Carlo Rizzi (born 19 July 1960,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) is an Italian conductor.

Biography

One of three children born to a chemist father and an accountant mother, Rizzi studied music at the Milan Conservatory. He later was a conducting student of

Vladimir Delman Vladimir Delman (26 January 1923 in Petrograd – 28 August 1994 in Bologna) was a Russian conductor. After leaving the Soviet Union in 1974 he settled in Italy, where he founded the Milan Symphony Orchestra in 1993. References The New York Time ...

, in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, and with

Franco Ferrara Franco Ferrara (Palermo, 4 July 1911Florence, 7 September 1985) was an Italian conductor and teacher. Among his many students are various prominent conductors, including Roberto Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Andrew Davis and Riccardo Muti. Life a ...

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. His opera conducting debut was in 1982, with

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...

's '' L'ajo nell'imbarazzo''. In 1985, he won the first Toscanini Conductor's Competition in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. Rizzi made his UK conducting debut at the 1988 Buxton Festival with Donizetti's ''

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

'', and subsequently conducted productions at the

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

and

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays a ...

. In August 1992, he became music director of

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

(WNO), and served in the post through 2001. He learned to speak Welsh during his tenure. In 2004, following the sudden resignation of

Tugan Sokhiev Tugan Taymurazovich Sokhiev (; ; born 21 October 1977, Ordzhonikidze, North Ossetian ASSR) is a Russian conductor. Biography Sokhiev began piano studies at age 7. He first conducted at age 17, inspired by Anatoly Briskin, the conductor of the ...

, Rizzi's successor at WNO, Rizzi returned as WNO's music director, which was expected to be initially for a period of 2 years. He remained in the post through 2007. In June 2019,

Opera Rara Opera Rara is a London-based opera company and recording label which specialises in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1970 by bel canto enthusiasts Patric Schmid and Don Whi ...

announced the appointment of Rizzi as its next music director, effective September 2019. In July 2022, Opera Rara announced an extension of Rizzi's contract as artistic director through June 2025. Rizzi's recordings include an English-language version of

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

's ''

Káťa Kabanová ''Káťa Kabanová'' (also known in various spellings including ''Katia'', ''Katja'', ''Katya'', and ''Kabanowa'') is an opera in three acts, with music by Leoš Janáček to a libretto by the composer based on ''The Storm (Ostrovsky), The Storm'' ...

'' (Chandos), and a DVD set of '' La Traviata'' (

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

). Rizzi has been married twice. His first marriage, which ended in divorce, produced two children, Steffan and Sofia. Rizzi and his second wife, Karin, have two children, Lukas and Anna.

References

External links

IMG Artists agency page on Carlo Rizzi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzi, Carlo 1960 births Italian male conductors (music) Living people Milan Conservatory alumni Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors 20th-century Italian conductors (music) 21st-century Italian conductors (music) 20th-century Italian male musicians 21st-century Italian male musicians Musicians from Milan