Gianluca Marciano (Italy)

Invited Conductor
 
 Born in 1976 at La Spezia in Italy, Maestro Marcianò started his piano studies at the age of five. He went on to study with Mo. Piernarciso Masi at the Music Academy of Florence. He also studied with Dmitri Bashkirov, Joaquin Achucarro and Paolo Restani, as well as Massimiliano Damerini for contemporary music. As a piano prodigy during his youth, he won several national and international competitions for young musicians, making his recital debut when he was ten years old. Since then, he has performed in some of the most famous concert halls around the world.

As a coach and head of music staff, he worked in many of the most important Italian venues, such as the Teatro Regio di Parma during Verdi's Anniversary in 2001 (Verdi Opera Studio), Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and the International Competition Beato Pio IX in Rome. He has been the personal coach of Fabio Armiliato, Roberto Servile and Luisa Maragliano. He has been invited to be a jury member in several competitions for singers.

In 2002 the Gianluca Marcianò was invited to SNG Opera in Balet Ljubljana and worked there as assistant to Loris Voltolini, increasing his operatic repertoire. He also assisted M. Dieter Rossberg on Faust and Offenbach's Die Rheinnixen for its staged world premiere in 2005, receiving a special thank you from Boosey and Hawkes for his work on the project. During the 2006-07 season he stepped in at short notice to HNK Opera Zagreb to conduct performances of Nabucco and Il Barbiere di Siviglia, without any rehearsal. As a result, the theatre invited him to be the opera production supervisor and guest conductor for many productions.

This year he made his first appearance at the Serbian National Opera in Novi Sad, conducting Tosca. He was immediately called back for La Bohème. Both productions were a great success. He is a guest conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Soloists KOS (he recorded with this orchestra for RTV Slovenia), Romanian Philharmonic Ion Dimitrescu, Ploiest Philharmonic, Orchestra Gli Armonici, Kamerata Kiev, and the Orchestra Ente De Carolis – Sassari, Longborough Opera Festival Orchestra, Orchestra Lirico-Sinfonica della Provincia di Lecco, Orchestra Sinfonica di Grosseto, Chelsea Opera Group. The following artists have sung under his baton: Paoletta Marrocu, Donata D'Annunzio Lombardi, Nino Surguladze, Alexandru Agache, Zoran Todorovich, Marc Heller, Anna Cuò, Inva Mula, Irina Lungu, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Ermonela Jaho, Dario Schmunck, Ning Liang, Zeljko Lucic and others.

He is a guest conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Soloists KOS (he recorded with this orchestra for RTV Slovenia), Romanian Philharmonic Ion Dimitrescu, Ploiest Philharmonic, Orchestra Gli Armonici, Kamerata Kiev, and the Orchestra Ente De Carolis - Sassari.

In 2007 he made his debut at the Poly Theater in Beijing conducting the Drama Dance and Opera Orchestra of Beijing. In November 2007 Gianluca Marcianò made his Italian operatic conducting debut at Teatro Verdi in Sassari with the Italian premiere of Debussy's La Damoiselle Élue and Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias. One critic wrote, "Very inspired and attractive direction of Gianluca Marcianò, a conductor who has already a long and important career outside Italy and who has got the maximum from Debussy's instrumentation and the rhythmic style of Poulenc." Another reviewed, "The young conductor Gianluca Marcianò always has the show in his hands leading with authority a very good company of singers." Yet another critic said, "The music direction of the 31-year-old conductor, Gianluca Marcianò, was exciting."

In 2008, Gianluca Marcianò returned from Beijing where he conducted and supervised a gala concert with Andrea Bocelli and Beijing Symphony Orchestra at Winland Financial Center. During the same year Marcianò had his UK operatic debut conducting La Traviata at Longborough Festival Opera.
"Possibly the best thing about this new Traviata is the combination of some really punchy playing from the Festival Orchestra and the fiery dynamism of this production’s star find, the Italian maestro Gianluca Marcianò…but his confident and unflinchingly passionate way with Verdi’s lyrical lines is hugely impressive." Neil Fisher, The Times

In 2008/09 season he was acclaimed by critics and public in London, where he conducted Donizetti’s La Favorite in concert performance at Cadogan Hall: "The orchestra, fairly polished, brimmed with spirit. Under the lyrical baton of Gianluca Marcianò they even found beauty when Donizetti tootles like a machine" Geoff Brown, The Times

"…a coherent account was led by an expert conductor, Gianluca Marciano, who knows ow an opera should go, kept things moving well, sustained and supported the singers, sounded Donizetti’s instrumental and fancy contrapuntal inventions intently but without affectation" Opera Magazine

In summer 2009 he was called back to conduct at Longborough his first Mozart opera, Le Nozze di Figaro and after its huge success, the festival confirmed his engagement until 2012. He will conduct Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte there.

"Gianluca Marcianò conducts his crisp orchestra with such loving and dramatic alertness (and the harpsichord continuo is brilliantly imaginative)." Cristopher Morley, Birmingham Post

"This is an enormously enjoyable production: let’s hope Longborough gives it another run. Its star is conductor Gianluca Marcianò, who made the orchestral instruments sound as if they, too, were singing Mozart’s music. No wonder he’s been engaged for another two seasons." Giles Woodforde, The Oxford Times

Next year Marcianò is also engaged at Grange Park Festival (UK) to conduct Tosca, conducts La Traviata with Nelli Miriciou at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (Chelsea Opera Group), returns to Novi Sad Opera and will conduct several symphonic concerts. In 2012 he will debut at Opera de Oviedo (Spain) conducting Turandot.

http://www.gianlucamarciano.it

Mariano Rivas
(Spain)

Guest Conductor

Born in Gijón in 1971, studied violin and piano at the Music Conservatory in Oviedo.  In 1985, he won the 2nd prize in the "Casa Vienna" contest for young pianists.  In 1991 Mario Rivas entered the "Accademy of Music and Dramatic Arts" in Vienna to study orchestra conducting with K.Österreicher and L.Hager, graduating in 1997 cum laude. In 1995 he won the first prize at the International Competition for Conductors "Dinu Niculescu" in Romania as well as the prize for "Best interpreter of Romanian music". In 1996 he also won the 3rd prize at the Competition for Conductors in Baden (Vienna) and conducted  THE MAN OF LA MANCHA in Italy. At the ORF Radio Hall in Vienna he conducted the world premiere of opus Drei Bestiarien by T. Krinzinger with the Orchestra Pro-Arte.
In 1997 Mariano Rivas was awarded the Magister Artium in orchestra conducting by the Accademy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Vienna, conducting the ORF Orchestra  to great public acclaim. In Gijón and León he conducted the Spanish premiere of Alfonso UND Estrella by F.Schubert.  In 1999 he was a finalist at the "National Competition for Conductors" in Granada and conducted the Granada Symphony Orchestra in various concerts.
From 2000 to 2001 he was chorus director of the Oviedo Opera Festival and conducted a concert for the Verdi Centenary with the bass Yevgeny Nesterenko and the Moscow Virtuosi.
From 2001 to 2005 he was assistant director at the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona and to Giuliano Carella at the Teatro Real in Madrid and in Liege; he also was assistant to Marcello Viotti. 
He has worked with Carlos Alvarez and Monserrat Caballé in different concerts and Zarzuela Galas. In 2005 he conducted with the famous spanish bariton Carlos Alvarez as he was the protagonist in PELAGIO by Mercadante with the O.S.P.A. Orchestra, Gijón.  Mariano Rivas has revised and published the musical score of PELAGIO to great acclaim by both the general public and critics.
In 2005 he conducted his revised score of PELAGIO. He had the honour to conduct with Montserrat Caballè at the Open Air Festival in Klagenfurt, where she sang the principal aria of the protagonist in PELAGIO, together with other operatic and zarzuela highlights. He conducted the NABUCCO, tournee in France and MADAMA BUTERFLY in Teatro Bolshoi, Minsk, being the first guest conductor. He has conducted the Spanish Radio Symphony Orchestra  and Chorus  (RTVE).
Mario Rivas has conducted Zarzuelas in Spain, El gaitero de Xixòn, La Tabernera del puerto, Marina e Doña Francisquita. The last two with the Orquesta Pablo Sarasate and Filarmonica de Màlaga.
In 2007 he conducted TOSCA and MADAMA BUTTERFLY with the Frankfurter Symphoniker and Keith Ikaia-Purdy.
In 2008 and 2009 he conducted CARMEN with Nancy Fabiola Herrera and CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA in the Plaza de Toros in Gijón, MADAMA BUTTERFLYwith Massimiliano Pisapia at the Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón, THE LITTLE SWEEP (stage director Stefano Monti) and LA CENERENTOLA (stage director Giancarlo Del Monaco) at the Auditorium in Tenerife, and concerts with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo in Sanremo and Brescia. He also conducted Mercadante's PELAGIO at the Opera Festival in Martina Franca.
In 2010 he will conduct the opera premiere of Tarabella's CLOWN in Florence with the Orchestra Regionale della Toscana.
Mariano Rivas has worked with reknown stage directors such as Jean Louis Pichon, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Stefano Monti, and Emilio Sagi (November 2009).

http://www.mariano-rivas.com

 Opera and Ballet Theatre Soloists

 Opera and Ballet Theatre Chorus

 Opera and Ballet Theatre Orchestra