The Bergamo-born conductor, a noted specialist in bel canto repertoire, will return to Teatro Donizetti after more than twenty years, stepping in for his colleague Antonino Fogliani, who passed away suddenly at the end of August

Artistic and Musical Director Riccardo Frizza has thanked Carminati for accepting the assignment just weeks before rehearsals were due to begin

Following the sudden passing of conductor Antonino Fogliani at the end of August, Riccardo Frizza, Artistic and Music Director of Donizetti Opera, has entrusted Fabrizio Maria Carminati with the Orchestra Donizetti Opera for L’esule di Roma, the opening production of the 2026 Festival.

“Antonino Fogliani’s passing was a devastating loss, first and foremost on a personal level,” says Riccardo Frizza. “Finding someone who could take his place was emotionally challenging as well as professionally difficult. In the end, choosing Fabrizio Maria Carminati – whom I sincerely thank for accepting the invitation just a few weeks before rehearsals begin – felt like the most natural decision, not least because of the bond he shared with Antonino, to whom the opening performance will be dedicated.
“Carminati is a highly experienced bel canto conductor with an exceptional knowledge of the repertoire of the 1830s, which he has had the opportunity to explore even further through his work as Artistic Director of the Bellini Festival in Catania. He is also Bergamasco through and through, and therefore has a particularly deep connection with Donizetti and with the city’s theatre. I am delighted to welcome him back to its podium after more than twenty years.”

Fabrizio Maria Carminati studied piano with Carlo Pestalozza and composition with Davide Anzaghi and Vittorio Fellegara. He made his conducting debut in 1992 with La bohème at the Teatro Regio in Turin. Since 2018, he has been Principal Guest Conductor at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, where he has conducted four season-opening productions as well as operas including Maria Stuarda, Aida and Macbeth.
Since January 2020, he has served as Artistic Director of the Ente Regionale Teatro Massimo Vincenzo Bellini in Catania, a position renewed through 2027. During his tenure, he has played a key role in revitalising the Sicilian institution, which today stands among Italy’s most dynamic operatic and musical organisations.

Carminati has conducted more than 61 operas at leading theatres in Italy and abroad, including the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Regio in Turin – where he conducted L’elisir d’amore in January 2025 – Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Arena di Verona and Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari. His international engagements have taken him to venues including the Opéra de Marseille, the Royal Opera House Muscat, and theatres in Tokyo and Osaka. He previously served as Artistic Director of the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo from 2000 to 2004 and of the Fondazione Arena di Verona from 2004 to 2007. A distinguished interpreter of the Italian bel canto tradition and Donizetti’s repertoire in particular, he has recorded for labels including BMG Ricordi, Dynamic and Bongiovanni.

“I am deeply moved to be returning to Bergamo, and I would like to thank Artistic Director Riccardo Frizza for inviting me to Donizetti Opera,” says Fabrizio Maria Carminati. “Throughout the years in which my artistic career has taken me away from my city, Bergamo has always remained home to me.
“Donizetti holds a special place in my heart, and my repertoire is clear evidence of that. Bel canto has always been central to my work, and Donizetti and Bellini are among the composers I feel closest to, alongside the other great Italian masters, from Verdi to Puccini, whose music I have the privilege of conducting around the world.
“Sadly, this return – one I have long looked forward to – comes in the wake of a tragedy. I have so many memories of Antonino Fogliani, many of them connected with the Teatro Donizetti itself. When I was Artistic Director here in the early 2000s, I invited him to conduct Ugo, conte di Parigi. We later toured Japan together with the Teatro Donizetti’s artistic forces, and I still remember our long late-night conversations in the hotel lobby.
“When I step onto the podium, I will carry with me all the friendship and admiration I felt for Antonino. Above all, I hope to transform the sadness of seeing this circle close into a profound tribute of affection to him.”

The Fondazione Teatro Donizetti announces with profound sorrow the passing of Maestro Antonino Fogliani, the conductor who was due to lead the Donizetti Opera Orchestra in L’esule di Roma, the opening production of the 2026 edition of the Donizetti Opera Festival.

“Antonino was, before anything else, a colleague and a friend, as well as an outstanding conductor,” says Artistic and Music Director Riccardo Frizza. “Our friendship went back many years, to the time we spent studying at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena under Gianluigi Gelmetti. Those formative years, during which we shared so much, profoundly shaped the way we both came to understand this profession. I will remember Antonino for his rare musical sensitivity, for the rigour and generosity with which he always placed himself at the service of every score he conducted, and for the enthusiasm with which he had accepted the invitation to make his Donizetti Opera debut this year. He will be deeply missed, both as an artist and as a person, and our thoughts are now with his wife Angelica and his son Lorenzo.”

Born in Messina in 1976, Antonino Fogliani graduated in Conducting from the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatoire in Milan before continuing his studies at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with Gianluigi Gelmetti. Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein since 2017 and Music Director of the Rossini in Wildbad Festival since 2012, he quickly established himself on the international stage as one of the most highly regarded musicians of his generation. Following his acclaimed debut at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 2001 with Il viaggio a Reims, he appeared at many of the world’s leading opera houses and with distinguished orchestras, including the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen.

He held a degree in Music Studies from the University of Bologna and graduated in Piano from the Conservatoire of Bologna and in Conducting from the Conservatoire of Milan. He furthered his studies at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Franco Donatoni and Ennio Morricone. His encounter with Gianluigi Gelmetti in 1997 proved to be a decisive turning point in his artistic career.

He was Professor of Conducting at the “Alessandro Scarlatti” Conservatoire in Palermo. In 2018, President Sergio Mattarella awarded him the honour of Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.