Ottavio Dantone (born 9 October 1960) is an Italian conductor and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

(primarily

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and

fortepiano A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...

) particularly noted for his performances of

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

. He has been the music director of the Accademia Bizantina in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

since 1996.

Career

Dantone trained at the Conservatorio "Giuseppe Verdi" in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

where he graduated in

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

and

. In 1985 he was awarded the

Basso Continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

prize at the International Paris Festival and was also a laureate in the 1986 International Bruges Festival. Dantone made his debut as an opera conductor in 1999 with the first performance in modern times of

Giuseppe Sarti Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer. Biography He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...

's '' Giulio Sabino'' at the

Teatro Alighieri Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band member ...

in Ravenna. He made his

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

debut in 2005 conducting Handel's ''

Rinaldo Rinaldo may refer to: *Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...

'', and would conduct performances of the same opera at

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundr ...

in 2011.

Selected Recordings

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

: ''Complete Sonatas'' – Ottavio Dantone (harpsichord). Label: Stradivarius (CD) *''Settecento Veneziano'' – Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Arts Music (CD) *Sarti: ''Giulio Sabino'' – Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Bongiovanni (CD) *Vivaldi: ''

Tito Manlio Tito Manlio (; RV 738) is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi, to a libretto by Matteo Noris. It was written in celebration of the marriage of Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt (1671–1736),Eric Cross. "Tito Manlio." The New Grove Dictionary of ...

'' – Nicola Ulivieri, Karina Gauvin, Ann Hallenberg, Marijana Mijanovic, Debora Beronesi, Barbara Di Castri; Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Naïve (CD) *Vivaldi: ''In Furore, Laudate Pueri, Concerti Sacri'' –

Sandrine Piau Sandrine Piau (born 5 June 1965) is a French soprano. She is particularly renowned in Baroque music although also excels in Romantic and modernist art songs. She has the versatility to perform works from Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart to Schumann, Debus ...

, Stefano Montenari, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Naïve (CD, 2006) *''Il Giardino Armonico Deux: Music of the French Baroque'' - Giovanni Antonini (flute), Luca Pianca (lute), Enrico Onofri (violin), Vittorio Ghielmi (viola da gamba), Ottavio Dantone (harpsichord). Recorded in the

Hellbrunn Palace Hellbrunn Palace (german: Schloss Hellbrunn) is an early Baroque villa of palatial size, near Morzg, a southern district of the city of Salzburg, Austria. It was built in 1613–19 by Markus Sittikus von Hohenems, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg ...

, Salzburg. Label: Arthaus Musik (DVD) *Pergolesi: ''Adriano in Siria'' with ''

Livietta e Tracollo ''La contadina astuta'', or ''Livietta e Tracollo'', is an opera buffa composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a libretto by Tommaso Mariani. It was originally composed as an intermezzo for Pergolesi's opera ''Adriano in Siria (Pergolesi), Adria ...

'' DVD *Pergolesi: ''

Il Flaminio ''Il Flaminio'' is a 1735 opera buffa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a Neapolitan libretto by Gennaro Antonio Federico, first performed at the Teatro Nuovo, Naples. Untypically in Pergolesi's difficult and short career the opera was an immedi ...

'' DVD *Vivaldi: ''

Il Giustino '' Il Giustino'' is an opera in three acts by composer Giovanni Legrenzi. The work uses an Italian language libretto by Nicolò Beregan based on the life of Emperor Justin I. The opera premiered on 7 February 1683 at the Teatro San Salvador in ...

'' – Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (conductor). Label: Naive (CD)

Notes and references

Sources

*''

El Diario Vasco ''El Diario Vasco'' (English: ''The Basque Daily'') is a Spanish morning daily newspaper based in San Sebastián, Basque Country. History and profile ''El Diario Vasco'' was founded in 1934 by the Sociedad Vascongada de Publicaciones, led by co ...

''
Recuperador de lo desconocido
20 October 2009. Accessed 10 November 2009 (in Spanish). *Freeman, John W.

''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'', December 2000. Accessed 10 November 2009. *''

Il Resto del Carlino ''il Resto del Carlino'' is an Italian newspaper based in Bologna, and is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Its rather evocative name means "the change you get from a ''carlino''", which the smallest part of the Papal ''baiocco'' (no longer ...

''
Abbado, Dantone, e fuochi d'artificio
19 April 2007. Accessed 10 November 2009 (in Italian). *Morreau, Annett

''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 28 November 2006. Accessed 10 November 2009. *Osella, Leonardo
Annibale e Paisiello a Torino dopo 236 anni, ma senza Mozart; La dirigerà uno specialista come Ottavio Dantone alla testa dell’Accademia Bizantina e altri cantanti
''

La Stampa ''La Stampa'' (meaning ''The Press'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin, Italy. It is distributed in Italy and other European nations. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. History and profile The paper was fou ...

'', 23 February 2007. Accessed 10 November 2009 (in Italian).

External links

Official web site
1960 births People from Cerignola Italian male conductors (music) Italian harpsichordists Living people 21st-century Italian conductors (music) 21st-century Italian male musicians {{Keyboardist-stub