Rico Saccani (born April 16, 1952) is a conductor who served as music director and artistic adviser of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra between 1996 and 2005 and was principal guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera from 1985 to 2005.

Biography

Saccani began his music career with

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

studies at age six. He attended the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan from 1965–1968 and went on to the Chautauqua Summer Music Institute from 1969-1972. In 1973, he attended the Summer Academy at Fontainebleau where he worked with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

. Following over 300 Community Concert piano recitals from 1974–1978, he participated in the 1978

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and Tchaikowsky International Piano Competitions. In 1974, Saccani graduated from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

with a B.S. in Business and returned in 1980 for a B.M. in Music. From 1980-1982 he attended the University of Michigan School of Music where he obtained his M.M. in Conducting under Gustav Meier and his D.M.A. under Louis Nagel. Saccani attended the 1983 summer conducting seminar for young conductors at Tanglewood where he worked with Seiji Ozawa,

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

and

Maurice Abravanel Maurice Abravanel (January 6, 1903 – September 22, 1993) was an American classical music conductor. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony for over 30 years. Life Abravanel was born in Salonika, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Emp ...

. During a seven-year apprenticeship with Italian conductor Giuseppe Patane, Saccani won top prize in the 1984 Herbert von Karajan International Conducting Competition in Berlin. Saccani was engaged to perform with the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and Stuttgart Radio Orchestras, the Royal Danish Philharmonic and the Spoleto Festival. His

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

debut came in 1985 in Verdi's ''

Un giorno di regno ''Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao'' (''A One-Day Reign, or The Pretend Stanislaus'', but often translated into English as ''King for a Day'') is an operatic '' melodramma giocoso'' in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto ...

'' at the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, '' La traviata'' at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

and the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

, '' Il turco in Italia'' at the Rossini Festival in

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

plus ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'' at the Philadelphia Opera with

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

for the PBS American television network.

Guest conducting

Saccani appeared regularly as guest conductor with many important symphony orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Orchestra (Munich), the Czech Philharmonic, the Irish National Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic and Yomiuri Symphonies, the Oslo Philharmonic, the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and Bilbao Orchestras, the Gurzenisch Orchestra (Cologne), the Orchestre de chambre de Genève (Geneva Chamber Orchestra), the Hungarian National State Philharmonic, the Mannheim National Theater Orchestra, the Marseilles Opera Orchestra and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. Maestro Saccani also appeared at the Hamburg State Opera, the Lyon Opera, the Monte-Carlo Opera, the Arena de Nîmes Festival, the Paris

Opéra Comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...

, Rome, Dresden and Cologne Operas. Saccani made his

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

debut in '' Il trovatore'' and was re-engaged for the first international radio broadcast of Traviata and '' Aida''. He also conducted at the Teatro San Carlo (Naples), the Arena di Verona (''Rigoletto''), the Houston Grand Opera, the Puccini Festival Torre del Lago (''Turandot''), the Teatro Bellini di Catania ('' La Favorite'' and '' I puritani'') as well as the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Avenches Swiss Festival and the Santander Summer Music Festival in Spain. Maestro Saccani was chief conductor and music director of the Budapest Philharmonic from 1999–2006 as well as principal guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera during the same years. He initiated a "Verdi Marathon" in the Hungarian State Opera house in January 2000 celebrating the Millennium where he conducted seven Verdi operas in nine evenings."Budapest Bound" Opera News. 63:11 (May 1999) He returned to New York's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

and Washington's

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

that same year with the Iceland Symphony as their Music Director during their North American tour.

Symphonies and performers

Among those with whom Saccani has performed are:

Symphonies

* American Symphony Orchestra (New York City) * Bavarian Radio Orchestra (Munich) * Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra * Budapest Philharmonic * Hungarian State Opera Orchestra * Houston Grand Opera Symphony Orchestra (Houston Symphony) * Irish National Opera Orchestra (Dublin) * Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York City) * Monte-Carlo Opera Orchestra * Moscow Symphony (Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago Italy) * Oslo Philharmonic * Paris Opera Orchestra * Rome Opera Orchestra * Royal Philharmonic of Denmark (Copenhagen) * Stuttgart Radio Orchestra * Tokyo Philharmonic * Vienna State Opera Symphony Orchestra (Vienna Philharmonic) * Yomiuri (Tokyo) Symphony Orchestra * Guiyang (China) Symphony Orchestra

Performers

* Roberto Alagna * Lucia Aliberti *

Cecilia Bartoli Cecilia Bartoli Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI (; born 4 June 1966) is an Italian mezzo-soprano widely known in the music of Vincenzo Bellini, Bellini, George Frideric Handel, Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart, Gioachino Ross ...

* Carlo Bergonzi *

Beaux Arts Trio The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio, celebrated for their vivacity, emotional depth and wide-ranging repertoire. They made their debut on 13 July 1955, at the Berkshire Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, known today as the ...

* Alessandro Corbelli * Ghena Dimitrova * Peter Dvorsky * Edita Gruberova * Judith Ingolfsson *

Alfredo Kraus Alfredo Kraus Trujillo (; 24 November 192710 September 1999) was a distinguished Spanish tenor from the Canary Islands (known professionally as Alfredo Kraus), particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles. He was ...

* Denis Matsouev * Aprile Milo *

* Alberto Rinaldi * Roberto Scandiuzzi * Diana Soviero * Sharon Sweet * Julian Lloyd-Weber * Dolora Zajick * Giorgio Zancanaro * Franco Zeffirelli

Selected discography

Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra

* Schumann: ''Symphony #4'' - Cello Concerto (Tamas Varga, solo) - Manfred Overture * Dvořák: ''Symphony #9'' ("From the New World") -- Scherzo Capriccioso * Tchaikovsky: ''Symphony #1'' ("Winter Dreams") - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #3 (Kun-Woo Paik, solo) * Rimsky-Korsakov: ''Capriccio Espagnol'' — Bartók: ''Hungarian Sketches'' — Vaughan Williams: ''Fantasy on a theme by Thomas Tallis'' - Erkel: ''Festival Overture'' * Gershwin: ''An American in Paris'' — Copland: ''Rodeo Suite'' — Barber: ''Adagio'' — Bernstein: ''Symphonic dances from ''West Side Story'' * Dvořák: ''Symphony #8'' --- Khachaturian: ''Violin Concerto'' (Livia Sohn, solo) * Kodály: ''Hary Janos suite'' --- Bartók: ''Concerto for Orchestra'' * Beethoven: ''Symphony #3 ''("Eroica") - Prokofiev: ''Symphony #1'' ("Classical") * Respighi: ''The Pines of Rome'' - ''Roman Festivals'', ''The Fountains of Rome'' * Mussorgsky: ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' - Rimsky-Korsakov: ''Scheherazade'' * Orff: ''Carmina Burana'' * Cilea: ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' (Maria Temesi, Alberto Cupido, Cleopatra Ciurca, Lorenzo Saccomani) * Donizetti: ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (Inga Nielsson, Piero Cappuccilli, Giorgio Lamberti) / ''Messa di Gloria'' / ''La Favorita'' (Denyce Graves, Salvatore Fisichella, Paolo Coni, Dimitri Kavrakos) * Giordano: Andrea Chenier (Kristjan Johansson, Maria Guleghina, Bela Ferencz) * Leoncavallo: ''I Pagliacci'' (Vladimir Atlantov, Natalia Troitskaya, Alexandru Agache) * Mascagni: ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (Galina Savova, Piero Cappuccilli, Vasile Moldoveanu) * Mozart: ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (Janet Perry, William Stone, John Cheek) * Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Maria Guleghina, Kristjan Johannsson, Bela Perencz, Judit Nemeth) * Verdi: ''Otello'' (Kristjan Johansson, Ilona Tokody, Sherrill Milnes, Antonio Marcenò) * Verdi: ''Falstaff'' (Alberto Rinaldi, Patricia Schuman, Andrea Andonian, Ned Barth, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Eva Batori, Istvan Kovachshazi) * Verdi: ''Un ballo in maschera'' (Giorgina Lukacs, Peter Kelen, Anatolij Fokonov, Zsusa Csonka) * Verdi: ''Aida'' (Wilhemina Fernandez, Bruno Sebastian, Barbara Dever, Mark Rucker) * Verdi: ''Rigoletto'' (

Leo Nucci Leo Nucci (born 16 April 1942) is an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi and '' Verismo'' roles. Biography Born at Castiglione dei Pepoli, near Bologna, Nucci studied with Giuseppe Marchese. He made his stage debut ...

, Mariella Devia, Marcello Giordani) * Verdi: ''Macbeth'' (Yasuo Horiuchi, Giorgina Lukacs, Attila Kiss) * Verdi: ''La traviata'' (Diana Soviero, Jerry Hadley, Brian Schexnayder) * Verdi: Il Trovatore (Vyacheslov Polozov, Sharon Sweet, Dolora Zajick, Alexandru Agache) * Verdi: Un Giorno di Regno (Alessandro Corbelli, Enzo Dara, Nelson Portella, Luciana D'Intino, Krystyna Rorbach, Paolo Barbacini * Puccini: ''Turandot'' (Ghena Dimitrova, Kristjan Johansson, Katia Ricciarelli, Paata Burchuladze) * Puccini: ''Manon Lescaut'' (Ilona Tokody, Peter Kelen, Lajos Miller) * Puccini: ''La Bohème'' (Luciano Pavarotti, Veronica Kinsces, Sandor Sòlyom-Nagy, Madeline Reneè, Laszlo Polgar) * Puccini: ''Tosca'' (Giorgina Lukacs, Paul Lyon, Ned Barth) * Puccini: ''Madama Butterfly'' (Raina Kabaivanska, Nicola Martinucci, Paola Romanò, Franco Giovine ) * Rossini: ''Il Barbiere di Siviglia'' (Dalibor Jenis, Gloria Scalchi, Benjamin Brecher, Edward Crafts, Alberto Rinaldi, Judith Nemeth) * Rossini: ''Il Turco in Italia'' (Simone Alaimo, Bruno Praticò, Valeria Esposito, Robert Swensen)

Other orchestras and performances

* National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland & Rico Saccani **Verdi: ''Aida'' (Maria Dragoni, Kristjan Johannsson, Barbara Dever, Mark Rucker) * National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland & Rico Saccani ** Respighi: ''Ancient Airs and Dances'' suites 1, 2 and 3 * Anatoli Fokonov, Gianni Mongiardino, Marta Szucs and Rico Saccani ** Bellini: ''I Puritani'' (Marta Szucs, Gianni Mongiardino, Anatoli Fokonov)

Awards and recognition

2005 Legion of Honor (Hungary) for "distinguished contributions to Hungary's cultural life for over 20 years"