Gianluca Capuano

Born in Milan in 1968, Gianluca Capuano studied organ, composition, and conducting at the conservatory in his hometown and also earned a degree in philosophy from the city’s university. He soon specialized in early music and historically informed performance practice, appearing throughout Europe, the United States, Russia, and Japan as a conductor, organist, and continuo player. In 2006, Capuano founded the ensemble Il canto di Orfeo, with which he has appeared at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan: he made his debut there in Raskatov’s A Dog’s Heart in 2013 and in 2015 appeared in a production of Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten. He has collaborated with Concerto Köln on Leonardo Vinci’s Artaserse. At the Edinburgh Festival, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, he conducted Bellini’s Norma, with Cecilia Bartoli in the title role. This collaboration continued at the Salzburg Festival, where since 2017 he has conducted Les Musiciens du Prince — Monaco in works by Handel, Rossini, Mozart, Gluck, and Haydn, as well as in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims for the 2026 Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Since 2019, Capuano has served as Chief Conductor of this ensemble. He is a regular guest at Zurich Opera, where he has conducted Haydn’s Orlando paladino, Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, and Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola. He has led Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at the Vienna Staatsoper and Rossini’s Il turco in Italia and Handel’s Semele at the Bavarian Staatsoper. Other engagements include with the Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg Staatsoper, Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. In the 2026-27 season, Capuano will conduct Wagner’s Siegfried and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at the Opéra de Monaco, as well as Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Vienna. In 2022, he received the Premio Abbiati for Best Conductor from Italy’s music critics.

Lucerne Festival debut on 16 September 2018 conducting the Musiciens du Prince — Monaco in Rossini’s La cenerentola; last appearance here was on 21 August 2025, when he led the same orchestra in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Cecilia Bartoli.

June 2026