Donato Renzetti

Donato Renzetti is one of the most respected conductors of the Italian school. Having conducted over 100 operas in his life, from Italian, French, Russian and German repertoire, he is one of the most prolific opera conductors of our time. Donato Renzetti holds the titles of Conductor Emeritus of the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova.

He has lead opera productions in the world’s greatest opera houses, such as the Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden in London, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Staatsoper in Munich, Capitole de Toulouse, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, and in all the major theatres in Italy. He has been a guest conductor at festivals in Glyndebourne, Spoleto and Pesaro as well as the Verdi Festival in Parma.

Renzetti has conducted many of the most esteemed orchestras including the London Sinfonietta, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, DSO Berlin, Tokyo Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, all the RAI Orchestras, Dallas Symphony, Belgian Radio and Television Orchestra in Brussels, Orchestre National du Capitol de Toulouse, and Orchestre National de Lyon.

Principal Conductor of the Orchestra Regionale Toscana between 1987 and 1992, from 2004 to 2007 Renzetti was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Real de Sao Carlos and Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana from 2007 to 2013. In 2015 he was appointed Music Director of the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini. In 2019 Donato Renzetti conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra with the Symphony No. 2 by Alfredo Casella, for the first time in Finland, which has also conducted with the Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. In October 2021 he has presented for the first time in Italy La vita nuova by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino.

His intense recording activity includes works by Schubert, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Mayr and Cherubini. His opera recordings include Attila, Il signor Bruschino, La cambiale di matrimonio and La Favorita; on DVD he has recorded La Fille du régiment at the Teatro alla Scala, La Cenerentola at the Glyndebourne Festival, La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona and L’italiana in Algeri at the Pesaro Opera Festival. His recording of Schumann’s Manfred with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala won the XIX Premio della Critica Discografica Italiana. With the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini he has also recorded the complete Rossini Overtures, released on Opus Arte in April 2018. Most recently he has recorded La bella dormente nel bosco and La campana sommersa both released under the Naxos label and the world premiere recording of Bianca e Fernando by Bellini released by the Dynamic label.

Donato Renzetti is a dedicated teacher. For 30 years, he has taught conducting at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese, where most of the great Italian conductors of today have been his pupils, from Gianandrea Noseda to Michele Mariotti. In 2019 he moved his teaching activities to the Alta Scuola di Perfezionamento di Saluzzo, in partnership with the Filarmonica Teatro Regio Torino.

Donato Renzetti was awarded the bronze medal at the 1978 Ernst Ansermet Competition in Geneva, and in 1980 he was the winner of the “Guido Cantelli Competition” at the Teatro alla Scala.