The ENO orchestra is terrific, too, producing detailed yet passionate playing for Oleg Caetani. This is one of the best Bohèmes to be heard in London in recent years.
The Guardian

...he suddenly enters the heart of the symphony with a performance of rare expressive intensity: emotions become almost piercing, and the final polish of the last movement of chilling beauty will remain etched in our memory for a long time.
Fabio Bardelli

Under his direction, the Filarmonica Toscanini delivered a performance marked by a rich yet varied timbral blend, seamlessly navigating the symphony’s dramatic contrasts—between forceful rhythmic surges and heart-wrenching lyrical expansions.
Il Giornale della musica

English

Oleg Caetani is one of the finest conductors of his generation who moves seamlessly between symphonic and operatic repertoire. Born in Switzerland in 1956 Caetani studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris before continuing his studies at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia Rome where he attended conducting class by Franco Ferrara. Following further studies with Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Conservatory, he graduated with Ilya Musin at the St Petersburg Conservatory with honours.

Winner of the RAI Turin Conducting Competition in 1979 and prize-winner at the Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin 1982, Caetani has appeared as guest conductor with orchestras and opera houses all over the world including the Mariinsky Theatre, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Vienna’s Musikverein, Lincoln Center in New York, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Symphony Orchestra,  Dresden Staatskapelle, La Scala, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and the Montreal Symphony orchestras. Caetani has worked with the renowned soloists including Martha Argerich, Sviatoslav Richter, Daniil Trifonov, Vadim Repin, Misha Maiisky, Gautier Capucon, Viktoria Mullova and Emmanuele Pahud.

Oleg Caetani was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra between 2005 and 2009. Prior to his appointment, he worked as Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Weimar, First Kapellmeister of the Oper Frankfurt as well as General Music Director at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Chemnitz Opera.

In 2008, Caetani recorded the complete symphonies of Tchaikovsky with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Caetani also recorded Alexandre Tansman’s symphonies with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Svizzera Italiana released on Chandos which won three Diapason d’Or in 2006 and 2008. His recording of Charles Gounod's three symphonies including a fragment of the 3rd Symphony discovered by Caetani with the Orchestra Svizzera Italiana for cpo was also awarded a Diapason D'or in 2015. Caetani translated the libretto of Shostakovich’s The Nose from Russian into German for his production at Oper Frankfurt, conducted the Italian premiere of the operetta Moscow Cheriomushki and recorded the first Italian complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with Orchestra LaVerdi Milan. Their albums have won several prizes and critical acclaim in the US, France and Japan.

Polish

Oleg Caetani, jeden z najwybitniejszych dyrygentów swojego pokolenia, swobodnie porusza się pomiędzy repertuarem symfonicznym i operowym.

Włoski artysta dyrygował na całym świecie, m.in. w Teatrze Maryjskim w Sankt Petersburgu, Royal Opera House w Londynie, Opera House w San Francisco,  Musikverein w Wiedniu, Lincoln Center w Nowym Jorku, Suntory Hall w Japonii,  Sydney Opera House, Accademia di Santa Cecilia w Rzymie, a pod jego batutą grały takie orkiestry jak Staatskapelle Dresden, Münchner Philharmoniker, Mozarteum Orchester w Salzburgu, mediolańskiej La Scali, Yomiuri Orchestra w Tokio, Sydney Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Współpracował z takimi artystami jak Światosław Richter, Martha Argerich, Daniil Trifonov, Vadim Repin, Misha Maiisky, Gautier Capucon, Viktoria Mullova i Emmanuel Pahud.

W swojej karierze Oleg Caetani związany był z English National Opera, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, Oper Frankfurt., teatrami w Wiesbaden i Chemnitz, gdzie pełnił różnorakie funkcje – od głównego dyrektora poprzez dyrektora artystycznego po dyrygenta-szefa.

Kluczową rolę w jego repertuarze odgrywa muzyka Dymitra Szostakowicza. Na potrzeby swojej produkcji we Frankfurcie w 1991 roku, Caetani przetłumaczył libretto opery Nos z języka rosyjskiego na niemiecki. Dyrygował też włoską premierą operetki Moskwa – Czeriomuszki w 2007 roku oraz pierwszymi wykonaniami w wielu krajach oper, koncertów, baletów i suit tego kompozytora. Z Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi nagrał pierwszy włoski pełen cykl symfonii Szostakowicza, a albumy te zdobyły wiele nagród: 10/10 od Classical Today w USA, Télérama we Francji i Record Geijutsu w Japonii.

Natomiast nagrania Olega Caetaniego symfonii Aleksandra Tansmana, wydane przez Chandos, zdobyły trzy nagrody Diapason d’Or w 2006 i 2008 roku, a album z symfoniami Charles’a Gounoda wydany przez cpo (w tym III Symfonia odkryta przez Caetaniego) otrzymał Diapason d’Or w 2015 roku.

Oleg Caetani website

Season 2025/2026