Biography
Marcello Viotti earned widespread recognition as one of Europe’s leading opera conductors while also building a strong international presence through frequent concert engagements. Born to an Italian family residing in Switzerland, he drew frequent commentary linking his deep involvement with opera to that heritage, even though his entire musical education unfolded in Swiss institutions. He began with piano and vocal training at the Lausanne conservatory before advancing his work in both fields at the Geneva Conservatory, where conducting soon became an additional pursuit. In 1984 he captured first prize in the Gino Marinuzzi Competition held in San Remo, Italy.
Two years later he was named Kappelmeister of Turin’s Opera Regio, a position he held through 1989, while simultaneously serving as artistic director of the Opéra de Lucerne from 1987 to 1991. In 1990 he assumed the role of general music director for the City of Bremen, remaining until 1993, and took on the chief conductorship of the Symphony Orchestra of Saarland Radio in Germany for a five-year term. That same year he stepped in at short notice to lead the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in place of Riccardo Muti, an event that drew considerable notice.
Thereafter he appeared regularly as a guest in the opera houses of Vienna, Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, Milan’s La Scala, Zürich, Paris’s Opéra-Bastille, Brussels’s La Monnaie, and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. His first engagement with the Vienna Philharmonic came in 1997 during Salzburg’s Mozart Week. He also directed the orchestras of every German radio network, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony, the Munich Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, and the Japan Philharmonic.
His recordings appeared on the Koch-Schwann, Claves, Orfeo, Berlin Classics, and Erato labels. Between 1996 and 1999 he served as one of three principal conductors of Leipzig’s MDR Symphony Orchestra, and in September 1998 he accepted a guest conductorship with the Japan Philharmonic while simultaneously becoming chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra.
Two years later he was named Kappelmeister of Turin’s Opera Regio, a position he held through 1989, while simultaneously serving as artistic director of the Opéra de Lucerne from 1987 to 1991. In 1990 he assumed the role of general music director for the City of Bremen, remaining until 1993, and took on the chief conductorship of the Symphony Orchestra of Saarland Radio in Germany for a five-year term. That same year he stepped in at short notice to lead the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in place of Riccardo Muti, an event that drew considerable notice.
Thereafter he appeared regularly as a guest in the opera houses of Vienna, Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, Milan’s La Scala, Zürich, Paris’s Opéra-Bastille, Brussels’s La Monnaie, and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. His first engagement with the Vienna Philharmonic came in 1997 during Salzburg’s Mozart Week. He also directed the orchestras of every German radio network, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony, the Munich Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, and the Japan Philharmonic.
His recordings appeared on the Koch-Schwann, Claves, Orfeo, Berlin Classics, and Erato labels. Between 1996 and 1999 he served as one of three principal conductors of Leipzig’s MDR Symphony Orchestra, and in September 1998 he accepted a guest conductorship with the Japan Philharmonic while simultaneously becoming chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra.
Albums
Giordano, U.: Andrea Chenier
2010
Bellini: Il Pirata (Opera)
2009
Bizet: Pecheurs De Perles (Les) (The Pearl Fishers)
2004
Ponchielli: La Gioconda, Op. 9
2003
Massenet: Thais
2003
Jules Massenet: Hérodiade
2001
Donizetti: La Favorite
2000
Schubert: The Complete Symphonic Works
1996
Giordano, U.: Andrea Chenier [Opera]
1990