Stefano Montanari is the Principal Conductor of the Orchestra del Teatro
Petruzzelli in Bari.
Hailed for his unique musicality and unmatched flair, he graduated in
violin and piano with the highest honors and obtained a diploma in chamber
music with Pier Narciso Masi from the Accademia Musicale in Firenze and
with Carlo Chiarappa from the Conservatory of Lugano.
Formerly concert master of Accademia Bizantina, with which with which he
took part in numerous productions playing with some of the greatest
Baroque conductors, he continues to combine his activity as a conductor
with that of soloist.
Stefano Montanari is a regular guest in major theaters and musical
institutions such as Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Bayerische
Staatsoper in Munich, Opéra de Lyon (also with “I Bollenti Spiriti”, the
period-instrument orchestra of the house), De Nationale Opera in
Amsterdam, Bolshoi Theater and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow,
Staatsoper Stuttgart, Edinburgh Festival, Warsaw Philharmonic, Teatro La
Fenice in Venice, Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Festival
Donizetti in Bergamo, Arena di Verona, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro
Regio in Turin, Ravenna Festival, LaVerdi Orchestra and I Pomeriggi
Musicali in Milan.
Among his past engagements are: Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos,
Handel’s Messiah and Don Giovanni in Lyon; Bach’s Mass
in B minor with the Warsaw Philharmonic; Handel’s Rinaldo
with Il Pomo d’Oro on a European tour; Agrippina, Così fan
tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le Nozze di Figaro,
La fille du régiment at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Orphée et
Eurydice at the Opernhaus Zürich; Iphigénie en Tauride, Platée,
Otello at the Staatstheater Stuttgart; the modern premiere of
Bononcini’s Astarto at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik;
Don Giovanni in Moscow; Così fan tutte and Rigoletto
at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London; Die Entführung aus
dem Serail, L’Elisir d’amore, La Cenerentola, Il
Barbiere di Siviglia at the Wiener Staatsoper; Fidelio,
Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le
Martyre de Saint Sébastien, Il Corsaro with the Orchestra of
the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; L’Elisir d’amore, Pagliacci
and Berlioz’s Lélio at the Teatro Regio di Torino; Anna Bolena,
Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux at the Grand Théâtre de
Genève; La Cenerentola in Edinburgh; La Cenerentola and Il
Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma; Mosè in
Egitto at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Guillaume Tell in
Liège; Hasse’s Enea in Caonia in Herne (recorded for CPO); Les
Brigands at the Opéra de Paris; Roméo et Juliette in Berlin;
and the complete cycle of Beethoven’s symphonies with the orchestra I
Pomeriggi Musicali.
A versatile musician, he took part in the creation of the opera-film Gianni
Schicchi by Damiano Michieletto as musical director of the project
and conductor, and he often collaborates with jazz musician Gianluigi
Trovesi. Director of the project “Jugendspodium / Incontri musicali
Dresden–Venice”, he teaches violin at the “Gaetano Donizetti” Conservatory
in Bergamo and is the author of the “Baroque Violin Method” published by
Carisch. His album “O Solitude” with Andreas Scholl, recorded for Decca,
was nominated for the Grammy Awards.
Among the engagements of the 2025-26 season are: Le Nozze di Figaro
(concert version) and Alcina at the Bavarian State Opera; Otello
at the Stuttgart Opera; Ariodante at the Royal Opera House Covent
Garden in London; Maria Stuarda at the Hamburg State Opera; Giulio
Cesare at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Giulio Cesare, La
Cecchina by Piccinni and symphonic concerts at the Teatro
Petruzzelli in Bari; and concerts with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
in Geneva, the Münchener Kammerorchester, La Scintilla in Zurich, and I
Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan.
March 2026