Giuseppe Patanè

Giuseppe Patanè emerged as one of the foremost conductors during the central decades of the twentieth century, earning particular distinction in the operatic repertoire. His introduction to music came through his father, the conductor Franco Patanè (1908-1968). At the Conservatorio San Pietro à Majella in Naples, the younger Patanè trained in both piano and conducting; at nineteen he was selected to lead a production of La Traviata at the Teatro Mercadante.

He followed the conventional European route for operatic conductors, working first as repetiteur and assistant conductor between 1951 and 1956 before assuming the post of principal conductor at the Linz Landestheater in 1961. During those years he also appeared as a guest in several European centers. That trajectory brought him, in 1962, to the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, where he served as resident conductor until 1968.

Patanè made his La Scala debut in 1969 leading Rigoletto and first conducted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1973 with La forza del destino. He returned regularly to the Vienna State Opera, Copenhagen, and San Francisco, and reached the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in 1978. Although opera remained his primary sphere, he commanded respect on the concert platform as well, serving as co-principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra in New York from 1982 to 1984, chief conductor of the Mannheim National Theater from 1984 to 1987, and chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra beginning in 1988. He collapsed and died while directing Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bavarian State Opera.

Among his recordings are numerous Italian operas, above all those of Puccini, together with several symphonic performances. His interpretations were marked by brilliance, rhythmic drive, and a taut, incisive profile often compared with that of Toscanini; he is especially remembered for the discs he made supporting soprano Maria Callas.