The Bari-born maestro enjoyed an international career spanning more than four decades and became one of the foremost interpreters of the Italian bel canto repertoire.
Italian conductor Bruno Campanella has died at the age of 83.
Born in Bari on 6 January 1943, Campanella studied composition with Nino Rota and Luigi Dallapiccola, while Hans Swarowsky and Thomas Schippers were among his conducting teachers. After emerging internationally in the late 1970s, he established himself as one of the leading specialists in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini.
His career took him to many of the world’s foremost opera houses, including La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Opéra National de Paris, the Vienna State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the New National Theatre Tokyo, among many others.
Between 1992 and 1995, Campanella served as Music Director of the Teatro Regio Torino, where he later continued as Principal Guest Conductor. Although best known for his mastery of the bel canto repertoire, he also conducted works by composers including Verdi, Stravinsky, Ravel, Britten and his former teacher Nino Rota.
Campanella collaborated with many of the greatest singers of his generation, among them Cecilia Bartoli, June Anderson, Natalie Dessay, Mariella Devia, Juan Diego Flórez, Rockwell Blake, Jennifer Larmore, Alfredo Kraus and Kathleen Battle. His extensive discography, particularly in Rossini and Donizetti, helped establish him as one of the most respected bel canto conductors of his era.
Among his honours were France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded in 2002, and the Oscar della Lirica, presented in China in 2017.
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