The 27 years of Bruno Campanella at the Teatro Regio

Bruno Campanella is no longer with us, and with him goes a hugely important piece of the Teatro Regio’s history.

Two hundred and thirty-seven performances across 26 opera productions, from 22 March 1984 to 3 July 2011: a story spanning 27 years, crowned by his appointment as Principal Conductor of the Teatro Regio from 1992 to 1995, a partnership so fruitful that his relationship with the theatre later continued in the role of Principal Guest Conductor. His skill in making the orchestra’s sound in the pit dynamic and flexible, while giving full prominence to the voices on stage, will remain a valuable lesson not only for the bel canto repertoire but for any style of musical theatre, as his career demonstrated.

Rossini and Donizetti were understandably the composers he engaged with most at the Regio, with standout productions such as Don Pasquale in 1988 (directed by Ugo Gregoretti), L’italiana in Algeri in 1992 (directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi), Lucia di Lammermoor the following year (directed by Pier’Alli), La Cenerentola directed by Roberto De Simone, and La Fille du régiment directed by Luca Ronconi, both from 1994.

Unforgettable years, which saw him working alongside leading artists (or those who would go on to have splendid careers); among the most frequent were Luciana Serra, Rockwell Blake, Enzo Dara, Alessandro Corbelli, Lucia Valentina Terrani, Daniela Dessì, Roberto Servile, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Gregory Kunde, Pietro Spagnoli, Mariella Devia, Michele Pertusi, Roberto de Candia, Giuseppe Sabbatini, and Patrizia Ciofi.

This history also made room for more rarely performed titles, such as Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi in 1993, Giuseppe Verdi’s Jérusalem, serious Donizetti with Anna Bolena in 2005 and Lucrezia Borgia in 2008, as well as much-applauded “forays” into twentieth-century repertoire with the historic The Turn of the Screw by Britten in 1994 (directed by Luca Ronconi), The Rake’s Progress by Stravinsky in 1999 (directed by John Cox, sets by David Hockney), and then Il cappello di paglia di Firenze by Rota in 2004 (directed by Pizzi). He was also on the podium for the first Italian performance of Cendrillon by Massenet in 1996 (directed by Robert Carsen, with Cecilia Gasdia in the title role).

Among his final ventures at the Regio, we remember a splendid Ernani with Daniela Dessì and Fabio Armiliato, released on disc in 2010, L’italiana in Algeri in the vividly colourful Borrelli-Boasso-Calì production, and finally Lucia di Lammermoor, with Elena Mosuc and Francesco Meli starring in Graham Vick’s timeless production.

Born in Bari in 1943, he passed away on 4 August in Florence at the age of 83.