Artists biographies
Riccardo Chailly

Riccardo Chailly was born into a musical family in Milan. He studied at the conservatories in Perugia, Rome and Milan, specializing at the Siena summer courses with Franco Ferrara. At the age of 20 he became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at Milan’s La Scala. He made his opera debut there in 1978 and was soon in great demand at the world’s most important musical venues such as the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and London’s Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He has conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Münchner Philharmoniker, the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and also appeared as guest conductor at the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Lucerne Festival.

From 1982 to 1989 Chailly was principal conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and from 1983 to 1986 principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1986 to 1993 he led the Teatro Comunale of Bologna where he conducted many highly successful opera productions. He made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam in 1985, later being appointed their chief conductor in 1986 and Conductor Emeritus in 2002. He was Music Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi from 1999 to 2005, and in September 2005 he became chief conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and also Music Director of the Leipzig Opera.

Chailly’s repertoire ranges from the great classical symphonic and operatic works to those of the present day. His recordings have been crowned with numerous awards. He was also chosen as “Artist of the Year” by the French magazine “Diapason” and the British magazine “Gramophone”.

Further awards include his being named Grand’Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana and being made an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1996. In 1998 he was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and also given the title of Cavaliere di Gran Croce della Repubblica Italiana. In 2003 he received the Antonio Feltrinelli Award by the Accedemia Nazionale dei Lincei of Rome for his work as a conductor in Italy.