Nicola Luisotti
Encyclopedia
Nicola Luisotti is an Italian musician. He has been music director of San Francisco Opera
since September 2009 and also serves as principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
.
, where he was a rehearsal pianist for La Scala
, and Florence
, where he was a member of the chorus of the Maggio Musicale. Subsequent posts allowed him to assist such conductors as Lorin Maazel
and Riccardo Muti
at La Scala
. His earliest full-time position was as chorus master for La Fenice
in Venice
.
at the Stuttgart State Theater was met with critical acclaim, and within weeks he was offered a debut engagement at Paris Opera. Other early invitations came from the Canadian Opera Company
(Un ballo in maschera
in 2003), Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice
(Il viaggio a Reims
in 2003 and Simon Boccanegra
in 2004), and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera
(Tosca
in 2004). Luisotti has conducted at nearly every major opera company across the globe, including the Royal Opera
, Covent Garden
; the Metropolitan Opera
; Oper Frankfurt; Venice’s Teatro La Fenice; the Vienna Staatsoper; Madrid’s Teatro Real
; Los Angeles Opera
; and Seattle Opera
. He made his debut in Japan
with a staged production of Tosca
at Suntory Hall
and has established growing relationships with the orchestras of Zagreb, Sofia, Genoa, Turin, London's Philharmonia Orchestra
, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, Munich’s Bavarian Rundfunk Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra.
Luisotti's discography includes a complete recording of Stiffelio
and Duets, featuring Anna Netrebko
and Rolando Villazón
on the Deutsche Grammophon
label. He is also on the podium of a DVD recording of the Met’s La bohème
, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas (EMI).
In the 2010-11 season, Luisotti leads a new production of Attila at La Scala as well as 100th-anniversary performances of La fanciulla del West
at the Metropolitan Opera, which premiered the work in 1910. On the concert stage, Luisotti conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
, Frankfurt's Museum Orchestra
at the Alte Oper
and Hessischer Rundfunk Orchestra, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala.
. The announcement of his appointment as the company's music director was made in 2007; Luisotti is San Francisco Opera's third music director, following the tenures of John Pritchard
and Donald Runnicles
. San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley
has stated that one of his goals for the company is to reinvigorate the core Italian repertory that was prevalent in the early years of San Francisco Opera, which was founded by a group of Italian Americans. He appointed Luisotti with this in mind and plans for the conductor to lead three to four productions each season, with one breakout, non-Italian production each year.
Luisotti returned to the company in 2008 to conduct La bohème before assuming the music directorship in 2009. In his inaugural season, Luisotti led Il trovatore, Salome
, and Otello
in fall 2009 and La fanciulla del West in summer 2010.
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
since September 2009 and also serves as principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
The , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
.
Early life
Luisotti began studying music as a child, with lessons on the church organ; by age eleven he was the director of the church choir. He later trained as a pianist, with secondary degrees in composition, trumpet and voice. Upon completing his formal study, he traveled between MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, where he was a rehearsal pianist for La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, where he was a member of the chorus of the Maggio Musicale. Subsequent posts allowed him to assist such conductors as Lorin Maazel
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...
and Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
. His earliest full-time position was as chorus master for La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
.
Professional career
Luisotti’s international debut in 2002 leading a new production of Il trovatoreIl trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
at the Stuttgart State Theater was met with critical acclaim, and within weeks he was offered a debut engagement at Paris Opera. Other early invitations came from the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
(Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
in 2003), Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice
Teatro Carlo Felice
The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....
(Il viaggio a Reims
Il viaggio a Reims
Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts, by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Balocchi, based in part on Corinne, ou L'Italie by Mme de Staël.Rossini's last opera in the Italian language Il viaggio a...
in 2003 and Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....
in 2004), and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
(Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
in 2004). Luisotti has conducted at nearly every major opera company across the globe, including the Royal Opera
Royal Opera
Royal Opera or Royal Opera House may refer to:* Khedivial Opera House, Cairo, Egypt; burnt down in 1971* Kungliga Operan, opera house and opera company in Sweden* Opéra Royal de Versailles, France* Opéra Royal de Wallonie, opera house in Liège, Belgium...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
; the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
; Oper Frankfurt; Venice’s Teatro La Fenice; the Vienna Staatsoper; Madrid’s Teatro Real
Teatro Real
The Teatro Real or simply El Real , is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.-History:...
; Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
; and Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera
The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often...
. He made his debut in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with a staged production of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
at Suntory Hall
Suntory Hall
The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...
and has established growing relationships with the orchestras of Zagreb, Sofia, Genoa, Turin, London's Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony, Munich’s Bavarian Rundfunk Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra.
Luisotti's discography includes a complete recording of Stiffelio
Stiffelio
Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois...
and Duets, featuring Anna Netrebko
Anna Netrebko
Anna Yuryevna Netrebko is an Russian operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. She has been nicknamed "La Bellissima" by fans.-Biography:...
and Rolando Villazón
Rolando Villazón
Emilio Rolando Villazón Mauleón is a Mexican tenor. He settled in France and in 2007 became a French citizen.-Early life and education:...
on the Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
label. He is also on the podium of a DVD recording of the Met’s La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas (EMI).
In the 2010-11 season, Luisotti leads a new production of Attila at La Scala as well as 100th-anniversary performances of La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West
La fanciulla del West is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini, based on the play The Girl of the Golden West by the American author David Belasco. Its highly-publicised premiere occurred in New York City in 1910...
at the Metropolitan Opera, which premiered the work in 1910. On the concert stage, Luisotti conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...
, Frankfurt's Museum Orchestra
Frankfurter Museumsorchester
The Frankfurter Museumsorchester is the resident orchestra of the Frankfurt am Main City Opera House, Germany. Its somewhat peculiar name is derived from the series of "Museum Concerts", organized by the Frankfurter Museumsgesellschaft since 1808. The orchestra is ranked as an "A-list" ensemble...
at the Alte Oper
Alte Oper
The Alte Oper is a major concert hall and former opera house in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The building was inaugurated in 1880. Many important works have been premiered at the Alte Oper, including Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in 1937....
and Hessischer Rundfunk Orchestra, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala.
San Francisco Opera
Luisotti made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2005 conducting La forza del destinoLa forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
. The announcement of his appointment as the company's music director was made in 2007; Luisotti is San Francisco Opera's third music director, following the tenures of John Pritchard
John Pritchard
Sir John Michael Pritchard CBE was an English conductor. He was known for his interpretations of Mozart operas and for his support of contemporary music.-Life and career:...
and Donald Runnicles
Donald Runnicles
Donald Runnicles is a Scottish conductor who has worked extensively in other countries, particularly Germany and the USA....
. San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley
David Gockley
David Gockley is an American opera company administrator. He served as general director of Houston Grand Opera from 1972 to 2005 and has been general director of San Francisco Opera since 2006.-Biography:...
has stated that one of his goals for the company is to reinvigorate the core Italian repertory that was prevalent in the early years of San Francisco Opera, which was founded by a group of Italian Americans. He appointed Luisotti with this in mind and plans for the conductor to lead three to four productions each season, with one breakout, non-Italian production each year.
Luisotti returned to the company in 2008 to conduct La bohème before assuming the music directorship in 2009. In his inaugural season, Luisotti led Il trovatore, Salome
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
, and Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
in fall 2009 and La fanciulla del West in summer 2010.
External links
- Nicola Luisotti's official website
- Nicola Luisotti biography on San Francisco Opera's website
- Nicola Luisotti biography on Tokyo Symphony Orchestra's website
- Interview with Nicola Luisotti at MusicalCriticism.com