Roberto Balconi - Countertenor & Conductor

He studied voice in his native city, Milan, with Biancamaria Casoni and in England with Evelyn Tubb. He then obtained a Laurea (cum laude) in Opera at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali ‘Franco Vittadini’, Pavia, with a thesis on the historical figure of the falsettist.

While his repertory ranges from the Middle Ages to contemporary music, he has focused particularly on the style and technique of Baroque music, establishing himself internationally as one of its most accomplished performers.

He has worked with groups such as the English Baroque Soloists, Il Giardino Armonico, Il Complesso Barocco, The Consort of Musicke, Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Ensemble Pian & Forte, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Magnificat (San Francisco), Ensemble Aurora, Il Concerto Italiano, La cappella della Pietà dei Turchini, Europa Galante, and the Capella Savaria; he has appeared in the most important international festivals of Early Music and opera houses, such as the Holland Festival Oude Muziek, Festival van Vlaanderen, York Early Music Festival, Festival International de Musique Baroque Beaune, Brugge Festival, Opéra de Lyon, Musica e Poesia a San Maurizio Milano, Berliner Tage für Alte Musik, London Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, Teatro Tivoli di Copenhagen, and the Berkeley Festival.

He made his opera debut in 1993 at La Fenice in Venice in Tommasso Traetta's "Buovo D’Antona," conducted by Alan Curtis and directed by Pierluigi Pizzi. His subsequent operatic career includes Handel's "Semele" in a production at Vlamse Opera, conducted by Marc Minkowski and directed by Robert Carsen; Handel's "Siroe" for the Teatro La Fenice and the BAM Theatre di New York, conducted by Andrea Marcon and directed by Jorge Lavelli; Monteverdi's trilogy under the direction of Ottavio Dantone; and "L'Incoronazione di Poppea" with Rinaldo Alessandrini and Graham Vick at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and with Alessandro Demarchi at the Hamburger Staatsoper; Vivaldi's "La Fida Ninfa" with Alan Curtis and Pier’Alli at the Teatro Filarmonico of Verona.

He has moreover appeared in concerts under the direction of world-renowned Baroque specialists, including Ivan Fischer, Fabio Biondi, Corrado Rovaris, Antonio Florio, Giovanni Antonini, Christoph Coin, Claudio Astronio, Gustav Leonhardt, and Robert King.

He participated in the world premiere of Luis De Pablo's "Passio," with the Choir and Orchestra of RAI, Turin, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda; and the Lugano-based Project Martha Argerich, in the world premiere of "Il vecchio nel granturco" by Jorge Bosso. He has sung in Monteverdi's "Vespro della Beata Vergine" at the Lincoln Center in New York with I Barrocchisti under the direction of Diego Fasolis. He has recently sung in the first modern performance of the opera Artemisia by Cavalli with La Venexiana, at Hannover Herrenhausen Festival and at the Opera Comique of Montpellier.

In recent years, after studying with Pierangelo Gelmini, he has also been active as a conductor, particularly with the instrumental and vocal ensemble "Fantazyas," which he founded in 2000 together with instrumentalists and singers specializing in Baroque music. With Fantazyas, he has appeared both as a conductor and a soloist, for example at the Felicia Blumenthal Festival in Tel Aviv, with a program of Italian music of the 18th century; at the festival Musica e Poesia at San Maurizio, Milan, with a program entitled Frau Musika, devoted to German sacred music from Luther to Bach; at the Incontri Musicali Farnesiani di Parma, with a program contrasting madrigal settings of the same poetic texts by Monteverdi and D’India.
Among the works he has conducted are the operas "Alceste" and "Ariodante", the oratorio "La Resurrezione," the Concerti Grossi op. 6 and the Chandos Anthems by Handel; the choral motets and several cantatas by Bach; the "Stabat Mater" settings by Domenico Scarlatti, Pergolesi and Vivaldi; "The Seven Last Words of Christ" by Haydn; "Dido and Aeneas," Incidental Music, and the Funeral Music for Queen Mary by Henry Purcell; "La Serva Padrona" by Pergolesi; cantatas by Buxtehude, symphonies by Sammartini, and sacred music by Mozart.

With Fantazyas, he is currently exploring the Italian madrigal repertory; he has performed programs dedicated to Monteverdi (Festival La Via Lattea, Lugano, Switzerland) and Sigismondo D’India (Incontri Musicali Farnesiani, Parma).
He is a regular guest conductor at the Baroque orchestra Accademia dell'Arcadia in Poznan, Poland (Handel Festival 2009, guest conductor & artistic director Handel Festival 2010; Teatr Wielki, Poznan), with wich he has made the first recording of Duni's Les deux chasseurs et la laitiere and Orlowsky's Simphony in F major; he was also given a Poznan Cultural Ambassador title. He has recently conducted also the Orchestra del Lario, for a program of Baroque and Classical music; and the instrumental and vocal ensemble Cantimbanco, for a performance of music by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli.

Since 2004, he has taught Baroque singing at Milano Civica Scuola di Musica - Fondazione Milano ®, supplementing his vocal teaching with orchestral instruction and conducting in the master classes of the Baroque Orchestra. Since 2007 he has taught opera at the Civica Scuola Musicale in Lecco. Since academic year 2009/2010, he is also a professor at Conservatorio "Guido Cantelli", Novara. As an expert of Baroque repertory and performance practice, he has taught in numerous masterclasses and special seminars at conservatories, music academies, and universities.
He has recorded for DG Archiv, Virgin Classics, Harmonia Mundi France, Opus 111, Nuova Era, Arcana, Glossa, Bongiovanni, Symphonia, Stradivarius, Arts, Tactus, Naxos, and many European radio and tv stations.

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