Marcello Mottadelli
Maestro Marcello Mottadelli graduated from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, obtaining his degree in organ and organ composition. Afterwards, he studied organ for four years at University of Music and Performing arts - Vienna Musik Hochschule. Following his studies, he started his career with a two-year engagement as 1st Kappelmeister at the Stadttheater Bern, Switzerland in 1999, being in charge of all the operatic repertoire.
Whilst in Bern, he was invited to conduct a touring production of Nabucco, as well as Un Ballo in Maschera, with the orchestra and choir of Bolshoi Minsk.
In 2001, he made his debut in the USA, conducting Turandot at the Colorado Opera Company. In the same year, he also made his debut in South Africa, conducting Rigoletto and Mahler's 2nd Symphony at the Opera of Cape Town. Invitations for international appearances followed steadily in 2002, adding Germany to the list. During the same year, he also travelled to Belarus to continue his work with the choir and orchestra of Bolshoi Minsk and conducting their production of Tosca at the Bolshoi Theatre, Minsk.
Between 2002 and 2008, among other productions, Mr. Mottadelli conducted Der Freischütz and Rigoletto at The National Danish Opera, symphonic concerts with Odense and Aalborg Symphony Orchestras, Bialystok Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland), Orchestra Teatro Coccia from Novara, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava. During this period, he made several appearances with Cairo Symphony Orchestra both in Cairo and in Jordan, at a Gala Concert starring Placido Domingo.
From 2008 until 2011, Mr. Mottadelli held the position of General Music Director to the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. During this time, he also debuted in South Korea at the Seongnam Art Centre in Seoul. He also conducted Don Carlo at the Royal Danish Opera, in Copenhagen. Further invitations to Denmark followed, where he conducted Elisir d'Amore and Manon Lescaut at the Danish National Opera, in 2009 and 2010. During the same and following year, other appearances included Aida at the Cairo Opera House, several symphonic concerts at Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova and Teatro Verdi di Trieste, La Traviata at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen and Lucia di Lammermoor at the Swedish summer opera festival “Opera pä Skäret”, which was greatly received by the international critics. Maestro retuned to the Swedish summer opera festival over years, as it follows: in 2014 for Otello, in 2015 for La Traviata and 2017 for a series of 12 performances of Madama Butterfly.
Marcello Mottadelli was particularly honored to have a guest performance at the prestigious and globally acclaimed Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm in 2011, where he conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring tenor Joseph Calleja, in the presence of the Nobel Prize laureates and the Swedish Royal family.
In 2012, he conducted the production of Turandot at he conducted Teatro Massimo in Palermo, followed by Madama Butterfly at the same theatre, in 2013. Following appearances in 2013 were: La Bohème in Seoul and had several appearances with the Nürnberger Symphoniker, in Germany. His works also included conducting Nabucco in Cremona, Brescia, Como and Pavia in 2014, Madama Butterfly in Trapani in October 2016, a symphonic concert in Nuremberg, recordings for Bayerische Rundfunk the same month and Andrea Chenier in Sassari in December 2016.
Between 2016 and 2017, Mr. Marcello Mottadelli was the Artistic and Musical Coordinator, with functions of Artistic Director at the Bucharest National Opera House, where he conducted and premiered several operas, such as: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Tosca and Un Ballo in Maschera, as well as other titles from the repertoire. The Romanian stage hosted a series of successful productions, having guested well known artists, such as Ramon Vargas, Roberto Alagna, Nelly Miricioiu and Sumi Jo. At the
beginning of 2018, Mr. Mottadelli became the Artistic and Music Coordinator of the Romanian National Opera House of Iasi, holding this position until July, same year.
Meanwhile, in March 2018 and December 2018, Mr. Mottadelli was invited to conduct at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, where he worked with international opera stars Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak as performing artists, coordinating the Prague Philharmonic and later with Vittorio Grigolo, coordinating the Zagreb Philharmonic.
In May 2018, he leaded a successful Turandot at the Croatian National Theater of Zagreb with 5 performances. The production was put on stage once again in September and October 2018, always conducted by Maestro Mottadelli. In November and December 2018, Maestro conducted a series of ten highly appreciated Falstaff performances for the Opera Lombardia Circuit (Como, Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona and Pavia).
2019 debuted with a new production of ‘Il Trovatore’ staged by the appreciated stage director Arnaud Bernard, at the Croatian National Theater of Zagreb, Croatia. The series of five performances took place in February and considering both the enthusiastic reaction of the audience and the positive reviews, the production conducted by Maestro Mottadelli was an undeniable success.
Afterwards, in April, maestro Mottadelli was invited once again to conduct the Symphony Orchestra of Nuremberg, Germany, at the Meistersingenhalle.
In June 2019, took place the grandiose event of Madama Butterfly, organized in the main square of Warsaw, Poland – Plac Defilad. An event that was never done before, featuring Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak in the main soloistic roles, the prestigious Sinfonia Varsavia and the Philharmonic Choir. All of them performed in front of an audience of 6.000 people. At the end of July 2019, Maestro returned to Poland, this time in Sopot, where he was a guest conductor at Sopot Classic Festival, starring Roberto Alagna, with an audience of 5.000 people.
In July and August 2019, maestro Mottadelli coordinated the whole production of Turandot at Festival Puccini, Torre del Lago Puccini-Viareggio-Tuscany, Italy, being nominated as the conductor of the Festival. End of September 2019, Maestro Mottadelli made his debut at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, with the production of La Fanciulla del West, with a series of performances that were highly appreciated by critics and audience.
Back in Zagreb, the co-production between the prestigious Fondazione Arena di Verona and the Croatian National Theatre - Madama Butterfly, had its opening night at the Croatian National Theater of Zagreb and was conducted by maestro Mottadelli. Maestro Mottadelli leaded as well the production of Marcella (opera of Umberto Giordano) at the Teatro Umberto Giordano of Foggia, Italy.
In 2020, he premiered a new production of Lucia di Lamermoor, staged by Maestro Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Croatian National Theater and, in October, a new production of Carmen, staged by Arnaud Bernard. October and November 2021 marked Maestro’s return on stage, this time in South Corea with a series of six performances of I Puritani (Vincenzo Bellini), first staged at Teatro Comunale di Modena. The tour included two shows in the city of Daegu for the International Opera Festival of Daegu (broadcasted live on the national television KBS), one show in the city of Busan and three shows in Seoul, at Seoul Art Center. The leading role of the production was assigned to the Italian soprano Desiree Rancatore.
In January 2022, Maestro was invited to conduct the traditional New Year’s Gala Concert in Uppsala, Sweden, with the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra.
In February 2022, Maestro Mottadelli conducted two concerts at the Teatro Politeama (Palermo) with the prestigious Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana. The guest star of the two concerts has been Maestro Uto Ughi. The performances has been recorded by the National Italian television (RAI TV), an excerpt of the concert has already been broadcasted on the national television.
September 2022, enormous success with the production of Cavalleria Rusticana in Vizzini (CT), in collaboration with the Massimo Bellini Theater in Catania. The production has been staged by Alfonso Signorini for the centenary of Giovanni Verga's death. The performance has been replicated at Villa Bellini in Catania with the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra and in Piazza Politeama in Palermo, as part of the important national event ‘Bellini International Context 2022’.
February-March 2023, Maestro Mottadelli conducted a highly appreciated production of ‘Tosca’ at Daegu Opera House in South Korea, followed by the international production of ‘Madama Butterfly’, always at Daegu Opera House.
September 2023, Maestro Mottadelli conducted a production of ‘Andrea Chenier’ in Belgrade. In November 2023, he has been invited by Daegu Opera House to conduct the prestigious ’SAYA Opera Awards – The closing concert of DIOF’s 20th Anniversary’. This was followed by ‘Turandot’ at Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, ‘Madama Butterfly’ in South Korea, and Carmen at Teatro Politeama Greco Lecce.
In 2024, Maestro conducted a symphonic concert with the Nuremberg Symphoniker, and leaded the production of Andrea Chenier at the Daegu Opera House, South Korea. Furthermore, Maestro had a series of masterclasses at the Teatro Goldoni, Livorno – The Mascagni Opera Academy, followed by the production of Tosca at Gwangju Culture & Arts Center. Next engagements: the production of Cavalleria Rusticana and Gianni Schicchi at Teatro Goldoni Livorno and Teatro Politeama Greco Lecce.
Andrey Gugnin
Piano
Concert pianist Andrey Gugnin is rapidly gaining international acclaim as a passionately virtuosic performer, who possesses an “extraordinarily versatile and agile technique, which serves an often inspired musical imagination” (Gramophone). One of his recent achievements is winning the prestigious 12th International German Piano Award in 2023. In 2024, Andrey Gugnin won first place at the Classic Piano International Competition in Dubai, claiming the grand prize with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. In 2020, the BBC Music Magazine Awards named Gugnin the winner of the Instrumental Award for his recording Shostakovich: 24 Preludes - Piano Sonatas 1 & 2 (Hyperion). Since winning the prestigious Sydney International Piano Competition in 2016, Gugnin has gone from strength to strength in concerts and recordings which exhibit his impassioned interpretations.
In addition to winning in Sydney, Gugnin also received prizes at this illustrious competition for Best Overall Concerto, Best 19th/20th Century Concerto, Best Violin and Piano Sonata, and Best Preliminaries for his first-round recital. He won the Gold Medal and Audience Award at the XCI International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in 2014, and second prize at the 2013 Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna.
Increasingly in demand as a concerto soloist, Gugnin has been invited to perform as a guest artist with notable orchestras worldwide, such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony, and has performed under the distinguished batons of Maestro Valery Gergiev, Jaap Van Zweden, Reinbert de Leeuw, Daniel Raiskin, Stanislav Kochanovsky and Asher Fisch. He has also collaborated in a more chamber context with the Asko Schönberg ensemble, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Jerusalem Camerata and Camerata Salzburg and on several occasions as the duo partner of violinist Tasmin Little.
As a recording artist, Gugnin has published a broad scope of repertoire ranging from solo piano to symphonic works. His release of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes (Piano Classics, 2018) were commended as Editor’s Choice, and distinguished Gugnin as “one to watch” (Gramophone). Other notable recordings include his duo programme with violinist Ioana Cristina Goicea (Atoll Records, 2019), an inspired selection of solo piano suites entitled Pictures (Steinway & Sons, 2016), and a collection of piano duets with Vadim Kholodenko (Delos International, 2010). Andrey has also extensively recorded for TV and radio in Russia, The Netherlands, Croatia, Austria, Australia, Switzerland and the USA.
Currently Gugnin continues his collaboration with Hyperion Records. His latest album of complete Scriabin’s Mazurkas (2022) was awarded the Recording of the Month by Limelight Magazine.
In addition to these recordings, Gugnin’s Shostakovich Concertos (Delos International, 2007) were selected to feature on the soundtrack of Steven Speilberg’s Oscar®-winning film Bridge of Spies.
Gugnin’s expanding list of performance venues include Vienna’s Musikverein, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Carnegie Hall in New York, Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Sydney Opera House, the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, Mariinsky Concert Hall, the Louvre in Paris, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space and Asahi Hamarikyu Hall. Gugnin has also participated in a plethora of international festivals, including Verbier, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Mariinsky International Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the Ohrid Summer Festival and the Duszniki Chopin International Festival.
In 2020-21, as allowed by the covid pandemic, Gugnin embarked on performing numerous solo recitals at prestigious venues in Russia. Gugnin joined Tasmin Little in her farewell concert at the Southbank Centre as one of her four favourite pianists to collaborate with, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and for which Andrey was praised for his ‘emphatic, mesmerising playing’ (Bachtrack).
The 2022/23 season is seeing Gugnin performing solo recitals across Europe, Asia and America, including Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius and Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, Utah and Seattle recitals as well as in Thailand, Koerner Recital Hall in Vancouver, at the Cziffra Festival in Budapest, at the Bard Music Festival in New York and Leamington Festival as well as in Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
Gugnin is also showcasing a number of piano concertos in the 2022/23 season, including Ravel’s Piano concerto for the left hand with Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rachmaninoff’s Piano concerto no. 3 with National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Grieg Piano concerto with South Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Rachmaninoff’s Piano concerto no. 4 with Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Schumann’s Piano concerto with Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini with Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, to name few. As a chamber musician, he is actively performing with Andrei Baranov and Alexey Zhilin in trio, having a recital with Julian Rachlin and Sarah McElravy as well as performances with Roman Simovic, Milena Simovic and Antonio Meneses.
In the season 2023/24, he will be returnin to the Bard Music Festival in New York, Husum Festival in Germany, having a recitals in Salzburg and Linz in Austria, a tour in Japan (recitals in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Takasaki and Rachmaninoff’s Piano concerto no. 2 with Nagoya Phillharmonic Orchestra), in Spain (Beethoven Piano concerto no. 5 with Orquesta Clasica Santa Cecilia in Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid), recitals in Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia, where he will have a recitals in Sydney and Melbourne and will be acting as an artistic director of the OutWest Piano Fest.
Orchestra del Teatro Goldoni di Livorno
The Teatro Goldoni Orchestra established in 2020 from the main reference staff of the opera and symphonic seasons of the Theater has, over time, assumed connotations of stability, refinement and search for sonorities.
It represents a national and international point of reference for its Symphony Season and its productions such as Sheherazade by Rismky Korsakov performed for the first time in Livorno in November 2022 or Tchaikovsky's Symphony VI repeated 90 years after the first Italian performance conducted by Pietro Mascagni.
The artistic specificities of the orchestra are to be found in the Mascagnano, Pucciniano and Verdian opera repertoire. He actively participates every year in the Mascagni Festival in Livorno, giving new life to works by the composer from Livorno par excellence.
The conductors and soloists with whom the orchestra has collaborated have appreciated its dynamism and availability. The artists who have been able to appreciate it over time are: Anderson Dean, De Lorenzo Giancarlo, Fratta Gianna, Madaras Gergely, NG Wilson, Raskin Daniel, Smbatyan Sergey, Warner John, Blaumane Kristīna – Cellist, Brovtsyn Boris – Violinist, Cafaro Nicolò – Pianist, Chiacchiaretta Cesare – Bandoneonist, de Niese Danielle – Soprano, De Palma Dino – Violinist and Violist, Furia Fabio – Bandoneonist, Itamar Zorman – Violinist, Meloni Fabrizio – Clarinetist. Pellegrino Ettore – Violinist, Quaranta Salvatore – Violinist, Ruggiero Salvatore – Oboist, Semchuk Olexander – Violinist, Taverna Alessandro – Pianist, Yeol Eum Son – Pianist, Zhou Nancy – Violinist.
The Principal Conductor of the Orchestra is Maestro Eric Lederhandler, the Associate Conductor is Gianluca J. Greco.
In 2022, the Orchestra performed 82 concerts, 60% of which at the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, and the remainder at important theaters such as the Ariston Theater in Sanremo, the Teatro Sociale in Camogli, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and made co-productions with important symphonic institutions such as the Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, the Abruzzese Symphony Orchestra, the Bari Symphony Orchestra and the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra. He took part in the staging of 6 operas and strengthened institutional connections through the EU-funded project “Accordi Musicali”.
The YOM 2022 Competition saw the participation of 287 young instrumentalists for scholarships of €10,000.