Pietro Borgonovo

Pietro Borgonovo

Italy

Born in Milan, he is a distinguished director of symphonic and operatic productions at leading festivals and theatres. His most notable achievements include his involvement with the Progetto Pollini at Salzburg Festspiele, conducting the Klangforum Wien and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor, conducting Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with music by Monteverdi, Donizetti and Corghi, and conducting Teatro dell’Opera in Rome at Ravenna Festival. He has also conducted Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice at Venice, Orchestra del Teatro Lirico at Cagliari, Orchestra del Teatro Verdi at Trieste, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano G.Verdi, Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona, Orchestra Haydn of Bolzano and Trento, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Buenos Aires, Orchester der Stadt Koblenz and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana di Lugano, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Kammerorchester in Mainz and the Prague Philharmonia. He participated at the Venice Biennale and conducted Orchestra della Fondazione Toscanini from Parma in the Concerto per il 2 agosto held in Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore and broadcasted on Italian television (RAI 3). In October 2002 he conducted the world premiere of Adriano Guarnieri’s Medea in a production by Teatro La Fenice of Venice. It was a great success with the public and critics. He was awarded the Premio Abbiati 2003 and the citation highlighted the “exquisite musical and scenic execution that restored the audacious refinement of this multimedia composition.” In 2004 he conducted La Bohème, Gianni Schicchi, La Serva Padrona and Le Villi (in concert form). Significant subsequent works include Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, Bastien und Bastienne, La Traviata, L’Elisir d’Amore and Il Barbiere di Siviglia. A versatile musician, Pietro Borgonovo is Artistic Director at the GOG (Genoa Youth Orchestra) and has been Artistic Director of the International Contest of Music “G. B. Viotti” at Vercelli since 2003. From a young age, he has been one of the world’s most accomplished oboe soloists, having studied under Heinz Holliger and performed at major festivals and international centres: Teatro alla Scala, Salzburger Festpiele, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Venice Biennale, Musica Bayreuth, Festival d’Automne of Paris, Festival of Montreux, Donaueschinger Musiktage, New York Carnegie Hall, Berlin, London, Vienna, Amsterdam Festival, Monte Carlo, Prague, Bonn, Luxemburg, the Great Hall at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory , St Petersburg Philharmonic, Madrid and Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. He has a profound interest in contemporary music, and this has resulted in him working with a number of composers of our time, such as George Benjamin, Luciano Berio, Azio Corghi, Franco Donatoni, Ivan Fedele, Adriano Guarnieri, Salvatore Sciarrino, Fabio Vacchi and Iannis Xenakis. He has played and directed a number of pieces by these composers, including at their premieres, many of which have been dedicated to him. Both as an oboist and as an orchestra conductor he can boast a vast discography with leading international record companies such as Denon, Erato, RCA and BMG. He has also won a Grand Prix du Disque and Italian critics included him among top five symphony music records in 1998.