Riccardo Capasso
Orchestra Conductor

Riccardo Capasso Symphony and Opera Conductor Biography

 

Born in Gorizia, Riccardo Capasso distinguishes himself for his activity as a conductor both in concerts and operas, often combined with didactic engagements. He has achieved wide international approvals as an interpreter of the romantic and late romantic repertoire, not to mention the classical one, and as a proficient conductor of Italian operas.
After studying piano, composition and choral music in Turin under the guidance of Roberto Goitre and conducting under Hermann Scherchen and Vittorio Gui, in 1965 he was awarded the Merit Degree from Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Sienna.

Riccardo Capasso

In 1967 Riccardo Capasso won ex-aequo the First prize in the Italian Radio competition for young conductors, and since then he began his prestigious career in important Italian institutions asRadio Orchestras of Turin, Napoli and Milan,Teatro Regio of Turin, La Fenice Venice,Teatro Verdi Trieste, Arena Verona, Petruzzelli Bari,Teatro Massimo Bellini Catania,Teatro Palestrina Cagliari, Ravenna Festival with The London Symphony Orchestra, Rome Festival Nuova Consonanza and in several foreign Institutions as Budapest State Opera Theatre, Budapest MAV Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Russia, State Symphonic Orchestra of Russia, Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Novaia Opera House of Moscow, Philharmonic Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Cape Town Opera House, National SA Sinfonietta, Johannesburg National Symphony Orchestra, Beijing National Opera House, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne UN Symphonic Orchestra, Kiev State Opera Theatre, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Bucarest National Opera House, Bucarest Radio Tv Symphony Orchestra, Lodz Philharmonic Orchestra, Lvov Philharmonic Orchestra. Among his outstanding performances, La Traviata and Rigoletto, director the world famous producer Gianfranco de Bosio , with the collaboration of UNESCO Venice Office and under the patronage of the Italian Foreign Office, were broadcasted by RAI-SAT. We must not forget to mention his conducting of Il barbiere di Siviglia and Rigoletto in the International Festival of Santander, which were unanimously acclaimed by the Spanish press and by many European magazines. For what concerns concerts, unforgettable were his conducting of the Beethoven’s Nine Symphony in the Kiev Opera House in 1996 for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Chernobil tragedy, the Verdi Requiem in the Beijing National Theatre which was considered the greatest event in Asia to celebrate, in 2001, the Centenary of Verdi’s death, and, one month later, the same Requiem in Bucarest. This performance has been estimated by media as one of the top performances among the international Verdi’s Celebrations.

Mosca Opening Square Victory Verdi Requiem

Remarkable is his activity in Moscow and St.Petersburg , where since 1998 he has been a leading actor of the musical life and where he conducted the Beethoven’s and Brahms’s symphonies and a triumphal performance of the Haydn’s oratorio “The seasons”. Moreover, in 2005 Capasso has been invited by the Russian Authorities to conduct the Verdi Requiem in Moscow Great Svetlanov Hall Performing Arts Center, under the Patronage of President Putin, at the opening of the Celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of the end of the 2nd World War. Besides, in 2006 Maestro Capasso has been invited to conduct several concerts at the Ciaikowsky Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory for celebrating the 250° anniversary of the Mozart’s birth. In 2007 he celebrated the 50° anniversary of the Toscanini death with a Gala-concert at the Moscow Svetlanov Grand Hall of the Performing Arts Center.
Even unforgettable is his conducting of Orff’s Carmina Burana, for which Capasso has been called by the famous critic Hans Kramer “one of the most outstanding European conductors of today”.

Riccardo Capasso has had so far several assignments He was resident conductor of the Petruzzelli Theatre in Bari, the Massimo Bellini in Catania, the Nico Malan Opera House in Cape Town, the South African Sinfonietta with which he was on tour at various times, and artistic-music director of the Instrumental Group of Rome “Arte Nuova” which was conducted by him in several Italian and European Festivals. Riccardo Capasso is also appreciated for his didactic activity. By virtue of his charism and his powerful way with words, he has been entrusted by Editori Riuniti with a audio-video production entitled Capire la musica “Understanding music”). Since 1998 Maestro Capasso is Project leader and music director of the edutainment-programme The Italian Opera in the World supported and promoted by UNESCO Venice Office and Italian Foreign Office. In 2002 he was appointed by the Italian Foreign Office Project leader and musical adviser of the programme “The Italian Opera in China”. He has been the head of the State Conservatoires of L’Aquila, Reggio Calabria, Palermo, professor of choral music in the S.Cecilia Conservatoire of Rome, regular teacher of master-classes and lectures on conducting and orchestral training in Arena di Verona, St. Petersburg Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory, Lanciano, Cape Town, Melbourne’s University, New Delhi.