One of the most in-demand Italian opera conductors of his generation, Paolo Arrivabeni is acclaimed for his masterful command of the Italian repertoire - from Verdi, Puccini, and Donizetti to Rossini - as well as his refined interpretations of Wagner, Strauss, and Mussorgsky. His conducting is distinguished by stylistic precision, dramatic insight, and a profound rapport with both orchestra and singers.

The 2025/2026 season begins with Tosca at The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo and will see him on the podium of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa (Warsaw) for Simon Boccanegra, the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona for Ernani, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein for Turandot, the Opéra de Marseille for I Masnadieri and Rigoletto, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) for Semiramide.

The 2024/2025 season featured an impressive series of engagements across major European opera houses. Maestro Arrivabeni conducted Simon Boccanegra at the Opernhaus Zürich, Maria Stuarda at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, Madama Butterfly at the Semperoper Dresden, Il Trovatore at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Aida and Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Aida at the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole. He also returned to the Oslo Opera House for For en stemme! (What a Voice!) – a special concert celebrating music, identity, and freedom, in collaboration with Oslo Pride.

The 2023/2024 season opened at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, and Tosca, followed by his debut at the Den Norske Opera & Ballet (Oslo) in La Forza del Destino (concert version). It concluded with Attila (concert form) at the Opéra de Marseille and Rigoletto at the Staatsoper Hamburg.

His 2022/2023 season included Tosca at both the Staatsoper Hamburg and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Bohème at the Staatsoper Hamburg and Semperoper Dresden, Nabucco and Macbeth at the Opéra de Marseille, Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Nabucco at the Semperoper Dresden, and La Traviata at the Caracalla Festival (Rome).

A frequent and esteemed guest of German opera houses, Maestro Arrivabeni has conducted extensively at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin), Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich), Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), and Staatsoper Hamburg.

His international career includes appearances at leading institutions such as the Wiener Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Opernhaus Zürich, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra Bastille and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris), Chorégies d’Orange, Théâtre du Capitole (Toulouse), Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Teatro Real (Madrid), Teatro de la Maestranza (Seville), Teatro di San Carlo (Naples), Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Teatro Massimo (Palermo), Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rossini Opera Festival, Sferisterio Opera Festival (Macerata), Festival Verdi (Parma), New National Theatre Tokyo, Metropolitan Opera (New York), Santa Fe Opera, Opéra Royal de Wallonie (Liège), and the Royal Danish Opera (Copenhagen).

He has also appeared in major concert venues including the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Théâtre Royal de Versailles, Victoria Hall (Geneva), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Copenhagen Danish Radio Auditorium, Auditorium Toscanini, and Teatro Manzoni (Bologna).

Paolo Arrivabeni graduated from the "Arrigo Boito" Conservatory of Music in Parma with diplomas in Composition and Orchestra Conducting. He continued his studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under Daniele Gatti. His international career began with Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, followed by La Cenerentola and Tosca in Bilbao.

From 2008 to 2017, Maestro Arrivabeni served as Music Director of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (Liège). During his tenure, he conducted numerous acclaimed productions, including Nabucco, Macbeth, La Traviata, Lucrezia Borgia, Falstaff, Rigoletto, Boris Godunov, La Bohème, Otello, Salome, Il Trovatore, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, La Forza del Destino, I due Foscari, Der fliegende Holländer, Les pêcheurs de perles, Turandot, Die Zauberflöte, Aida, Tosca, Fidelio, Don Carlo, and Ernani, among others.

Highlights of his international career include Falstaff at the Santa Fe Opera (2008), Lucia di Lammermoor at the Wiener Staatsoper (2009), Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera (2011), La Favorite by Donizetti at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (2013), Les pêcheurs de perles at the Royal Opera House Muscat, La Bohème at the New National Theatre Tokyo, Aida at the Chorégies d’Orange (2017), and I due Foscari at the Festival Verdi di Parma (2019).

Under Dynamic, Arrivabeni has recorded Otello (Rossini, CD, 2000), Ivanhoé (Rossini, CD, 2002), Robert Bruce (Rossini, CD, 2003), Pia de’ Tolomei (CD & DVD, 2005, Teatro La Fenice), Norma (DVD, 2007, Macerata), La Traviata (DVD, 2009), Falstaff (CD & DVD, 2009), Stradella (CD & DVD, 2012), and I due Foscari (CD & DVD, 2020, Festival Verdi Parma). Other recordings include La Vestale (Mercadante, 2005), Die drei Pintos (Weber, 2004), Otello (Verdi, 2011), Tancredi (Rossini, 2003), and Freddie De Tommaso’s Il Tenore (Decca, 2022) with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

October 2025