BIOGRAPHY

Matthias Manasi is rated as one of the most sought-after and most outstanding conductors of his generation, earning himself a distinguished name both on the opera and concert podiums.
With a diverse repertoire range he is recognized for his knowledgeable and insightful interpretations, encompassing the great symphonic and operatic repertoire, contemporary scores, and historically informed performances. He is celebrated for the extraordinary combination of precision and temperament of his conducting and the convincing depth of his musical understanding.

Matthias Manasi is currently the principal guest conductor of “I Solisti di Milano”. In 2017 he became the Music Director of the NC Opera in Buffalo (NY, USA). With his inexhaustible musical energy and his unique artistic charisma, he brought new ideas, inspiration and innovation to the musical life of one of the great cultural cities in the USA. In 2010 he took up the position of Music Director of the International Punta Classic Festival in Montevideo. In 2000 he became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchestra Camerata Italiana in Naples. The Orchestra Camerata Italiana achieved under him outstanding quality with live recordings on Italian television, with numerous works from baroque to some world premieres.

Matthias Manasi took the Kapellmeister career, working at the Staatstheater Stuttgart, the Opernhaus Kiel, the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater and the Staatstheater Kassel, to learn a large repertory in opera and concert. This was followed by conductor engagements at the Opera Constanta, the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, the Staatstheater Braunschweig, the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, the Leipzig Opera, the Opera Wroclawska, the Opera Bremen, the Opera Poznan, the State Opera Rousse, the Eutiner Festspiele, the Belcanto Opera Festival Rossini Bad Wildbad, among others.

In his concerts, Matthias Manasi not only performs the core repertoire (including Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Schumann, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Mahler symphonies), but also rarely heard works and world premieres. Very much in demand as a guest conductor, he works with numerous leading orchestras worldwide and the renowned opera houses in Germany, Austria, Italy, the USA, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Hungary, Romania, Uruguay, Turkiye and Brazil, such as the Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Vantaa Orchestra Helsinki, SWR Symphonieorchester, Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Staatsorchester Kassel, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover, Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, Nurnberger Symphoniker, Symphoniker Hamburg, Wurttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Wiener Mozart Orchester, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, National Radio Orchestra Bucharest, Orchestra Sinfonica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro, Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia Festival Orchestra, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot, Orchestra Sinfonica Metroplitana di Bari, I Solisti di Milano, Sanremo Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Gyor Philharmonic Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Adana State Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Camerata, Sudwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim among others. In 2006 he accepted an invitation from the Bayerischer Rundfunk for the project “Klasse Klassik” with the Munchner Rundfunkorchester.

In April 2023 Matthias Manasi’s new CD with the Slovak Sinfonietta for the label Hänssler Classic was released. In March 2023 he made his debut with the Vratsa Symphony Orchestra. In November 2023 he accepted an invitation from the Slovak Sinfonietta.
In the 2021/22 season Verdi’s Aida was on the program at the Artpark in Buffalo, he was invited to return to the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra and was also invited by the Astana Opera to make his debut with the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra at the Astana Opera in Astana, Kazakhstan. He accepted an invitation from the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory in Almaty to teach a master class in conducting with the orchestra of the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory.

Previous opera highlights include Opernhaus Halle with Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Opera Poznan with Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Boris Godunow, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, Halka, Eugen Onegin, Macbeth and Elena Langer’s Figaro Gets A Divorce.
Over recent seasons he has worked with internationally renowned soloists such as Bernd Weikl, Laura Brioli, Manfred Jung, Veronica Anusca, Stefan Ignat, Eszter Haffner, Hugo Ticciati, Alexander Hulshoff, Filippo Faes, Luz del Alba Rubio, Leonel Morales Alonso, Renee Morloc, Hartmut Schneider, Silvana Dussmann, Aida Ayupova, Leonard Schreiber, Franz Hawlata, Eric Silberger, Julia Rutigliano, Meagan Miller, Lise Lindstrom, Johannes von Duisburg, Eva Tracz, Bishara Haroni, Yaron Kohlberg, Alexander Teliga, Evelyn Herlitzius and Vladimir Chmelo.

Matthias Manasi’s 2020/2021 season included debuts with the orchestra “I Solisti di Milano”, a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for the Associazione Culturale Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, a CD– recording with the Orchestra “I Solisti di Milano” and a CD-recording with the Slovak Sinfonietta. He conducted concerts with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra (USA) with a mostly Beethoven program to celebrate the composer’s 250th anniversary and was in October 2020 in Milan for a CD recording with the Orchestra “I Solisti di Milano”.

His operatic repertoire includes more than 80 works, including numerous 20th and 21st century operas, such as Rodion Shchedrin’s Anna Karenina, Peter Eotvos’ Angels in America, Penderecki’s Paradise Lost, Alban Berg’s Lulu and Wozzeck, Elena Langer’s Figaro Gets a Divorce (2016) and Marc Aurel Floros’ A Bad Man’s Life (1918). A multi-faceted opera and concert conductor and passionate advocate for new music and film music, he conducts film-in-concert events worldwide (Harry Potter Film Concert Series) for CineConcerts (Los Angeles).

Matthias Manasi has also gained international acclaim as a pianist. He has appeared as a pianist in Europe, the United States and South America and has led piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, R. Strauss, and Gershwin from the keyboard.

Matthias Manasi studied piano with Andrzej Ratusinski at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart and with Carmen Piazzini at the State University of Music Karlsruhe. He studied conducting with Thomas Ungar at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart and with Karl Osterreicher in Vienna. During his studies he worked as an assistant to Heinz Holliger, to Manfred Honeck and to Miguel Gómez Martínez. He has studied with mentors including Ferdinand Leitner, Jorma Panula, Kurt Masur, Sylvain Cambreling, Gianluigi Gelmetti and Helmuth Rilling.

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