Danish Symphony Orchestra Reacts To Fabio Luisi Announcement

"Fabio Luisi has been appointed Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, who died earlier this year. Luisi is currently Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and General Music Director of Zurich Opera. Luisi has signed a three-year contract running from 2017-20 and said, 'I have loved the Danish National Symphony Orchestra from the first moment we worked together in 2010.'" [Source]

Fabio Luisi Tweets About Death Of Conductor Angleo Campori

Fabio Luisi took to Twitter on November 25 to discuss the death of fellow Italian conductor Angelo Campori. Luisi also commented that Campori, who died at age 79, "was one of the last Italian conductors who knew exactly what Italian opera means and how to conduct it." Maestro Campori worked with many of the great opera sopranos: Renata Scotto, Maria Chiara, Raina Kabaivanska, Giusy Devinu, and Anna Caterina Antonacci. "For the soundtrack to Woody Allen's Hannah and her Sisters, the indie film auteur, who knows his opera, plumped for an authentically Italian excerpt from Puccini's Manon Lescaut. The cast was from the Ragio Theater of Turin, the conductor was Angelo Campori. And the complete performance from which that was taken is indicative of the conductor Campori became--a noted exponent of musical Italy. It featured in its cast good voices that were idiomatically Italianate, with Maria Chiara and Nicola Martinucci in the leads...His closest associations were with the Teatro Regio in Parma and with the Verona Arena. But he had an American profile, as well. He had been close to Leonard Bernstein and had performed at the Metropolitan Opera, in Philadelphia and elsewhere. He had been seriously ill a decade ago and had required heart surgery, since when he'd been almost completely unable to perform. He left several recordings. As well as that Manon Lescaut, there's a film of Lucia Di Lammermoor from Parma starring Alfredo Kraus and Luciana Serra, Soliva's rarely-heard Guilia E Sesto Pompeo on the CPO label and Licinio Refice's Cecilia with Renata Scotto on VAI Audio." [Source] More about the conductor, and a riveting performance he conducted of Renato Bruson in "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata" from Verdi's Rigoletto, after the jump.

Checking in With the Maestros: Luisi, Tate and Luisotti

I Maestri: Fabio Luisi, Jeffrey Tate, Nicola Luisotti

Check out three articles on conductors dominating the opera scene these days. First up is an interview with Fabio Luisi by NY1. In the video interview he discusses his new role at the MET and the composer with which he opened the season: Mozart. Click here to check out the interview. Next up is longtime veteran of symphonic concerts and opera performances Jeffrey Tate. In an interview with the Guardian, the maestro discusses returning to Covent Garden, where he was the first person to hold the title of principal conductor, to lead Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer. Click here to read the interview which also contains an audio clip as well. Lastly, the San Francisco Examiner meets up with Nicola Luisotti, opera director of the San Francisco Opera, to talk about conducting Don Giovanni, how San Francisco reminds him of Tuscany and the recent death of friend Salvatore Licitra. Click here to read the article in full.

Interview With the Three Male Leads of the MET "Don Giovanni"

The British (Grandage), Polish (Kwiecen) and Italian (Luisi)
will recreate the Spanish legend of Don Juan.
(Photo: Robert Wright/New York Times) 

Zachary Woolfe has an interesting conversation with the director (Tony Award-winner Michael Grandage), the maestro (Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi) and the Don Giovanni (baritone Mariusz Kwiecen) about the new production of Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera: "Even if Mr. Grandage, 49, and Mr. Luisi, 53, bring fresh perspectives to the opera, it helps that they are working with singers well versed in the classic roles, including the baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who had his breakthrough year at the Met in 2005 in two Mozart parts — the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro” and Guglielmo in Così Fan Tutte — under Mr. Levine. Mr. Kwiecien has made something of a specialty of the libertine Don." [Source]

Fabio Luisi Talents Being Rewarded at Highest Level

According to the New York Times, musical director James Levine will be bowing out of all scheduled conducting performances at the Metropolitan Opera this fall. Duties were immediately handed over to principal guest conductor Fabio Luisi. Watch this video from 1987 of Maestro Luisi conducting the radiant Kallen Esperian in an exquisite reading of Boito's "L'altra notte in fondo al mare" from Mefistofele at the Komische Oper Berlin. [Source]

Luisi Taking Over For Levine: "Epochal Changing of the Guard"

Luisi at the MET (Photo: Sara Krulwich/New York Times)

As Fabio Luisi prepares to conduct Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday, the New York Times speculates that he may be the heir apparent to James Levine's job as Music Director. Although the Italian-born maestro refuses to discuss the matter, dismissing the topic as inappropriate, there is plenty of evidence to suggest he is slowly making his way to New York for more important duties. Getting ringing endoresments from one of the MET's favorite artists doesn't hurt either: "He’s like James Levine, an all-arounder,” the German soprano Diana Damrau said of Mr. Luisi. “He loves voices, and he listens and he reacts.” [Source]