About
La Fenice Orchestra history is linked to that of the Opera House itself , a production centre of paramount importance, which, during the nineteenth century, presented a number of premières of fundamental operas in the history of melodrama (Semiramide, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Rigoletto, La Traviata, The Fiery Angel, The turn of the screw).
The podium of the Orchestra has seen famous conductors and composers following one another: Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Martucci, Antonio Guarnieri, Richard Strauss, Pietro Mascagni, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Goffredo Petrassi, Alfredo Casella, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Leopold Stokowski, Fritz Reiner, Vittorio Gui, Tullio Serafin, Nino Sanzogno, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, John Barbirolli, Bruno Walter, Thomas Schippers, Dimitri Mitropoulos. In 1938 La Fenice Opera House became an autonomous institution: the Orchestra also saw a redevelopment and revival, thanks also to its active participation in the Festival of Contemporary Music at the Biennale of Art.
In the 1940s and 1950s, under the direction of Toscanini, Scherchen, Bernstein, Celibidache, Konwitschny and Stravinskij it gave life to historic concerts. Over the years, the most famous orchestra conductors followed one another on the Venetian Theatre podium, including: Maderna, Karajan, Böhm, Abbado, Muti, Prêtre, Inbal, Ozawa.
It has performed extensive cycles, including those dedicated to Berg and Mahler, under the direction of Sinopoli, Masur, Tate, Ahronovitch, Kitaenko, Inbal, Temirkanov, Pesko, Prêtre, Santi, Sinopoli, Thielemann, Marriner, Maazel, Chailly, Chung.