Chorus of the Teatro Regio

Since the end of the nineteenth century, when Arturo Toscanini was present at the Regio, the Teatro Regio Chorus has been one of the most important opera choruses in Europe. Re-established in 1945 after the Second World War, it became the permanent chorus of the Regio in 1967 and returned to the highest of levels in 1973, when the new Teatro Regio was inaugurated, first with Maestro Francesco Prestia, and then with Adolfo Fanfani. In the 1980s, it fell on Fulvio Fogliazza from Cremona to develop the technical capacities of the Chorus for an entire decade, confronting numerous contemporary pieces too (including the world premier of  Gargantua by Azio Corghi in 1984). From 1994 to 2002 it was led by Maestro Bruno Casoni, reaching the highest international level as demonstrated by the performance of Otello by Verdi under the direction of Claudio Abbado and by the esteem of Semyon Bychkov, who, after conducting the Regio in 2002 in the B-minor Mass by Bach, invited the Chorus to Cologne to record Verdi’s Requiem.
The Chorus, later trained by Maestro Claudio Marino Moretti, is made up of about seventy members and, from 2008 to 2010, has been directed by Roberto Gabbiani  - who came to Torino after having occupied the position of Chorus Master with Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Teatro alla Scala and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. The task undertaken by Maestro Gabbiani on the one hand has testified the capabilities reached, and on the other hand has produced further artistic developments.
Regularly engaged in the productions of the Opera Season, the Chorus also carries out assiduous concert activity, both opera-symphonic and “a cappella”, in Torino and elsewhere. Bearing witness to this are performances of the Requiem by Duruflé under the direction of  maestro Gabbiani (MiTo SettembreMusica 2008),  Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces (for the inauguration of the 2008-09 Concerts of the Regio), Verdi’s Requiem (for the  2004-05 Season, the inauguration of the  2007-08 Concerts and for the 2009 Musik-Sommer Festival of Grafenegg with the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich), Schönberg's Friede auf Erden (the inauguration of  the 2009-10 Concerts) and finally  Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, performed numerous times under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda (at Lingotto for the last programme of the  2008-09 Concerts of the Regio, for Il Regio a Racconigi festival and for MiTo SettembreMusica 2009 at the Palasport Olimpico with more than 10,000 members of the audience).
The production of Aleko conducted by Noseda and performed at the Stresa Festival and MiTo SettembreMusica in 2009 with the BBC Philharmonic provided the opportunity for initiating a profitable collaboration with Chandos Records which recorded the concert, and in July 2010 the Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces with the Orchestra of the Regio.
During the summer 2010 the Chorus has been engaged in the tour "Orient Season" which has taken the forces of the Regio to Japan and China: under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda have been carried-out two choral-symphonic concerts and performances of Traviata and Bohème. That experience has been followed, again under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda, by a european tournée in the name of Verdi (May 2011), followed in January 2012 by the performance of Tosca, played as a concert, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées of Paris. In June 2012 Semyon Bychkov has reconfirmed his trust in the Chorus of the Teatro Regio envolving it in a Brahms concert (Schicksalslied and Vier Preludien und ernste Gesänge) with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.

Starting from November 2010, after having alternated in some productions with Roberto Gabbiani during the previous couple of years, the role of Chours Master has been taken on by Maestro Claudio Fenoglio. 

The Chorus

Chorus Master

Claudio Fenoglio