Ottavio Dantone
Encyclopedia
Ottavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and keyboardist
(primarily harpsichord
and fortepiano
) particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music
. He has been the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna
since 1996.
in Milan
where he graduated in organ
and harpsichord
. In 1985 he was awarded the Basso Continuo
prize at the International Paris Festival and was also a laureate in the 1986 International Bruges Festival.
Dantone made his debut as an opera conductor in 1999 with the first performance in modern times of Giuseppe Sarti
's Giulio Sabino
at the Teatro Alighieri
in Ravenna. He made his La Scala
debut in 2005 conducting Handel's Rinaldo
, and will conduct performances of the same opera at Glyndebourne
in 2011.
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
(primarily harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
) particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
. He has been the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
since 1996.
Career
Dantone trained at the Conservatorio "Giuseppe Verdi"Milan Conservatory
The Milan Conservatory is a college of music which was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year with premises in the cloisters of the Baroque church of Santa Maria della Passione. There were initially 18 boarders,...
in Milan
Milan
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 graduated in organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
. In 1985 he was awarded the Basso Continuo
Figured bass
Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...
prize at the International Paris Festival and was also a laureate in the 1986 International Bruges Festival.
Dantone made his debut as an opera conductor in 1999 with the first performance in modern times of Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti was an Italian opera composer.-Biography:He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born on 28 December, but his baptism certificate proves the later date impossible...
's Giulio Sabino
Giulio Sabino
Giulio Sabino is a dramma per musica in three acts by Giuseppe Sarti. The libretto was by Pietro Giovannini....
at the Teatro Alighieri
Teatro Comunale Alighieri
The Teatro Comunale Alighieri is an opera house located at 2 Via Mariana in Ravenna, Italy and designed by the Venetian architects, Tommaso Meduna and his brother, Giambattista who had designed the second La Fenice theatre after the fire of 1836...
in Ravenna. He made his 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...
debut in 2005 conducting Handel's Rinaldo
Rinaldo (opera)
Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
, and will conduct performances of the same opera at Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
in 2011.
Recordings
- Domenico ScarlattiDomenico ScarlattiGiuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
: Complete Sonatas – Ottavio Dantone (harpsichord). Label: Stradivarius (CD) - Settecento Veneziano – Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Arts Music (CD)
- Sarti: Giulio Sabino – Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni (CD)
- Vivaldi: Tito ManlioTito ManlioTito Manlio is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi, to a libretto by Matteo Noris. It was written in celebration of the marriage of Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt , the governor of Mantua, which he had announced at Christmas. Vivaldi quickly composed the opera within five days...
– Nicola Ulivieri, Karina Gauvin, Ann Hallenberg, Marijana Mijanovic, Debora Beronesi, Barbara Di Castri; Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Naïve (CD) - Il Giardino Armonico Deux: Music of the French Baroque - Giovanni Antonini (flute), Luca Pianca (lute), Enrico Onofri (violin), Vittorio Ghielmi (viola da gamba), Ottavio Dantone (harpsichord). Recorded in the Hellbrunn Palace, Salzburg. Label: Arthaus Musik (DVD)
Sources
- El Diario VascoGrupo VocentoVocento, S.A., also known as Grupo Vocento, is the leading multimedia communications group in the general press market in Spain, with a 24.2% share of total circulation, thanks to its 13 leading dailies....
, Recuperador de lo desconocido, 20 October 2009. Accessed 10 November 2009 (in Spanish). - Freeman, John W., Review: Sarti: Giulio Sabino, Opera NewsOpera NewsOpera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
, December 2000. Accessed 10 November 2009. - Il Resto del CarlinoIl Resto del Carlinoil Resto del Carlino is an Italian local newspaper based in Bologna, and is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy.Its rather evocative name means "the change you get from a Carlino," the smallest part of the Papal bajocco, which was legal tender at the time, when a sheet of local news was given out...
, Abbado, Dantone, e fuochi d'artificio, 19 April 2007. Accessed 10 November 2009 (in Italian). - Morreau, Annette Review:Accademia Bizantina/Dantone/Scholl, Barbican, London, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 28 November 2006. Accessed 10 November 2009. - Osella, Leonardo, Annibale e Paisiello a Torino dopo 236 anni, ma senza Mozart; La dirigerà uno specialista come Ottavio Dantone alla testa dell’Accademia Bizantina e altri cantanti, La StampaLa StampaLa Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
, 23 February 2007. Accessed 10 November 2009 (in Italian).