Italian conductor CARLO MONTANARO
began his musical career as a violinist with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1991. He graduated from the Cherubini conservatory of Florence, Italy, and was then discovered by Zubin Mehta. He has performed under many esteemed conductors, including Muti, Giulini, Prêtre, Ozawa, and Maazel before turning to conducting himself. He studied with Maestro Erwin Alcé in Vienna, and then for three years with Maestro Leopold Hager at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik.
Since 2001, Montanaro has conducted opera and concerts in major venues including the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Fondazione Arena in Verona, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Parma and Teatro Verdi in Trieste, a collaboration which led to a Japanese tour with the orchestra. Performances included Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco, Aida, Tosca, La Sonnambula, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly and La Bohème. He directed two works in the 2004-2005 season at the Teatro Comunale in Florence, as well as various symphonic concerts with the Fondazione Arena Verona and with the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, with the Teatro Cilea of Reggio Calabria, and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He conducted Il Trovatore at the State Opera of Stuttgart, as well as Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini. Other recent engagements of high prestige include a great public and critical success conducting Un Ballo in Maschera with the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv (new production), his American Debut in Colorado with Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Dialogo delle Carmelitane in Bilbao to great critical acclaim, and Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. His recent engagement conducting Simone Boccanegra at Megaron in Athen (new production) was wildly successful. He also made his debut at La Scala with La Traviata, and he opened the Macerata Summer Festival with Carmen under the direction of Dante Ferretti. Recently he conducted Il Corsaro at the Festival Verdi in Parma and made his debut at Hercules Halle in Munich in a concert with the Weimer Staatskapelle and Erwin Schrott. Recently he conducted a concert with Maria Ghuleghina and he returned to Opera Colorado in Denver to conduct Così fan tutte. He also conducted Aida at the Greek National Theatre in Athens to great acclaim. Future engagements include: Don Quichotte in Seattle, a new production of Aida in Hamburg, La Traviata at Staatsoper in Munich, Maria Stuarda in Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Mefistofele at the Frankfurt Opera, Lucia di Lamermur
