demand as a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals, not least for the insight and integrity of his musicianship and the visceral energy and psychological depths of his interpretations.

Opera is imprinted in Maestro Rizzi’s musical DNA. He discovered the art form during his formative years in Milan, attending productions at the Teatro alla Scala and, following his graduation from the city’s famous Conservatory, contributing to their development as a répétiteur with the company. Since launching his conducting career in 1982 with Donizetti’s L'ajo nell'imbarazzo, he has performed almost one hundred operas. The Rizzi repertoire list, rich in Italian works but also well stocked with the music of Wagner, Richard Strauss, Britten and Janáček, reflects the genuine breadth of his interests and the questing nature of his curiosity.

Two fruitful periods as Music Director of Welsh National Opera (1992-2001; 2004-08) and frequent guest conducting engagements at the Metropolitan Opera and the The Royal Opera, London belong to the great bedrock of experience supporting Rizzi’s work. His artistic development has also drawn from the critically acclaimed success of concert performances with distinguished orchestras around the world and most recently completed a cycle of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies with the Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie as well as concerts with Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic. In 2015 Rizzi was honoured to take up the position of Conductor Laureate of Welsh National Opera.

Carlo Rizzi’s extensive discography includes complete recordings of Gounod’s Faust, Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová, Verdi’s Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera with Welsh National Opera; a DVD and CD of Verdi’s La traviata recorded live by Deutsche Grammophon at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic; numerous recital albums with renowned opera singers; and recordings of symphonic compositions by Bizet, Ravel, Respighi and Schubert.

During recent seasons Carlo Rizzi conducted back-to-back new productions of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and Mosè in Egitto at Welsh National Opera, followed by Verdi’s Luisa Miller at Opernhaus Zürich; La fanciulla del West for Deutsche Oper Berlin (2015), Un ballo in maschera at La Monnaie, Brussels (2015); a double bill of Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci and Tosca at Teatro alla Scala, Milan (2015) and Nabucco at Lyric Opera of Chicago (2016). Future engagements include return visits to Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Welsh National Opera, Metropolitan Opera, New York, Opéra de Paris and Dutch National Opera.