ANTONINO VOTTO
(Piacenza, 30th October 1896 – Milan, 9th September 1985)

Before becoming a successful conductor, Votto initially appears on scene as a virtuous pianist in 1919 in Trieste.

For long he is Arturo Toscanini’s assistant at Teatro alla Scala where he opened the lyrical season seven times.

Starting from 1928 he is one of the most precise interpreters of the Italian opera.

Moreover, for about thirty years from 1941, he is chair of the conduction class at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, where he teaches to other important interpreters of contemporary music. One of these is Riccardo Muti.

On the occasion of his death, Riccardo Muti remembers him with these words:

“With rare competence and without boldness, he opened the secrets of conduction to hundreds of young musicians, firmly believing in the values of the Italian school, plunging its roots – through Toscanini – into an absolutely moral approach to music. I am proud that I was his student and, as a musician, I owe him a lot”.