BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers & Carlo Rizzi
Biography BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers & Carlo Rizzi
Carlo Rizzi
holds a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s foremost operatic conductors, in demand as a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. Equally at home in the opera house 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 to Giordano, Pizzetti and Montemezzi. Combining a deep expertise in the vocal art with theatrical flair and the practical collaborative skills honed over decades of experience in the world’s finest theatres, he is acclaimed by singers and audiences alike as a master of the operatic craft.
Born in Milan, Rizzi studied at the city’s conservatoire, and following his graduation was employed as a repetiteur at the legendary Teatro alla Scala. He launched his conducting career in 1982 with a production of Donizetti’s L’ajo nell’imbarazzo, and has now performed over a hundred operas, with a broad repertoire that is rich in Italian works in addition to the major titles of Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, Britten, Mussorgsky, Martinů and Janáček.
Since 2019 Rizzi is Music Director of Opera Rara, the UK-based company devoted to resurrecting and returning to the repertoire undiscovered and undervalued works from opera’s celebrated and neglected composers, and since 2015, he has been Conductor Laureate of the Welsh National Opera, following his tenure as Music Director (1992-2001 and 2004-8) during which he was widely credited with overseeing a dramatic increase in the company’s artistic standards and international profile.
He also has held long- standing relationships with the Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and his career has seen him leading numerous productions at the most distinguished operatic addresses. Rizzi is also critically acclaimed as a symphonic conductor with distinguished orchestras around the world including Halle, the London Philharmonic, the Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Netherlands Philharmonic, Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the orchestra of the National Arts Centre, Ottawa.
In the 26/27 season he records Mercandante’s ‘Il Campo de’ Crociati’ with Opera Rara, returns to the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, to lead a new production of Le Siege de Corinthe, opens the Staatsoper Berlin’s season with Spontini’s La Vestale, leads a new production of Puccini’s Edgar at Teatro Regio di Torino, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera New York for Cherubini’s Medea, to Opernhaus Zurich for Tosca, and to the New National Theatre Tokyo for Macbeth.
Highlights of recent seasons have included returns to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct Turandot and Madama Butterfly, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at Teatro Real Madrid, Respighi’s La Fiamma (Deutsche Oper Berlin), Rigoletto and Turandot (Wiener Staatsoper), La Boheme (Bayerische Staatsoper), Il Trittico (Opera National De Paris) and Il Trovatore (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden). Symphonic appearances include performances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia. As part of the BBC Proms series, Rizzi closed the season conducting the Welsh National Opera Orchestra at the Bristol Beacon. With Opera Rara, Rizzi performed and recorded the newly restored final 1921 version of Puccini’s La Rondine with the BBC Symphony and completed (as pianist) their project to record Donizetti’s complete songs.
Carlo Rizzi’s extensive discography includes complete recordings of Gounod’s Faust, Janáček’s Katya Kabanova (in English), and Verdi’s Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera, all with Welsh National Opera. He appears on a Deutsche Grammophon CD and DVD of Verdi’s La Traviata, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival with Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, and the Vienna Philharmonic. He has also recorded numerous recital albums with renowned singers including Joseph Calleja, Juan Diego Flórez, Edita Gruberová, Jennifer Larmore, Ernesto Palacio, Olga Borodina, and Thomas Hampson. His recordings for Opera Rara include Mercadante’s Il proscritto (2023), Leoncavallo’s Zingari (2022), a pair of Gramophone Award–nominated discs with Joyce El-Khoury and Michael Spyres, and the 2024 release of Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma, which received widespread critical acclaim. In the same year, Signum Records released his album of Puccini’s complete symphonic works, featuring world-premiere recordings of his own orchestral suites from Tosca and Madama Butterfly, conducted with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Rizzi has also recorded symphonic works by Bizet, de Falla, Ravel, Respighi, and Schubert with major orchestras including the London and Netherlands Philharmonic.
Shortlisted as a finalist for ‘conductor of the Year’ in the 2024 International Opera Awards, Rizzi was also awarded the honour of ‘Grande Ufficiale’ (Grand Officer) of the ‘Ordine della Stella d’Italia’ (Order of the Star of Italy) for his commitment and contribution to promoting Italian music and culture internationally.
