Santi, Nello

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Santi, Nello

Santi, Nello , Italian conductor; b. Adria, Sept. 22, 1931. He studied at the Padua Liceo Musicale and with Coltro and Pedrollo. In 1951 he made his debut conducting Rigoletto in Padua, and then conducted in various Italian opera houses. From 1958 he was a regular conductor at the Zürich Opera. In 1960 he made his first appearance at London’s Covent Garden conducting La Traviata. That same year he made his debuts at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. on Jan. 25, 1962, conducting Un ballo in maschera. He remained on its roster until 1965, and then conducted there regularly from 1976. As a guest conductor, he led operatic performances in Milan, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Florence, Naples, Geneva, and other European music centers. He also appeared as a guest conductor with many European orchs. In 1986 he became chief conductor of the Basel Radio Sym. Orch. In 1988 he conducted Aida in the first arena production in London at Earl’s Court. He has won particular distinction for his performances of the Italian operatic repertoire.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire