Stefano Montanari is the Principal Conductor of the Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.
Hailed for his unique musicality and unmatched flair, he graduated in violin and piano with the highest honors and obtained a diploma in chamber music with Pier Narciso Masi from the Accademia Musicale in Firenze and with Carlo Chiarappa from the Conservatory of Lugano.
Formerly concert master of Accademia Bizantina, with which with which he took part in numerous productions playing with some of the greatest Baroque conductors, he continues to combine his activity as a conductor with that of soloist.
Stefano Montanari is a regular guest in major theaters and musical institutions such as Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opéra de Lyon (also with “I Bollenti Spiriti”, the period-instrument orchestra of the house), De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, Bolshoi Theater and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Edinburgh Festival, Warsaw Philharmonic, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Festival Donizetti in Bergamo, Arena di Verona, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Regio in Turin, Ravenna Festival, LaVerdi Orchestra and I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan.
Recent engagements include: Don Giovanni in Lyon and Moscow; La Cenerentola in Edinburgh and Rome; Iphigenie en Tauride and Platée in Stuttgart; Così fan tutte and Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House in London; Handel’s Rinaldo with Il Pomo d’Oro on a European tour; the Brandenburg Concertos in Lyon; Gluck/Berlioz’s Orphée et Eurydice in Zurich; L’Elisir d’amore at the Teatro Regio in Turin and in Vienna; Anna Bolena in Geneva; Messiah in Lyon and Paris; Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Warsaw Philharmonic; Hasse’s Enea in Caonia in Herne (recording for CPO) and Bononcini’s Astarto in Innsbruck; Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Agrippina in Munich; Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Vienna, Roma and Bari; Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Pagliacci and Berlioz’s Lélio di Berlioz at the Teatro Regio in Turin; La Cenerentola in Vienna; concert with I Pomeriggi Musicali; Mahler’s Symphony no.9 with the Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.
A multi-faceted musician, he took part in the creation of Damiano Michieletto’s opera-film Gianni Schicchi as music director and conductor and he often collaborates with jazz musician Gianluigi Trovesi. Director of the project “Jugendspodium / Incontri musicali Dresden-Venice”, he teaches at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado and is the author of the “Baroque Violin Method” published by Carisch. His Decca album “O Solitude” (with Andreas Scholl) has been nominated for the Grammy Awards.
Future plans include: opera productions and concerts at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Gluck/Berlioz’s Orphée et Eurydice in Zurich; Handel’s Semele and other new productions at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Vienna; Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux in Geneva; Guillaume Tell in Liege; his debuts at Opéra National de Paris and at the Staatsoper Unten der Linden in Berlin as well as his return at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London; concerts with I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra and with the Warsaw Philharmonic.
May 2023