Riccardo Frizza

Riccardo Frizza has maintained a steady presence in Italy’s operatic world while also appearing at leading international venues, among them the Paris Opera and New York’s Metropolitan Opera; his activities have further extended to choral and symphonic repertoire. Born in Brescia, Italy, on December 14, 1971, he began as a composer, enrolling at the Milan Conservatory where Elisabetta Brusa was his teacher, before shifting focus to conducting under Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and Gilberto Serembe at the Music Academy of Pescara. He launched his professional work in his native city as principal conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Brescia, holding that post from 1994 to 2000. His first venture into vocal music occurred in 2001 when he led Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Rossini Opera Festival, an affiliation that continued with presentations of uncommon Rossini titles, including Adelaide di Borgogna in 2006. That same year he conducted Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri at the Washington National Opera in the United States. He moved beyond Rossini in 2004 with a production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore that received a Cannes Classical Award; also in 2004 he made his recording debut with Bohuslav Martinu’s Mirandolina, performed by the Belarus National Philharmonic Orchestra and released on the Supraphon label. Frizza is married to soprano Davinia Rodriguez, whom he led in a 2005 performance of L’elisir d’amore. He reached the Metropolitan Opera stage for the first time in 2009 with Verdi’s Rigoletto and has since directed several recordings there. His Paris Opera debut followed in 2012 with Rossini’s La Cenerentola. At La Scala in Milan he conducted Verdi’s Oberto, the composer’s earliest opera, in 2012. Another major Italian appearance came in 2015 at La Fenice in Venice with Verdi’s La Traviata. In 2018 he traveled to Barcelona to lead Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri. For the Dynamic label he has recorded several rarely heard operas, among them Donizetti’s Il Castello di Kenilworth in 2019 and Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz in 2023.