Biography

Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola is Music Director at the Lyric Opera of Chicago — where he recently announced his extension to 2031 — and Principal Guest Conductor at Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Plans for his 2024/25 season with Lyric Opera include productions of Rigoletto and Fidelio, Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners, and Puccini concerts with star soprano, Sondra Radvanovksy. Enrique will also return to the Deutsche Oper for Macbeth and Werther, New National Theatre Tokyo with Madama Butterfly, as well making his debut at the Aspen and Grand Teton Festivals.

As Resident Conductor of the Bregenz Festival until 2024, recent plans have included notable productions of La bohème and Freischütz “Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the energetic, spirited and yet so carefully respectful baton of Enrique Mazzola – is simply a delight – pure German Romanticism.“ (Klassik Begeistert) as well as Roberto Devereux at the Dutch National Opera, having previously conducted Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda at the same house in recent seasons.

As Resident Conductor of the Bregenz Festival until 2024, recent plans have included notable productions of La bohème and Freischütz “Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the energetic, spirited and yet so carefully respectful baton of Enrique Mazzola – is simply a delight – pure German Romanticism.“ (Klassik Begeistert) as well as Roberto Devereux at the Dutch National Opera, having previously conducted Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda at the same house in recent seasons.

Other recent highlights include symphonic projects with Vienna Symphoniker, London Philharmonic, and Bern Philhamonic (Helene Grimaud). Notable debuts include with Salzburg Festspiele (Orphée aux Enfers), Wiener Staatsoper (Don Pasquale), Dutch National Opera (Anna Bolena) and the Donizetti “Queens” in concert, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Oslo Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, Utah Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic, Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Return engagements have included Metropolitan Opera (La fille du régiment), Opernhaus Zürich (Turco in Italia, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Il barbiere di Siviglia, I puritani), Bregenzer Festspiele (Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, and Mosè in Egitto), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Sao Paulo State Symphony, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Luisa Miller and Il barbiere di Siviglia).

Opera has also included the Rossini Opera Festival (La gazzetta), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Tancredi, Don Pasquale, La scala di seta, L’occasione fa il ladro, and Il signor Bruschino), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Le prophète, Dinorah in concert, Il barbiere di Siviglia,Dietsch’s Le Vaisseau fantome, Falstaff, Vasco da Gama, and Les contes d’Hoffmann), and at the Bolshoi Theatre (La sonnambula). Glyndebourne Festival Opera has included Don Pasquale, Poliuto, L’elisir d’amore,and Il barbiere di Siviglia. Opera credits also include Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (L’italiana in Algeri), New National Theatre Tokyo (Don Giovanni), Opera National du Rhin (Macbeth and La Cenerentola), and Teatro alla Scala (Don Pasquale). He has regularly devoted time to working with young musicians, among them Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris, Opéra Studio de l’Opéra national du Rhin, Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Ryan Opera Center, and Codarts of Rotterdam and has given conducting masterclasses for the students of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon.

European festivals have included Aix-en-Provence (Falstaff), Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, Enescu Festival and Haydn Festival with ONDIF, Bregenzer Festspiele, Salzburg Festspiele, BBC Proms in 2016 with the Glyndebourne new production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, München Opernfestspiele, Rossini Opera Festival, Biennale of Venice, Wexford Opera Festival, Festival de Granada, and Les Chorégies d’Orange. Between 1999 and 2003 he was the Artistic and Music Director of the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano where he conducted many symphonic concerts and new operatic productions with the Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra.

Renowned as an expert interpreter and champion of bel canto opera, Mazzola is a specialist in French repertoire and early Verdi. He was Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre National d’Île de France from 2012–19 and in 2018 was named a Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his significant contribution to musical life in France.

An accomplished interpreter of contemporary music, Mazzola commissioned and premiered several works with ONDIF and led many other premieres with major European orchestras. Opera credits also include the world premiere of Colla’s Il processo (La Scala), Il re nudo by Luca Lombardi (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma), Medusa by Arnaldo de Felice (Bayerische Staatsoper), and Isabella by Azio Corghi (Rossini Opera Festival).

September 2024

For the most up-to-date biography, please contact Laura Baker.
This biography should not be edited without permission.