Guido Mancusi (born 14 June 1966) is an Austrian-Italian conductor and composer.

Life

Born in Portici near Naples, Mancusi was the son of the Neapolitan conductor Enrico Mancusi and the Viennese singing teacher Ines Mancusi and grew up in Naples and Padova. He received his first piano lessons from his father, who was a close friend of the composer Nino Rota. After his father's early death, his mother decided to return to her hometown of Vienna with her two children. Mancusi became boy soprano with the Vienna Boys' Choir. After the Matura at the , he began studies in

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

and singing at the

Konservatorium der Stadt Wien The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna ( (MUK)) in Vienna, Austria, is a university of music and the arts. It was previously (2005−2015) named (KONSuni, Konservatorium Wien University), and before that (Conservatory of Vienna). ...

. During his school years he became a member of the Catholic secondary school fraternity K. Ö. St. V. Frankonia zu Wien, to which he still belongs today. Studies followed at the

Vienna Academy of Music en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in composition with Erich Urbanner and conducting with Karl Österreicher, he received diplomas with distinction. In 1992 he became ''magister artium'' with a thesis on Paul Hindemith and founded the ''Baroque Ensemble Vindobona''. First engagements led the ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' to the

Landestheater Niederösterreich The Landestheater Niederösterreich is a Schauspielhaus in the Lower Austrian provincial capital St. Pölten. History In the autumn of 1820, a military prison converted by master builder Josef Schwerdtfeger on today's Rathausplatz was opene ...

in St. Pölten and Coburg, to the

Raimundtheater The Raimund Theater is a theatre in the Mariahilf district of Vienna, Austria. Named after the Austrian dramatist Ferdinand Raimund, the theatre was built by an association of Viennese citizens and opened on 28 November 1893 with Raimund's play ...

and the Theater an der Wien. At the same time, he assisted

Ádám Fischer Ádám Fischer (born 9 September 1949 in Budapest) is a Hungarian conductor. He is the general music director of the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, chief conductor of the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Düsseldorfer Sym ...

, Riccardo Muti at

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 ...

and at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

. Later followed engagements at the opera houses in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and Kiel. He is the winner of the 1991 Mozart Medal for the best Mozart interpretation. Mancusi was

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the

Operklosterneuburg The operklosterneuburg is an Austrian opera festival held annually in the baroque imperial courtyard of Klosterneuburg Abbey in Lower Austria. History The festival was founded in 1993 by Alexander Hermann and Sonja Fletzberger and takes p ...

festival and since 1998 he has been chief conductor of the with a focus on classical music. He has conducted at the Wiener Festwochen, the

KlangBogen Wien KlangBogen Wien was an annual festival offering a month of opera productions and classical concerts at different venues in the city of Vienna from 1995 to 2006. There was a range from early to contemporary operas, and from medieval chamber music to ...

, as well as in England, Argentina, Japan and the USA. He was also guest conductor of the Budapest Concert Orchestra and the Slovak Philharmonic, followed by invitations to Burgos, Tel Aviv, Rome, Stockholm, Helsinki, Montevideo and Moscow, as well as with the Philharmonic Orchestras in Copenhagen, Ljubljana and Toronto. He conducted premieres as a guest at the

Wiener Kammeroper Wiener Kammeroper is a chamber opera theatre and company in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1948 by the conductor , it was originally named Vienna Opera Studiom receiving its present name in 1953. It is located at 24 Fleischmarkt Street in the city ...

, the Schauspielhaus Wien as well as the

Stadttheater Klagenfurt Stadttheater Klagenfurt is the municipal theatre in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia in Austria. Its present house was designed by the Viennese architecture office Fellner & Helmer, and completed in 1910. History The first theatre in Klage ...

, the Wiener Volksoper, at the Theater Erfurt and the Israeli Opera Tel Aviv. He was chief conductor at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt from 2001 to 2007. He was a juror at the "concorso internazionale di canto: Riccardo Zandonai", the world premiere of the oratorio ''Mother Earth'' at the Wiener Musikverein and the "National Children's Music Competition" on

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of t ...

. Mancusi is the

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

and conductor of the Volksoper Wien. There he conducted among others the operas '' The Magic Flute'', ''

Hänsel und Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimms' Fairy Tales, ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little ...

'', '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' and the operettas ''

Countess Mariza ''Gräfin Mariza'' (''Countess Maritza'') is an operetta in three acts composed by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with a German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered in Vienna on 28 February 1924 at the Theater ...

'', '' The Merry Widow'', ''

Die Csárdásfürstin ' (''The Csárdás Princess''; translated into English as ''The Riviera Girl'' and ''The Gipsy Princess'') is an operetta in 3 acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with libretto by Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach. It premiered in Vienna at the ...

'', '' Die Fledermaus'', '' Der Bettelstudent'' and '' Meine Schwester und ich''. Mancusi also conducted the People's Opera Orchestra in the ballets ''Carmen'', ''Le Concours'', '' Carmina Burana/ Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune/

Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. At least one observer has called it Ravel's most famous composition. It was also one of his last completed works before illness forced him into retirement. Co ...

and Cendrillon''.Guido Mancusi
on Volksoper Wien In addition to his work as an opera conductor, he is a professor at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien. In 2016, Mancusi conducted Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the .

Compositions

Choral and Orchestral work * ''Oratorium: Die Mutter Erde'' (1990/1991) in Wiener Musikverein * ''Missa Brevis'' (1997) * ''Johannespassion'' (2011) Chamber music * ''Happy Birthday, Quartett,für Prof. Ludwig Streicher zum 70. Geburtstag'' (1989) Alexander Mayer, in Wiener Musikverein Orchestral music * ''Konzert für Schlagwerk und Kammerorchester'' (1986) Alexander Mayer, in Wiener Musikverein Stage work * ''One Night Stand'', ballet (1995) * ''Sachen'', ballet (1996) * ''Der Traummann, Operette nach Oscar Wilde'' (2009/10) * ''Der Gläserne Birnbaum, Kinderoper'' (2010) * ''In Gottes Namen, Oper'' (2012/13) * ''Über meinen Schwager, später - ossia Kowalski'' (2016) Choral music * ''Neun Martialische Motetten'' (1984–2005) Film music * ''Das Inferno der Planeten'' (1983) * ''Invasion der Verdammten'' (1984) * ''I Cranici dell´Ibico'' (1986) * ''Borderline'' (1987) * ''Unternehmen Columbia'' (1987) * ''Leonhard'' (1988) Lieder * ''Das Kind'' (1988) * ''Acht Liebeslieder'' (2006) School music * ''7 Kanons über das Einmaleins'' (1992) Contemp Art, im Wiener Musikverein Arrangements * ''W.A.Mozart:Don Giovanni'' (2014) Musikhaus Doblinger

References

Awards

* 1st prize at the International Music Festival - Tokyo * 1st prize at the International Composition Competition ''Franz Schubert'' - Vienna * 1st prize Interpretation Prize at the International Composition Competition ''Franz Schubert'' * 2nd prize at the International Choir Competition

Marktoberdorf Marktoberdorf () is the capital of the Bavarian district of Ostallgäu in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia. Marktoberdorf is near Kempten, Füssen, known for the castle Neuschwanstein, Bad Wörishofen, and Schongau. The nearest larger city is K ...

in Allgäu

Recording

* Der Abendhimmel F-Dur, WAB 56, Musik, du himmlisches Gebilde! – CD: ORF CD 73, 1995 * Schubert: Nachtgesang im Walde, CD, Decca Music Group Limited 2017 * Complete Mozart edition, Arias, Lieder, Notturni, Decca Music Group Limited CD 2000 * From Vienna with Love, Conchita Wurst, Wiener Symphoniker, Sony, 2018

External links