Orchestra
Orchestra
19th century Italian music was dominated by a "melodrama pain" as Gian Francesco Malipiero wittily called it. The lack of a chamber and symphonic tradition in Italy delayed the appearance of symphony orchestra and opera conductors.
In melodrama, the first violin orchestra leader has existed for a long time, with eminent examples like Alessandro Rolla and his pupil Eugenio. It is only in 1854, with Alberto Mazzuccato, that the first real conductor stands up on a podium with a baton.
Mazzuccato started the glorious dynasty of the Teatro alla Scala conductors, with members like Franco Faccio (champion, against Verdi's will, of a symphonic life of the orchestra), Leopoldo Mugnone, Edoardo Mascheroni and, finally, Arturo Toscanini.
Franco Faccio had the honour to conduct the première of Othello in 1887, Edoardo Mascheroni that of Falstaff in 1893, while Toscanini, after a long battle, transformed the Teatro alla Scala from private theatre to Autonomous Board (1921/22 season).
The orchestra international prestige has been continuously enhanced, thanks to the constant presence of great conductors like Toscanini and Victor de Sabata, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan, Guido Cantelli and Leonard Bernstein, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Carlo Maria Giulini, Carlos Kleiber and Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Chailly – the international repute of the Orchestra has only grown.
Made out of 135 musicians, the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, considered one of the world’s best orchestra for opera productions, has reached a prestigious international position also for its symphony activity.
The main characteristic of the Orchestra is its capacity to obtain a uniform and distinguished sound, typical of the Teatro alla Scala style, handed down from generation to generation.
The versatile and soft sound and the fast setting up of the opera timbre balancing are characteristic of the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra.
Members of the Orchestra
First Violins
Francesco Manara (leader)
Francesco De Angelis (leader)
Laura Marzadori (leader)
Daniele Pascoletti (sub-leader)
Eriko Tsuchihashi (sub-leader)
Andrea Leporati
Rodolfo Cibin
Corine van Eikema
Andrea Pecolo
Gianluca Turconi
Elena Faccani
Fulvio Liviabella
Dino Sossai
Duccio Beluffi
Agnese Ferraro
Kaori Ogasawara
Enkeleida Sheshaj
Suela Piciri
Lucia Zanoni
Damiano Cottalasso
Evguenia Staneva
Indro Borreani
Second Violins
Pierangelo Negri*
Anna Longiave
Anna Salvatori
Emanuela Abriani
Gabriele Porfidio
Silvia Guarino
Stefano Dallera
Roberto Nigro
Alexia Tiberghien
Stefano Lo Re
Antonio Mastalli
Francesco Tagliavini
Roberta Miseferi
Estela Shesi
Leila Negro
Olga Zakharova
Andrea Del Moro
*Principal
Violas
Simonide Braconi*
Marco Giubileo
Giuseppe Nastasi
Luciano Sangalli
Giorgio Baiocco
Maddalena Calderoni
Francesco Lattuada
Carlo Barato
Joel Imperial
Giuseppe Russo Rossi
Matteo Amadasi
Thomas Cavuoto
Eugenio Silvestri
Marcello Schiavi
*Principal
Cellos
Sandro Laffranchini*
Massimo Polidori*
Alfredo Persichilli*
Martina Lopez
Gianluca Muzzolon
Gabriele Zanardi
Simone Groppo
Cosma Beatrice Pomarico
Massimiliano Tisserant
Tatiana Patella
Gabriele Garofano
Alberto Senatore
Leonardo Duca
*Principal
Double Basses
Giuseppe Ettorre*
Francesco Siragusa*
Emanuele Pedrani
Alessandro Serra
Attilio Corradini
Gaetano Siragusa
Roberto Benatti
Omar Lonati
Roberto Parretti
Claudio Nicotra
Michelangelo Mercuri
Giorgio Magistroni
*Principal
Flutes
Marco Zoni*
Andrea Manco*
Giovanni Paciello (ottavino)
Massimiliano Crepaldi
Francesco Guggiola
*Principal
Oboes
Fabien Thouand*
Armel Descotte*
Renato Duca (corno inglese)
Augusto Mianiti
Gianni Viero
*Principal
Clarinets
Fabrizio Meloni*
Aron Chiesa*
Christian Chiodi Latini
Stefano Cardo (bass clarinet)
Antonio Duca (small clarinet)
*Principal
Bassoons
Valentino Zucchiatti*
Gabriele Screpis*
Nicola Meneghetti
Maurizio Orsini
Marion Reinhard (contrabasson)
*Principal
Horns
Giovanni Emanuele Urso*
Roberto Miele
Claudio Martini
Salvatore La Porta
Stefano Curci
Piero Mangano
Giulia Montorsi
* Principal
Trumpets
Francesco Tamiati*
Marco Toro*
Gianni Dallaturca
Nicola Martelli
Valerio Vantaggio
* Principal
Trombones
Daniele Morandini*
Giuseppe Grandi
* Principal
Bass tuba
Javier Castaño Medina
Harps
Luisa Prandina*
Olga Mazzia*
*Principal
Timpani
Andrea Bindi*
Maxime Pidoux*
*Principal
Percussions
Gianni Massimo Arfacchia
Giuseppe Cacciola
Gerardo Capaldo
Francesco Muraca
Organ
Lorenzo Bonoldi
Music Staff
SENIOR TEACHER
James Vaughan
RÉPÉTITEURS
Beatrice Benzi - Paolo Berrino - Nelson Calzi - Paolo Spadaro Munitto
STAGE MUSICAL ASSISTANTS
Antonella Marotti - Ilaria Morotti - Stefano Salvatori – Marco Borroni - Caterina Denti - Federico Forti - Valentina Verna
HEAD OF MUSIC GROUPS ON STAGE
Bruno Nicoli
PROMPTERS
Dario Grandini - Loris Perego
PREPARATION OF ELECTRONIC LIBRETTOS
Roberto Perata - Stefano Colnaghi - Renato Principe
Orchestra Supervisor
Vittorio Sisto
Orchestra Attachés
Alejandro Magnin
Werther Martinelli
Edmondo Valerio