| Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
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| Founded | 1993 - Active |
| Location | Milan |
| Concert hall | Auditorium di Milano Fondazione Cariplo |
| Principal conductor | Emmanuel Tjeknavorian |
| Concertmaster | Luca Santaniello / Nicolai Freiherr von Dellingshausen |
| Website | sinfonicadimilano |
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi is anItalian symphonyorchestra founded in 1993 thanks to the visionary foresight ofVladimir Delman,Marcello Abbado, and Luigi Corbani. The orchestra is based inMilan, at the Auditorium di Milano Fondazione Cariplo, located in Largo Gustav Mahler. The Music Directorate includesRiccardo Chailly (Honorary Conductor),Xian Zhang (Emeritus Conductor), andClaus Peter Flor (Emeritus Conductor).Nicola Campogrande is the Composer in Residence. The new Music Director starting from the 2024/25 season isEmmanuel Tjeknavorian.
The orchestra was founded in 1993 byVladimir Delman, who had previously served as the conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI before it was dissolved. Following Maestro Delman’s death the following year, Welsh conductorAlun Francis was appointed as Music Director, and under his leadership, the orchestra embarked on a journey through the 19th and 20th-century symphonic repertoire. From 1999 to 2005, Riccardo Chailly held the position of Music Director, and he is now Honorary Conductor.
Since its foundation, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano has performed at its home venue in Milan (the Auditorium di Milano in Largo Gustav Mahler). In 2002, in addition to being the resident orchestra of theFestival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, it embarked on its first European tour, performing in France, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. In 2003, under the direction ofOleg Caetani, the orchestra toured Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, and later that year, conducted byRiccardo Chailly, it performed in the major concert halls of Japan in a tour featuringMartha Argerich and the Coro Sinfonico di Milano, conducted by Romano Gandolfi.
In 2004, the orchestra, conducted byRiccardo Chailly, made its debut at the Canary Islands Festival and was engaged as the resident orchestra at the Festival delle Nazioni in Città di Castello. In 2005, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, conducted byEiji Oue and featuring violinistHilary Hahn, toured Germany and France, continuing with concerts, under the guidance of Riccardo Chailly, in major European cities such as Frankfurt, Vienna, and Budapest. In the same year, the orchestra made its debut at the 68th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in May 2005. In the autumn of 2006, under the direction of MaestroMarko Letonja, the orchestra embarked on its first Italian tour.
On April 24, 2008, on the occasion of the third anniversary ofPope Benedict XVI's papacy, the Orchestra Sinfonica and Coro Sinfonico di Milano, conducted byOleg Caetani, performed at the Vatican in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI and PresidentGiorgio Napolitano. In December 2008, the orchestra was invited to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the II Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival. In 2011, with three performances ofGeorges Bizet'sCarmen, the orchestra opened the inaugural celebrations of theRoyal Opera House in Muscat, Oman, which is positioning itself among the "top ten" of the world’s best theatres.
In 2012, the orchestra embarked on another tour in Russia and, in the presence ofPope Benedict XVI in Milan for the VII World Meeting of Families, provided the musical part of the liturgy. In 2013, following a tour in Germany with violinistDavid Garrett, the orchestra was invited to perform at theBBC Proms, universally regarded as the number one festival in the world for symphonic programming by large orchestras. Conducted by its Music Director,Xian Zhang, and featuring solo tenorJoseph Calleja, the orchestra performedGiudeppe Verdi’s music, transitioning to pure symphonic works withTchaikovsky'sManfred Symphony.
In November 2022, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano and its Coro Sinfonico undertook a European tour to Amsterdam (Het Concertgebouw), Barcelona (L'Auditori), Madrid (Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid), and Alicante (Adda Alicante – Auditorio – Concert Hall), dedicated to the performance ofGiuseppe Verdi’sRequiem, with a cast featuringCarmela Remigio (soprano),Anna Bonitatibus (mezzo-soprano), Valentino Buzza (tenor), and Fabrizio Beggi (bass). The Choral Director was Massimo Fiocchi Malaspina.
Alongside its concert activity, the orchestra has developed a remarkable discography that spans fromVerdi andRossini repertoires to the grand Romantic and Russian symphonic works.
Between October and November 2023, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano presented the Mahler Festival. From October 22 to November 13, 2023, the festival featured, for the first time in Italy, the complete performance of Gustav Mahler's symphonies and orchestral song cycles, with the participation of ten prominent Italian orchestras:Filarmonica della Scala,Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia,Spira Mirabilis,Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali, Orchestra della Toscana,Orchestra Giovanile Italiana,Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento, andFilarmonica Arturo Toscanini. The festival also featured the performance of Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major (Symphony of a Thousand), conducted by MaestroClaus Peter Flor, at theDuomo di Milano.On April 25, 2024, the Mahler Festival was awarded the Special Prize at the 43rd edition of the Italian Music Critics' Award "Franco Abbiati".
TheCoro Sinfonico di Milano, founded in 1998 under the musical direction of Romano Gandolfi, is currently led by Massimo Fiocchi Malaspina. The Coro Sinfonico consists of 100 members capable of tackling the lyrical-symphonic, chamber, and polyphonic repertoire, spanning from the Baroque to the 20th century.
Other choral formations of the Foundation include theCoro di Voci Bianche di Milano, founded in the autumn of 2001 and currently made up of about 30 boys and girls aged between 8 and 18, andCoro I Giovani di Milano, composed of young people between the ages of 15 and 25, some of whom come from the Coro di Voci Bianche and others who do not. This group focuses on a musical path specifically aimed at vocal and performance education in mixed-voice repertoires. The Maestro of the youth choral formations isMaria Teresa Tramontin.
Among the Foundation’s musical ensembles is also theOrchestra Amatoriale di Milano, composed of about 100 members, an orchestra open to any enthusiast who, although having studied an instrument, did not make music their profession. It is one of the few examples of active stable amateur orchestras in Italy. In 2008, the ensemble won the first prize in the "Filippo Siebaneck" category of the XXVIIFranco Abbiati Prize for Italian music criticism.
Completing the roster of formations are theOrchestra Sinfonica Junior and theOrchestra Sinfonica Kids, currently conducted by Marcello Corti and Pilar Bravo, respectively.
Throughout its history, the orchestra has hosted some of the most distinguished conductors of the second half of the 20th century, includingCarlo Maria Giulini,Peter Maag,Georges Prêtre,Vladimir Fedoseyev,Helmuth Rilling,Patrick Fournillier,Riccardo Muti, andRiccardo Chailly. It has also been conducted byValery Gergiev,Rudolf Barshai,Claus Peter Flor,Christopher Hogwood,Marko Letonja,Daniele Gatti,Roberto Abbado,Ivor Bolton,Kazushi Ono,Vladimir Jurowski,Yakov Kreizberg,Ulf Schirmer,Eiji Oue,Herbert Blomstedt,Krzysztof Penderecki,Leonard Slatkin,Vladimir Fedoseev, andWayne Marshall.
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