Man with the future of Scottish Opera in his hands

AN ITALIAN conductor who leads a German opera house was named yesterday as the man to shape the musical future of Scottish Opera.

Francesco Corti, 42, was picked after glowing UK reviews for his appearance with Scottish Opera this year, conducting Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

He promised to pick operas for a "broad audience, to combine very well known opera with a little less popular to give people the chance to decide".

Scottish Opera has been without a music director for two years, since Sir Richard Armstrong stepped down. Mr Corti is only the fourth in its 40-year history.

For at least two years, however, he will remain music director of the Magdeburg Opera in the city near Berlin. A native of Italy, he has worked for 21 years in Germany. His current contract runs out in 2009.

Scottish Opera has been recovering from a debt crunch that saw staff cuts, the loss of its full-time chorus and the departure of top management figures.

The opera's general director, Alex Reedijk, said Mr Corti's appointment was "the final step on our journey of returning to form. It has been important to take the time to find the right person.

"In Francesco we found someone of innate musicality, great depth and range of experience in opera, and also someone who is willing and able to be a partner on the journey."

The opera considered more than 50 candidates, he said, and looked more closely at half a dozen. But this March, Mr Corti, in his UK conducting debut, conducted Scottish Opera in Madama Butterfly.

The Scotsman said the orchestra sounded "like a glorious monster awakened from a long sleep", while a chorus of other critics said it was "breathless", "molten", "a triumph".

Moving to Scottish Opera, still a leading company despite its setbacks, is a step up for Mr Corti. Magdeburg is a lower-middle ranking German opera house, which produces four operas, two operettas, and two musicals a year. Mr Corti ruled out any musicals in Scotland.

Next season he is unlikely to conduct Scottish Opera but will make monthly visits. The year after he will lead productions in both countries. It will be a matter of good scheduling, he said.

George Hall, the UK correspondent for Opera News, said of the post of music director: "It's absolutely vital, being at the centre of the company artistically. Not having one is being rudderless artistically."

Scottish Opera remains seriously underfunded but its prospects next season look exciting, he said, including six short operas.

Mr Corti's job includes keeping musical standards high and shaping artistic direction and policy. He will personally conduct about half the company's full-scale operas.

"As an Italian, I like to conduct Italian opera," Mr Corti said. "I have nothing against new music, but it has to get my heart beating quicker for me to get excited about it."

This coming season in Magdeburg, however, he will lead a diverse range of opera: the earlier Baroque opera Telemann's Bertaridus, the classical with Mozart's Idomineo, and more modern opera with Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

"I try to bring out the essential features of the music and to bring it over to the audience without useless make-up," Mr Corti said. "To find exactly what the composer meant, and to give it exactly like this to the audience.

"There's always a temptation to put too much set on stage. I don't want to see that happen."

His debut appearance last year put him instantly at the top of Alex Reedijk's shopping list. Reedijk got his man. Now it's time to get on with the show.

THE ACE FROM MILAN

BORN in Milan, Franceso Corti studied violin and composition before discovering his passion for conducting.

After studying conducting in Vienna, he made his debut with La Traviata in Jesi, in 1986.

Mr Corti has gone on to conduct operatic classics like Le Nozze di Figaro, Nabucco, L'Elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il Trovatore, and Maria Stuarda, in European opera houses from Spain to Switzerland.

For the 2006-7 season, he has been music director of the Magdeburg Opera in Germany, having previously been music director and conductor at two other German opera houses in Düsseldorf-Duisberg and Kaiserslautern. His current contract with Magdeburg runs out in 2009 and he has not ruled out renewing it. He is on a five-year contract with Scottish Opera that began on 1 August.

Mr Corti is represented by the top music agency Allied Artists. In 1999 he made his debut with the Norwegian Opera. He went on to conduct Aida in Gothenburg, and The Magic Flute in Oslo.

Five years later in a significant milestone, he made his US debut conducting Il barbiere di Siviglia for San Francisco Opera. "Conductor Francesco Corti made a fascinating if not always persuasive debut," said the San Francisco Chronicle. Mr Corti is 43, and married with one child.