The Orchestra of the Teatro Regio descends from an orchestra founded at the end of the 19th century by Arturo Toscanini, under whose direction numerous concerts and historic opera productions were staged, including the first Italian performance of Crepuscolo degli dei by Wagner (1895) and the world première of La bohème by Puccini (1896).
The Orchestra has always been extremely versatile in the standard repertoire and many 20th century works. It has performed with renowned soloists and has been conducted by internationally famous conductors such as Roberto Abbado, Ahronovič, Bartoletti, Bychkov, Campanella, Gelmetti, Gergiev, Maag, Pidò, Sado, Steinberg, Tate and Gianandrea Noseda, who has occupied the position of Music Director of the Teatro Regio since 2007. It has also accompanied important ballet companies like the Bolshoi from Moscow and the Marinsky from St. Petersburg.
In the course of its long history, the Orchestra has been invited to various foreign festivals and theatres. With maestro Noseda, it was a guest in Wiesbaden with Rigoletto, carried out a triumphant tour of Japan and China with La traviata and La bohème in the summer of 2010, and performed in Spain, Paris, and again at the festival in Wiesbaden the year after, with a series of concerts dedicated to Verdi. Again in 2011, it christened Solbiati’s new opera, Leggenda, and performed the complete Symphonies by Beethoven. Last April the orchestra played a concert version of Don Carlo at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris.
The Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio can be seen today in videos of some of the most interesting productions of recent seasons: Medea, Edgar, Thaïs, Adriana Lecouvreur, Boris Godunov, Un ballo in maschera and I vespri siciliani. Among recent recordings there is a CD for Deutsche Grammophon dedicated to Verdi with Rolando Villazón and one dedicated to Mozart with Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Quattro pezzi sacri by Verdi and a Cd dedicated to Petrassi for Chandos, all conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.