Vittorio Grigolo

From a child soloist in the Sistine Chapel to performing in the most prestigious opera houses, Vittorio Grigòlo is one of today's leading tenors of his generation. 

Born in Arezzo and raised in Rome, his musical path started from an early age. As a child, he sang as a soloist in the Sistine Chapel choir, later making his debut as the Shepherd in Tosca alongside Luciano Pavarotti. He made his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan at the age of twenty-three, in a concert under the baton of Riccardo Muti. Within a few years, he was appearing around the world with distinguished conductors as of Riccardo Chailly, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel and Antonio Pappano.

He has appeared on stages as the Arena di Verona, Bayerische Staatsoper, Chorégies d'Orange, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Metropolitan Opera New York, Opéra national de Paris, Zurich Opera House, Royal Opera House London, and Vienna State Opera. He has performed leading roles in both Italian as French operatic repertoire such as Carmen, Don Carlo, Faust, Il trovatore, La bohème, La traviata, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Lucia di Lammermoor, Manon, Rigoletto, Roméo et Julietteand Tosca. 

Highlights of the 2022/23 season are appearances at the Teatro San Carlo and Wiener Staatsoper in La bohème, at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Tosca and Il trovatore, and returns to Teatro alla Scala for a new production of Les contes d’Hoffmann. Concert appearances include recitals in Milan and Prague, as well as a Gala concert in Tokyo and Buenos Aires. Later that season, he performs Alfredo in La traviata and Cavaradossi in Tosca at the 100th Arena di Verona Opera Festival. At the Ravello Festival, he performs in a concert dedicated to Frank Sinatra. 

During the 2023/24 season Vittorio Grigolo will perform Toscaon tour with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, as well as at the Vienna State Opera and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He will be Canio in I Pagliacci at the Staatsoper Hamburg and Manrico in Il trovatore at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. 

Vittorio is a successful recording artist with a platinum debut album, a Grammy-nominated recording of Bernstein's West Side Story and four albums with Sony Classical. Live concert performances include his “Italia… un Sogno” tour around Italy and the Concert pour la prise de la Bastille under the Eiffel Tower. His solo recital at The Metropolitan Opera was reviewed as “a truly unforgettable evening” (Latinos Post) with his voice described as “an attractive, ardent and supple instrument that he wielded to passionate effect” (New York Times). 

Among the recognitions he has received are the Caruso Award and the Tiberini d’Oro (2015), the Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award – The Atlantic Council (2016) and the NIAF Special Achievement award (2017). In 2018, he was awarded the "Opera News Award" for his outstanding contribution to the world of opera.

After her studies at the Conservatory of Verona, Anastasia Bartoli performed the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Ristori in Verona in a workshop with director Pier Francesco Maestrini. In 2017, she was chosen by Carlo Rizzi to perform excerpts from Cavalleria rusticana (Santuzza) at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. She made her debut in Cavalleria rusticana at the Castell'Arquato Festival as Lola, under the baton of Sergio Alapont and directed by Vivien Hewitt, and in Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi) at the Teatro Municipal in Lima. In 2018 she is again Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Fonderia di Verona in a workshop by director Marco Gandini. In the same year, she won the 1st prize ex aequo at the Concorso Voci Verdiane di Busseto and was a guest at the Lugo Prize concert awarded to tenor Yusif Eyvazov.

She then made her debut in Mascagni's opera Sì, in the role of Vera Principessa di Chablis at the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, under the baton of Valerio Galli. She also performs in Padua in a concert with I Solisti Veneti in memory of Claudio Scimone and in a Christmas Gala at the Opera Romana in Craiova together with Fabio Armiliato and Alberto Gazale. In 2019, she makes her debut at the Teatro Bellini in Catania singing the role of Olga in Giordano's Fedora and makes her house debuts at the Teatro Regio di Parma singing in a Verdi gala together with Leo Nucci. She sings her first Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Teatro Verdi di Padova, conducted by Jordi Bernàcer.

Highlights of past seasons include Die Lustige Witwe at the Teatro Verdi in Padua, she debuted the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth at the Tokio Spring Festival conducted by Riccardo Muti. In Trieste she sang Rossini's Stabat Mater, which she also performed in Turin with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai conducted by Michele Spotti; she was the protagonist in Arezzo in a Gala Lirico. She also added important roles to her repertoire by performing: Abigaille in Nabucco on stage at the Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari; Maria Boccanegra in Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro Masimo di Palermo, alongside Placido Domingo in the title role; Elvira in Ernani at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma conducted by Marco Armiliato; Nedda in Pagliacci at the Lirico di Cagliari. She has debuted at the Marseille Opera with her first Verdi role, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth directed by Maestro Paolo Arrivabeni.

During the 2022/23 season, Anastasia performs in Ernani at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and in Don Giovanni at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. At the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, she takes on the role of Cristina in Eduardo e Cristina, in a production directed by Stefano Poda and conducted by Jader Bignamini.

In the 2023/24 season, Anastasia Bartoli opens with Otello at the Georg Enescu Festival in Bucharest, conducted by Zubin Mehta. She continues with I due Foscari at La Fenice in Venice, alongside Luca Salsi and Francesco Meli, followed by La bohème at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and Tosca at the Teatro Regio in Parma.

Throughout its history, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra has ranked among the best national orchestras and has been a worthy representative of Russian musical culture abroad. 

The orchestra was founded in September 1951 under the Soviet Radio Committee and joined the Moscow Philharmonic Society in 1953. Its artistic image and performing style were built under the guidance of renowned Russian conductors. The ensemble's first Artistic Director and Principal Conductor was Samuil Samosud (1951–1957). In 1957–1959, the orchestra, led by Nathan Rachlin, was considered as one of the best in the USSR. In 1958, at the 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition, the orchestra, conducted by Kirill Kondrashin, accompanied a triumphant performance by Van Cliburn, and in 1960 it was the first Russian symphony orchestra to tour the USA.

Kirill Kondrashin led the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra for 16 years (1960–1976). Those years were important milestones in the ensemble's history: the maestro conducted the premieres of Shostakovich's 4th and 13th Symphonies, his poem The Execution of Stepan Razin, Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, performed and recorded many Mahler symphonies. In 1973 the orchestra was awarded the title of Academic. Under Dmitry Kitaenko (1976–1990) the orchestra extended its 20th century repertoire, premiering works by Khrennikov, Denisov, Schnittke, Butsko, and Tishchenko. Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, Stravinsky's King of the Stars (Zvezdoliki) and Requiem Canticles were performed for the first time in the USSR. The ensemble was subsequently led by Vasily Sinaisky (1991–1996) and Mark Ermler (1996–1998). 

The orchestra has collaborated with leading Russian and international conductors including André Cluytens, Igor Markevitch, Charles Munch, Zubin Mehta, George Enescu, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Dzhansug Kakhidze, Kurt Mazur, Evgeny Svetlanov and composers Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, and Krzysztof Penderecki. It is with this orchestra that Sviatoslav Richter made his sole appearance as a conductor. Virtually all major soloists of the second half of the 20th century have appeared with the orchestra, including Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Glenn Gould, Emil Gilels, David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Daniil Shafran, Yakov Flier, Nikolai Petrov, Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Krainev, Maurizio Pollini, Eliso Virsaladze, and Natalia Gutman. The orchestra has recorded over 350 LPs and CDs, many of which have received the highest international recording awards and are still in demand today. 

A new stage in the history of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra began in 1998, when it was taken over by People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Simonov. Under his leadership, the ensemble has achieved tremendous success. Today the orchestra is one of the mainstays of Russian philharmonic life, frequently performing in cities across Russia (over the last ten years they have appeared in more than 40 cities) and successfully touring Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Korea. 

In recent decades, the orchestra has played with such outstanding musicians as: Marc-André Hamelin, Valery Afanassiev, Yuri Bashmet, Boris Berezovsky, Yuja Wang, Maxim Vengerov, Stefan Vladar, Hibla Gerzmava, David Geringas, Barry Douglas, Lilya Zilberstein, Sumi Jo, Laura Kleikomb, Alexander Kniazev, Sergey Krylov, John Lill, Nikolai Lugansky, Konstantin Lifshitz, Oleg Maisenberg, Denis Matsuev, Ekaterina Mechetina, Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Pollak, Vadim Repin, Sergey Roldugin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Viktor Tretyakov; Conductors Luciano Acocella, Semyon Bychkov, Alexander Vedernikov, Michael Güttler, Alexander Dmitriev, Marco Zambelli, Thomas Sanderling, Alexander Lazarev, Andres Mustonen, Vasily Petrenko, Benjamin Pionnier, 

Gintaras Rinkevičius, Alexander Sladkovsky, Leonard Slatkin, Saulius Sondeckis, Antonino Fogliani, Mariss Jansons and many others. 

One of the orchestra's priorities is working with the new generation of musicians: as part of the Stars of the 21st Century series, the orchestra plays with gifted soloists entering the big stage and invites young performers to join its philharmonic subscription programmes. The orchestra is a regular participant of international and Russian master courses for young conductors by Yuri Simonov, organized by the Moscow Philharmonic society. 

The activities of Maestro Simonov and the orchestra also aim at educating young listeners. The subscription series Tales with an Orchestra, taking place in Moscow and many Russian cities and featuring theatre and film stars, has become hugely popular. Guest stars have included Marina Alexandrova, Maria Aronova, Alyona Babenko, Valery Barinov, Sergei Bezrukov, Anna Bolshova, Olga Budina, Valery Garkalin, Sergei Garmash, Nonna Grishaeva, Ekaterina Guseva, Evgenia Dobrovolskaya, Mikhail Yefremov, Evgeny Knyazev, Avangard Leontiev, Pavel Lyubimtsev, Dmitry Nazarov, Alexander Oleshko, Irina Pegova, Yulia Peresild, Mikhail Porechenkov, Evgeniya Simonova, Grigory Siyatvinda, Daniil Spivakovsky, Yuri Stoyanov, Evgeny Stychkin, Victoria Tolstoganova, Mikhail Trukhin, Gennady Khazanov, Chulpan Khamatova, Sergey Shakurov. This project brought Maestro Simonov the Moscow Mayor's Arts Award in 2008, while in 2010, Yuri Simonov and the orchestra received the National Newspaper Musical Review Award in the Conductor and Orchestra category. 

In recent years, the ensemble has presented several Moscow, Russian and world premieres of works by Andrei Eshpai, Boris Tishchenko, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Alexander Tchaikovsky, Sergei Slonimsky, Valentin Silvestrov, Eduard Artemyev, Gennady Gladkov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Alexei Rybnikov, Efrem Podgaits, Kuzma Bodrov and other composers.

Born in Italy, Marco Boemi is a conductor and pianist, but also graduated in law from La Sapienza University, Rome. During a career spanning more than 25 years, he has collaborated with three generations of great singers, including Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, Giuseppe Taddei, Renato Bruson, Elena Obraztsova, Olga Borodina, Maria Gulegina, Ildar Abdrazakov, Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, Piotr Beczala, Ludovic Tezier, among others.

Marco has performed in numerous renowned theaters and festivals, including Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Teatro Filarmonico Verona, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Teatro Regio di Parma, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Finnish Opera Helsinki, Shostakovich Hall St. Petersburg, Wiener Musikverein, Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Wigmore Hall London, Chaliapin Festival Kazan, Rossini Opera Festival, Sferisterio Macerata, and among many. He has conducted orchestras including the Verdi Orchestra Milano, Zagreb Philharmonic, major Japanese orchestras, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Bournemouth Symphony, La Scala Young Orchestra, Cherubini Orchestra, and World Youth Orchestra.

Marco’s extensive repertoire, both symphonic and operatic, including works by Wagner, R. Strauss, Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Mahler, Beethoven, Gershwin, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Poulenc, Ravel, Shostakovich, Mozart, Massenet, Gounod, Debussy, Bizet, de Falla, Walton, Respighi, Rota, J. Strauss, Lehár, Giordano, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Cilea, Ponchielli, Saint-Saëns, Offenbach, Liszt, Grieg, Schubert, Schumann, Weber, Menotti, Bellini, and Donizetti.

He has recorded for labels such as Decca, Pentatone, Universal, Philips, and TDK, collaborating with artists like Rebeka, Colombara, Dessì, Sabbatini, La Scola, Armiliato. A DVD of the production of Tosca from Carlo Felice Theatre Genova, featuring Dessì, Armiliato, Sgura, staged by Renzo Giacchieri has been published.

Boemi is recognized as an expert in lieder and art songs, dedicating himself with great passion. He also gives masterclasses to young singers, conductors, and pianists all over the world.