Francesco Corti

Conductor

• Biography
• Reviews
• Repertoire
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  Francesco Corti studied conducting in Vienna and made his debut in 1986 conducting La Traviata in Jesi. There have followed engagements in some of the leading Italian houses including Turin and Verona as well as in Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the USA and United Kingdom.

  He has held official positions as 1st Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Dusseldorf/Duisburg, conducting Le Nozze di Figaro, Nabucco, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il Trovatore, Maria Stuarda, Turandot, Così fan tutte, La Sonnambula and Andrea Chenier among others, as Generalmusikdirektor at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern (where he added Arabella, Lohengrin, Busoni’s Turandot, Don Carlo, Salome, Macbeth and The Bartered Bride to his repertoire) and at the Magdeburg Theatre, also as GMD, conducting Tannhauser, Idomeneo, Flavius Bertaridus (Telemann), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Boris Godunov as well as many symphonic concerts.

  For his US debut he conducted Il barbiere di Siviglia in San Francisco.

  He was also a regular guest conductor in Stuttgart (La Traviata, Il mondo della luna and Simon Boccanegra), Oslo (L’Italiana in Algeri, Madame Butterfly, Andrea Chenier, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Boheme, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte) before being invited to conduct Madame Butterfly for Scottish Opera, following which he was appointed Musical Director of the company. With Scottish Opera he has conducted a new production of Smetana’s The Two Widows for the 2008 Edinburgh Festival, as well as a concert performances of I Puritani in Glasgow and La fanciulla del West at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival, new productions of Manon, Le nozze di Figaro and Intermezzo and revivals of L’elisir d’Amore and La boheme.

  Francesco Corti is represented worldwide by Robert Slotover at Rayfield Allied.
  This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.

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  • The Flying Dutchman
    Scottish Opera

    It's a thoughtful and thought-provoking production, with fine playing from the orchestra under Francesco Corti and robust singing from the chorus and cast.

    Kate Molleson, The Guardian ****

    A pile-up of swan boats or glut of sword-bearing heroes might have seemed inevitable for Wagner's 200th anniversary. I could not have predicted the problem would be Dutchmen. First came a bold staging by NI Opera in Belfast, followed by a dazzling concert performance by Andris Nelsons and the CBSO in Birmingham. Now Scottish Opera has joined in with a striking new production of The Flying Dutchman conducted by Francesco Corti. Which was best? Each had its brilliant moments is the judicious verdict… Corti maintained brisk speeds and, if not quite coruscating, the orchestra played with insight and energy.

    Fiona Maddocks, The Observer

    In this thrilling account, conductor Francesco Corti and the orchestra deliver the musical colours integral to this drama.

    Susan Nickalls, The Telegraph ****

  • Werther
    Scottish Opera

    The music is a glorious score from start to end, full of tunes which illustrate the mood of the main characters. Francesco Corti led a tremendous performance from the Scottish Opera orchestra and it was lovely to hear the cor anglais, and most surprisingly an alto saxophone, getting plenty to do.

    David Smythe, Bachtrack

  • Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci
    Scottish Opera

    It was less flash than some other jubilees we have witnessed recently, with vastly fewer boats, planes and pensionable rock stars, but in important ways Scottish Opera's celebration of its 50th anniversary was very appropriate. It was an occasion when those whose contribution is usually less visible were up on stage and a well-filled hall could give them the credit they are due. An augmented orchestra demonstrated just what a fine band it is and the chorus, above them in the choir stalls and including some of the company's "emerging artists", had some excellent tunes to sing. And in front of them all departing music director Francesco Corti was demonstrably shaping an evening of classic Italian opera music. Old warhorses they may be, but Cav & Pag are crucial milestones in the history of the artform, the verismo style invented by the upstart Pietro Mascagni and refined by the experienced Ruggero Leoncavallo in works neither of them would surpass. It was that musical story that Corti told in this concert performance. The opening of the earlier piece seemed almost tentative and the famous hymn tune, Rejoice that the Lord has arisen, even understated, but by the end of the evening that seemed part of an arc of discovery that made an event of the birthday party in defiance of its somewhat tokenistic appearance. Maestro Corti had drafted in some top drawer help for the night, with the solo vocal honours going to three Scottish Opera debutantes, Gabriele Spina, Antonia Cifrone and especially tenor Francesco Anile. His contribution as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio in Pagliacci was the star turn in a night to remember, albeit with mixed emotions.

    Keith Bruce, The Herald

    Scottish Opera turns 50 this year, and a birthday season begins in earnest after the summer. Not to let the big day pass unnoticed, this one-off concert performance marked exactly half a century since Alexander Gibson's new company staged its debut show at the King's theatre, Glasgow. Then the opera was Puccini's Madama Butterfly; now music director Francesco Corti returns to verismo in tribute with a classic Cav & Pag double bill. The tuneful bravado of Mascagni and Leoncavallo is home territory for Corti...there were also moments of fantastic warmth in both operas; at his best, Corti draws elegantly unadorned phrases that surge within simple contours and really blossom at their climaxes. Elevated from their usual home in the pit to the city hall stage with its brilliant in-your-face acoustic, the orchestra sounded brighter, fuller and more assertive than I've heard them. The chorus was on fine form, too – positively radiant in Cav's Easter Hymn...Soloists were all strong-voiced enough to project over the orchestra

    Kate Molleson, The Guardian

  • Tosca, Scottish Opera
    May 2012

    Scottish Opera's Tosca is flawless, from start to finish a feast for the eyes, and an exceptional delivery of Puccini's powerful score.

    Catherine Robb, The Herald

    …opera at its most exhilarating and moving….It was here, too, that Francesco Corti’s brisk musical direction finally gelled…the orchestral underscore was like a red hot underscore (sic), burnished and dramatically taut.

    Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman

    with rousing playing in the pit under Francesco Corti the anguish rarely relents…a thundering good night it is too.

    Robert Dawson-Scott, STV

    And so ends Scottish Opera’s forty-ninth season. Friends talk about opera in London and at Glyndebourne. I tell them we have Scottish Opera - and aren’t we fortunate.

    Barnaby Miln, Edinburgh Guide

  • Intermezzo: Scottish Opera
    (March / April 2011)

    Strauss’ busy, lavish score, which is marvellously played here under the company’s music director, Francesco Corti.

    The Stage

    Francesco Corti conducted enthusiastically...

    Daily Telegraph

    The music is a wonderful sound scape of rich, passionate, and dissonant notes, and the Scottish Opera orchestra (complete with harmonium) under Francesco Corti tackled this difficult score with aplomb. The intermezzos were particularly engrossing, adding so much to the work and giving the whole a very cinematic feel.

    Bachtrack

    Corti’s interpretation is unfailingly lively and considerate of the singers (no mean achievement).

    Telegraph Magazine

  • La fanciulla del West, Edinburgh International Festival
    (August 2010)

    There was crackling energy and roaring bravado to spare… Biggest applause of the evening went to Scottish Opera’s orchestra, whose fate is currently prey to cuts. The ovation wasn’t just a show of public support: its impassioned playing merited the acclaim.

    The Telegraph

  • La Bohème: Scottish Opera
    (February - June 2010)

    The classiest individual performance came from Scottish Opera's music director Francesco Corti, who captured the full flavour of the Puccini orchestra in an invigorating display of freedom and control. The work's Italian genes were well to the fore - at least in the music.

    Opera Magazine

    The real action, however, was under the stage. What fantastic Puccini conducting from Francesco Corti: supple, pacey, infinitely flexible, and super-emotional. When Mimi made her entrance and the music welled up, I just dissolved. Corti’s timing was phenomenal, moulding and shaping the flow, getting every ounce of juice from the score; and the orchestral playing for the music director was top-drawer stuff and drop-dead gorgeous. Bravo Corti.

    The Herald

    In the pit, music director Francesco Corti draws some lush sounds from the orchestra...

    The Guardian

    ...his conducting is luxurious and sensitive.

    The Scotsman

    And Francesco Corti worked real wonders from the pit, sensitively shaping the emotionally charged score, never overegging, but lingering where he ought and stoking love’s uncontrollable surges with a beauty that transported in spite of the staging.

    The Times

    The conductor, Francesco Corti, captured the full flavour of the Puccini orchestra in an impressive display of freedom and control. The work’s Italian genes were well to the fore – at least in the music.

    Financial Times

    In the hands of conductor Francesco Corti, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera give a terrific rendition of Puccini’s music.

    Glasgow University Guardian

    On the credit side…a magnificently on-form orchestra under Francesco Corti.

    Inverness Courier

    Applause was due, and was given generously, to Scottish Opera’s orchestra, who had responded to conductor Francesco Corti with a performance which was worth the price of admission all on its own, especially in the final act where heartstrings were tugged and withers comprehensively wrung.

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• Francesco Corti Opera Repertoire

  BASTIDE

  • Oedipe Roi (1927)

  BELLINI

  • La Sonnambula
  • Norma
  • I puritani

  BUSONI

  • Turandot

  CIMAROSA

  • L'Italiana in Londra

  DONIZETTI

  • Don Pasquale
  • L'Elisir d'Amore
  • La Fille du Regiment
  • Lucia di Lammermoor
  • Roberto Devereux
  • Maria Stuarda

  GIORDANO

  • Andrea Chenier

  HAYDN

  • Il mondo della Luna

  HUMPERDINCK

  • Hansel und Gretel

  LEONCAVALLO

  • I pagliacci

  MASCAGNI

  • Cavalleria Rusticana

  MASSENET

  • Manon

  MOZART

  • Cosi fan tutte
  • Don Giovanni
  • Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail
  • La finta giardiniera
  • La finta semplice
  • Le nozze di Figaro
  • Die Zauberflote
  • Idomeneo

  MUSSORGSKY

  • Boris Godunov

  PUCCINI

  • La Boheme
  • Madame Butterfly
  • La fanciulla del West
  • Turandot

  ROSSINI

  • L'Italiana in Algeri
  • Aureliano in Palmira
  • Il barbiere di Siviglia
  • La Cenerentola
  • Eduardo e Cristina
  • Matilde di Shabran

  SHOSTAKOVICH

  • Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

  SMETANA

  • Die Verkaufte Braut
  • The Two Widows

  R.STRAUSS

  • Salome

  TELEMANN

  • Flavius Bertaridus

  VERDI

  • Aida
  • Don Carlo
  • Simon Boccanegra
  • Falstaff
  • I due Foscari
  • Macbeth
  • Nabucco
  • Otello
  • Rigoletto
  • La traviata
  • Il trovatore

  WAGNER

  • Die Feen
  • Lohengrin

  WEBER

  • Der Freischutz

• Photos

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    Photographer: Christopher Bowen

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  • 
    Photographer: Christopher Bowen

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  • 
    Photographer: Christopher Bowen

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