Historical profile

of the Orchestra of the
Comunale Theatre Foundation of Bologna

From as early as 1953, for almost two decades, the orchestra had a wonderful opportunity to grow in character and spirit under the masterly baton of Sergiu Celibidache.  The Rumanian conductor led the Orchestra through a vast musical landscape ranging from Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Bizet alongside Brahms and Beethoven, Haydn and his beloved Ravel and Debussy.  Concerts with such internationally famous artists as Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Nathan Milstein and Arthur Rubinstein became frequent, and occasions for tournees outside the region multiplied.  Invitations to perform outside Italy began to arrive:  France, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Germany and Switzerland were the first of many foreign countries to host the Bologna group.  Much of the merit for this consolidation of the orchestra's artistic and professional dimension must ascribe to the ability of Carlo Alberto Cappelli, director of the theatre at that time.  But as in every instrumental group living most of the time in symbiosis with opera, the musicians' secret, difficult aspiration was to become a true symphonic orchestra. Help came with the arrival of conductors Eugene Jochum, Tullio Serafin, Lovro von Matacic, the young Claudio Abbado, who made his debut in Bologna in 1962, as well as Hermann Scherchen and Peter Maag.  The late 1960s were memorable for the theatre's second edition of the Wagner Tetralogy, a formidable proving ground for all orchestras in the world, and for the appearance on the Comunale stage of the young Israeli conductor Eliahu Inbal, winner of the Premio Cantelli, the beginning of a happy relationship that was to continue periodically for the next thirty years.

The Feste Musicali, inspired by the refined musical intelligence of Tito Gotti, opened up a new repertoire for the orchestral musicians, the preclassic period.  Starting in 1966 and continuing throughout the '70s and '80s, a group of 13 string players “I Filarmonici del Teatro Comunale”, the backbone of the orchestra, took up the challenge with notable success, guided by the competent and scrupulous interpretation of Angelo Ephrikian.  During the '70s two other chamber groups became prominent:  the Respighi Wind Quintet and the Theatre String Quintet.  These groups provided the basis for many of the theatre's activities in schools and outlying districts, answering the many requests for wider diffusion of classical music to a broader, newer public living in other towns and regions.

After Celibidache, Zoltan Pesko became the most important orchestral director in Bologna.  Principal Director from 1974 to 1976, he returned frequently to conduct in Bologna throughout the '80s.  As an expert and enthusiastic interpreter of twentieth century music, the Hungarian conductor put on several operas such as Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel and especially  Le Grand Macabre by Ligeti that projected Bologna into the attention of the Italian musical world. 

From the late '70s until 1983 the Russian conductor Vladimir Delman became the principal director of the orchestra, conferring new energy to the musical life of Bologna.  He performed the complete symphonies of Tchaikovsky with the orchestra, revealing a musical temperament of great impulse and subtlety, a trait further developed and appreciated in his deeply moving interpretations of Mahler's symphonies and the Russian operas staged under his baton: Pikovaja Dama and Kovancina. 

The Theatre was closed for restoration for 1980 and '81, but for its reopening two operas made their mark on the institution, Gluck's Armide conducted by Alan Curtis and Doktor Faust by Ferruccio Busoni conducted by Zoltan Pesko and directed by Werner Herzog in his first venture into opera theatre.

Beginning in 1984, Riccardo Chailly became principal director, recreating a situation similar to that of the orchestra's renaissance in 1956:  a pervading sense of belonging in a creative environment with great moments of satisfaction for all.  The orchestra participated in the Holland Festival in Amsterdam and at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro with important titles:  Zelmira and L'Italiana in Algeri, and the orchestra made several recordings with Decca.  The years from 1986 to 1993 were intensely creative for the orchestral musicians, including the third edition of the Ring cycle, with conducting divided between Riccardo Chailly and Peter Schneider.  This period culminated triumphantly in 1993 with the theatre's first tournee in Japan.

From 1993 to 1997 the Theatre  experienced many fruitful innovations:  the overall direction of the Theatre passed from Sergio Escobar to Lanza Tommasi, who entrusted the responsibilities of the podium to two talented conductors, Gary Bertini and Christian Thielemann.  With the first the Bologna opera house won the Abbiati prize assigned by Italian music critics for a highly successful production of Wozzeck.  With the young German conductor Thielemann the orchestra was highly praised for several notable productions: Tristan, which received enthusiastic reviews musically but was controversial for its staging by Ruth Berghaus, and a convincing production of Janacek's Casa Makropulos. 

Since 1997 Daniele Gatti has led the musical production of the Theatre; this young, talented director, well versed also in Italian opera repertoire, is well known and appreciated throughout Europe and the United States.  Under his direction the present-day Theatre Foundation returned to Japan in 1998 and 2002, and for the second time won the Abbiati prize with Donizetti's opera Dom Sebastien.  

The orchestra and its theatre have come a long way  in gaining their goal of international recognition.