Giancarlo Andretta

Biography

The debut of Italian conductor Giancarlo Andretta at the National Theatre in Prague is a joint production of Jan Kučera's opera Don Buoso and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (2023).

He studied conducting and accompaniment at the Music Academy in Vienna. In Italy he studied composition, piano and organ. He began his professional career as a solo accompanist at the Vienna State Opera and Studienleiter at the Salzburg Summer Festival (1990-1994). During these years he also worked as harpsichordist and pianist with the Vienna Philharmonic. He has performed in many opera houses in Europe, as well as in prestigious concert halls and festivals such as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, in Berlin, Zurich, Stockholm, Munich, Oslo, Antwerp, Prague, Budapest, Lisbon, Rome, Venice, Naples and elsewhere. He has served as chief conductor of the Opera in Graz (1994-1997), as chief conductor and artistic director of the Orchestra del Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza (1997-2003) and of the Filarmonia Veneta (2000-2002), as Chief Conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen (2001-2010), as Chief Conductor of the Gothenburg Opera (2010-2013) and as Principal Guest Conductor of the Granada Symphony Orchestra (2015-2020). In 2005 he was appointed Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, a position he held until 2010. In addition, he has conducted and given masterclasses in Europe for institutions such as the Vienna University of Music, the University of Zurich, the University of Music in Gothenburg, the University of Music in Antwerp, Opera Studio of the Vienna State Opera , the Copenhagen Opera Studio, the Oslo Opera Academy and others. In 2021 he was appointed a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm.