Giuseppe Patané

Giuseppe Patanè stood among the foremost conductors of the mid-twentieth century, earning widespread recognition above all for his command of the operatic stage. His father, the conductor Franco Patanè (1908–1968), first opened the door to music for him. At the Conservatorio San Pietro à Majella in Naples, Patanè trained in both piano and conducting, and at nineteen he was selected to lead a production of La Traviata at the Teatro Mercadante in that city.

He followed the usual path of a European opera conductor, working as repetiteur and assistant conductor between 1951 and 1956 before taking the post of principal conductor at the Linz Landestheater in 1961; guest engagements in several European centers soon followed. This experience led to his appointment as resident conductor at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, a position he held from 1962 to 1968.

Patanè made his La Scala debut in 1969 with Rigoletto and first conducted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1973, leading La forza del destino. He appeared regularly at the Vienna State Opera and also conducted in Copenhagen and San Francisco; his Metropolitan Opera debut occurred in 1978.

Though opera remained his primary sphere, he was equally esteemed as an orchestral leader, serving as co-principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra in New York from 1982 to 1984, chief conductor of the Mannheim National Theater between 1984 and 1987, and chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra in 1988. He died suddenly while conducting Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bavarian State Opera.

Patanè left recordings of several Italian operas, especially those of Puccini, together with a number of symphonic performances. His style was marked by brilliance and vitality, sustained by a taut, intense line that recalled Toscanini, and he is particularly remembered for the discs on which he accompanied soprano Maria Callas.