Carlo Rizzi, conductor, United Kingdom

Carlo Rizzi twice occupied the position of Musical Director of the Welsh National Opera – from 1992 to 2001 and 2004 to 2008. Referred to as "one of the leading conductors of his generation", he appears with the best orchestras in the world, such as the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of France and the orchestra of the Scala of Milan, to name but a few. His repertory with the Welsh National Opera has included Fidelio, Boris Godunov, Peter Grimes, Tristan and Isolda, The Turn of the Screw, The Rake's Progress, Der Rosenkavalier, Katya Kabanova, Salome, Ariadne in Naxos, Don Carlos and The Flying Dutchman with Bryn Terfel. He has also conducted at the Scala and Covent Garden, the Opéra Bastille, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper München, the Opernhaus Zürich, the Netherlands Opera, the Houston Grand Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.

Recently, Maestro Rizzi directed two productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Matilde di Shabran by Rossini and Il Trovatore by Verdi). He also directs Simon Boccanegra at the Zurich Opera, The Queen of Spades [Pique de Dame!] by Tchaikovsky at the Houston Grand Opera, and made his début with the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo. Moreover, he directs the Lyons National Orchestra, The Hague Residentie Orkest, the Bournemouth Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.