Artist's albums
Arias
1997 · album
Rossini : La Cenerentola [Highlights] (Apex)
1996 · album
The Incomparable Alfredo Kraus
1995 · album
Gounod : Faust
1994 · album
Verdi : Un ballo in maschera [Highlights] (Apex)
1994 · album
Mercadante: Il proscritto
2023 · album
Leoncavallo: Zingari
2022 · album
Leoncavallo: Zingari: "Principe! Radu io son" (Radu)
2022 · single
Verdi: Nabucco (Live)
2021 · album
Espoir
2017 · album
Écho
2017 · album
Donizetti: Il furioso nell'isola di San Domingo
2014 · album
L'Arte del Buffo
2013 · album
Ravel: Orchestral Works
2012 · album
40 Most Beautiful Choral Classics
2011 · compilation
The Power And The Glory
2011 · compilation
Verdi Essentials
2010 · compilation
40 Most Beautiful Classical Anthems
2008 · compilation
Janáček: Katya Kabanova
2007 · album
Janacek: Katya Kabanova (Sung in English)
2007 · album
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Biography
A specialist in Italian opera, conductor Carlo Rizzi has often led lesser-known works in addition to the monuments of the genre. He also conducts non-Italian works as well as orchestral music of various kinds. Rizzi was born in Milan on July 19, 1960. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, going on for further work with Russian-born conductor Vladimir Delman in Bologna and with Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Making his debut in 1982 at the helm of a production of Donizetti's rarely heard comedy L'ajo nell'Imbarazzo at the Milan Angelicum, he gained attention when he took the top prize at the inaugural Toscanini Conductors' Competition in Parma. By the late '80s, Rizzi was being seen conducting beyond Italy; he appeared at the Buxton Festival in the U.K. in 1988, and that led to invitations to conduct at Covent Garden in London and Opera North in Leeds. In 1992, he made his recording debut, leading the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Verdi's La Traviata on the Teldec label. Rizzi recorded for Teldec through the '90s, sometimes making appearances on Apex and other labels. In 1992, Rizzi was named music director of the Welsh National Opera. He stepped down in 2001 but returned from 2004 to 2007. During his tenure there, he learned to speak the Welsh language. Rizzi held prestigious guest engagements during this period, beginning with an appearance as guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2004. Rizzi later appeared at La Scala in Milan. His recordings with the Welsh National Opera included one of Leoš Janáček's Katya Kabanova in 2007. In addition to major Italian works, Rizzi has recorded such rarities as Rossini's Ciro in Babilonia and Piccinni's La Pescatrice. On recordings, he has led orchestras backing such major stars as Edita Gruberová, Jane Eaglen, and Juan Diego Flórez. He also conducts orchestral music, and in the 2010s, he led the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in several albums devoted to the music of Ravel. Rizzi was named music director of the Opera Rara label in 2019, and his contract there has been extended through 2026. In 2022, for that label, he led the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a recording of Ruggero Leoncavallo's Zingari. By that time, his catalog comprised well over 50 recordings. ~ James Manheim, Rovi