Italian conductor Antonino Fogliani passed away on August 29 following a long illness. He was 50.
Fogliani was an acclaimed interpreter of Italian bel canto and Rossini opera. Born in Messina, he rose to international prominence in 2001 when he debuted at the Rossini Opera Festival, leading Il viaggio a Reims. In 2012 he became music director of the Rossini in Wildbad Festival. Beginning in 2017, he served as principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. He appeared regularly in many of Europe’s top opera houses, including La Scala, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Semperoper Dresden.
Here is an excerpt from a statement released by the Bavarian State Opera:
The memory of Antonino Fogliani will remain especially connected to one person whose joy in music was contagious. He could pass on this joy to the orchestra, the singers, and ultimately to the audience. The same warmth, openness, and generosity that characterized his personality were also heard in his conducting.
Here, Fogliani leads the Virtuosi Brunenses (also known as the Czech Opera Orchestra) in a joyful reading of Rossini’s Overture to the one-act opera, L’inganno felice (“The Fortunate Deception”). This performance was recorded live at the 2015 “Rossini in Wildbad” Festival.
In this streamed performance, Antonino Fogliani leads the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna in Rossini’s Al Conventello Overture, followed by Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 in G Major: