Marco Guidarini conductor

            Marco Guidarini was born in Genova, Italy. He started to learn orchestra conducting at the well-known Hochschule für Musik. He was a student of Mario Gusella, with whom he obtained his diploma, and he also took orchestra conducting master classes with Maestro Franco Ferrara. During his studies, he also received advice and support from Claudio Abbado and Carlo Maria Giulini. He was invited by the Opéra de Lyon to become John Eliot Gardiner’s assistant with whom he would further the understanding of the baroque repertoire.

             He started his conducting career in Lyon with Falstaff and Le Comte Ory and then went on to perform in Opera Houses in the UK and Ireland (Dublin and the Wexford Festival), mainly conducting Mozart and Puccini. He made his debut in Canada, at the Vancouver Opera (Don Pasquale and La Bohème) and in Australia where he was invited for numerous productions (Tosca, Die Zauberflöte, Così Fan Tutte, Orfeo ed Euridice). He conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, on the Verdi’s Requiem, in 2001. He conducted Il Barbiere di Siviglia as his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Bayerische Staatsoper. In Italy, he got noticed with I Lombardi, Madama Butterfly and La bohème at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna; with Il Trovatore and Carmen in Messina; and with Macbeth, Il Trovatore (the 1847 version) and Massenet’s Rome, at the Martina Franca Festival (those three productions were released by Dynamic). Furthermore, he conducted I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Reggio Emilia and numerous symphonic programs (Berlioz’ Romeo and Juliet) and the 20th century classics. His work in the USA started in 1997, in Los Angeles, with Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly and Le Nozze di Figaro. He also conducted Rossini’s Semiramide in Minneapolis and, in 2000, he conducted Rigoletto at the New York City Opera. In Dallas, he conducted Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In France, his most successful productions included: Nabucco at Opéra de Nice-Côte d’Azur; Un Ballo in Maschera and Don Carlo, at Opéra de Marseille; Otello at the Antibes Festival; Ernani, Attila and Luisa Miller at Opéra de Montpellier. In 2001, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Verdi’s passing that, he conducted Giovanna d'Arco at the Saint Denis Festival, with the Orchestre Nationale de France; Rigoletto at the Festival Les Chorégies d’Orange and Aida at the Stade de France, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He also conducted Simon Boccanegra at the New Zealand Wellington Festival, which was released by Trust Record; symphonic programs with the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Orchestra Regionale di Toscana and Orchestra RAI di Roma. He was regularly invited to conduct the following orchestras: SWF Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, I Filarmonici di Torino, Stockholm Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Montpellier and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. In 2002, Guidarino conducted Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Following the success of his debut in Tokyo (Bartok and Ravel), he conducted Berlioz La Damnation de Faust with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France invited him in 2002, to participate in a programme dedicated to Ghedini and Puccini (Le Villi was recorded by the label Naive).

              From 2001 to 2009, Marco Guidarini was the music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, basing the program and activities on the 20th century composers. He also founded a musical ensemble called Ensemble Apostrophe, focusing on 20th century music and contemporary creations. In 2005, he conducted Verdi’s Il Corsaro at the Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona, Mahler’s 6th Symphony in Malaga, Mahler’s 4th Symphony in Genoa, Idomeneo at the Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli (which was made into a DVD by Dynamic), and Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opéra de Nice. On that same year, he and his orchestra toured Japan alongside the soprano Angela Gheorghiu and pianist Ingrid Fujiko Hemming. In 2006, he conducted Wozzeck and a program of Brahms at the Nice Opera; Franco Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac (released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon) in Montpellier and Don Carlos in Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg. On the same year, he became a Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, a distinction of knighthood from the Italian Republic. In 2007, he conducted Medea at the Greek Theater of Taormina; Così Fan Tutte and La Vedova Scaltra at the Opéra de Nice and Die Zauberflöte at the Teatro di San Carlo. Invited by Krystof Penderecky to the Beethoven Festival, in Warsaw, he conducted Verdi’s Otello.  In 2008, he was invited for the Teatro Massimo di Palermo to conduct Anna Bolena. During the same year, he became a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a title awarded by the French Ministry of Culture. He conducted Verdi’s Don Carlo for the inauguration of the Oslo Opera House. Opening the season at the Opéra de Nice, he conducted Verdi’s Macbeth. Creator and artistic director of the Festival de Puteaux, Marco Guidarini was recognized as honorary citizen of this town. In 2009, he conducted Simon Boccanegra at the Canadian Opera House, Toronto. Later, he conducted the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias and the Orquesta Filarmonica de Malaga. During the 2009-2010 season, Marco Guidarini made his debut at Teatro alla Scala with Donizetti’s Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali. He was then invited by the Teatro de La Maestranza, in Seville, for Cyrano de Bergerac starring Roberto Alagna. He recorded the integral Seven piano and orchestra concerts of John Field, by the Brillant Classics label. In 2010, the three concerts of violin and orchestra of Edouard Lalo were released for Talent Records. In Santiago de Chile, he conducted Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. He made his debut at the famous Salle Pleyel, in Paris, with Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique and Beethoven’s Concert No. 6. Later, at the Bolshoi of Moscow and in St Petersburg, he conducted Mendelssohn and Beethoven. He came back to Teatro alla Scala to conduct Mendelssohn, during the Festa dello Statuto. Still in 2010, he made his debut at the Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires, with Falstaff and symphonic music from Prokofiev and Rota. He created the International Belcanto Competition Vincenzo Bellini, becoming his artistic director. In 2011, he conducted numerous symphonic concerts in Spain and Italy, at the Carlo Felice di Genova and again at La Scala. He also conducted La Bohème in Stockholm and Genova and Rigoletto in the Circuito Lirico Lombardo.

          He recorded two CDs of Italian symphonic music with I Pomeriggi Musicali, in Milan (Sgambati-Pozzoli). In 2012, he went back to the USA, to conduct a production of Don Pasquale in San Diego. He also conducted several concerts in Genova, Bilbao and Milan, with I Pomeriggi Musicali, the Accademia della Scala and Cagliari (Beethoven No. 5). Then, he came back to Toronto for a production of Il Trovatore at the Canadian Opera Company.