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, 
The Austrian newspaper ‘Heute’ wrote after a concert: “Matthias Manasi delivered an outstanding performance in the legendary, heavenly acoustics of the Golden Hall of the Musikverein Vienna”.
The ‘Factanet Rome’ wrote after a concert: “It was a great interpretation that added value to Manasi’s work and that proclaims him as one of the most important conductors of our time”.

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 US. In 2010 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. Also in 2010 he took up the position of Music Director of the International PuntaClassic Festival in Montevideo.

The German conductor began his career at the Staatstheater Stuttgart. This was followed by engagements at the Opernhaus Kiel, the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, the Leipzig Opera, the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, the Staatstheater Kassel, the Staatstheater Braunschweig. the Theater Bremen, the Opera Wroclawska (Carmen, Les pecheurs de perles, Eugen Onegin, Macbeth, Falstaff, Rigoletto, Giovanna d’Arco, La Traviata, Rosenkavalier, Paradise Lost, Parsifal, Fliegender Holländer, Eötvös’ Angels in America, Król Roger, Hagith, Halka, Straszny Dwór, Cavalleria rusticana, I Pagliacci, Samson et Dalilah, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore, Fledermaus, Orefce’s Chopin), the State Opera Rousse, the Opera Constanta, the Eutinger Festspiele, the Belcanto Opera Festival Rossini Bad Wildbad, the Opera Poznan, among others.

In his concerts, Matthias Manasi not only performs the core repertoire (including Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Schumann, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Sibelius and Prokofiev symphonies), but also rarely heard works and several 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, Türkiye and Brazil, such as the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Vantaa Orchestra, SWR Symphonieorchester, Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Staatsorchester Kassel, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover, Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester, Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Symphoniker Hamburg, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Wiener Mozart Orchester, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Orchestra Nationala Radio 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, Györ Philharmonic Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Adana State Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Camerata, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim among others. In 2006 he accepted an invitation from the Bayerischer Rundfunk for the project “Klasse Klassik” with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

In the 2022/23 season he accepted an invitation from the Slovak Sinfonietta to record Mozart symphonies. 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 Nürnberg, 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 Hülshoff, Filippo Faes, Luz del Alba Rubio, Leonel Morales Alonso, Renée 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 Eötvös’ 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 Österreicher 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.