What does a conductor do? How do they manage their life? What does it mean to conduct an orchestra?
If you’re curious to learn more about the magical profession of the conductor, don’t miss the next event in the Eatalian Talks series, during which Sestro Quatrini, guest conductor at the Sydney Opera House currently performing performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” will share details and curiosities about his profession.
In English and Italian.
Free admission. Refreshments and soft drinks are offered to all participants.
BIO
Sesto Quatrini, born in Rome in 1984, is a distinguished conductor whose repertoire encompasses works from the Classical period through to 20th-century and contemporary compositions.
He served as assistant to Fabio Luisi at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Festival della Valle d’Itria, where he made his Italian operatic debut in 2017 conducting Verdi’s Un giorno di regno.
From 2018 to 2023, Quatrini was Artistic Director of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Vilnius. During his tenure he conducted acclaimed productions of I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Candide, Madama Butterfly, Anna Bolena, Don Carlo, La Juïve, Der Rosenkavalier, Rigoletto, Verdi’s Requiem, Goyescas, Aida and Les Contes d’Hoffmann, in addition to numerous opera galas and symphonic concerts.
A committed advocate for the revival of neglected repertoire, Quatrini has devoted particular attention to rediscovering rarely performed works, contributing to their renewed appreciation both on stage and in the recording studio. His projects include Verdi’s Un giorno di regno, Vaccaj’s Giulietta e Romeo (Dynamic), Offenbach’s Coscoletto and Manfroce’s Ecuba, all presented at the Festival della Valle d’Itria; Mercadante’s Francesca da Rimini for the Japan Opera Foundation in Tokyo; and Donizetti’s Chiara e Serafina (Dynamic) at the Donizetti Opera Festival.
Alongside concert engagements at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Rossini Opera Festival, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, the Haydn Foundation of Bolzano and the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, his recent operatic engagements include L’elisir d’amore at the Royal Opera House and Teatro Regio di Parma, Don Pasquale at Opernhaus Zürich and ABAO Bilbao Opera, Die Zauberflöte at Teatro Regio di Torino, Norma at La Monnaie and in Parma, Modena and Piacenza, Il turco in Italia at Glyndebourne and Teatro Carlo Felice, La Traviata at the Royal Danish Opera, Le nozze di Figaro at ROH Muscat, Anna Bolena at Teatro Carlo Felice, Rigoletto at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Madama Butterfly at Opéra de Lyon and Teatro La Fenice, Verdi’s Otello and Rossini’s Otello at Oper Frankfurt, Carmen at Staatsoper Hamburg, Nabucco at Oper Köln, Roméo et Juliette at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, L’italiana in Algeri at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Tancredi at the Festival della Valle d’Itria.
In the 2025–26 season, he conducts Massenet’s Manon at Opernhaus Zürich, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at Opéra de Lyon, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Macbeth and a symphonic programme at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Puccini’s Turandot at Ópera de Las Palmas, Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House, Verdi’s Requiem at the Église Saint-Eustache in Paris, and makes his symphonic debuts with the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest, the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra and the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.
Future engagements include Carmen at the Royal Opera House, a new production of Giordano’s Siberia in Piacenza and Modena, La Traviata at Staatsoper Hamburg, Die Zauberflöte at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Nabucco at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Madama Butterfly at the Greek National Opera in Athens, together with two further appearances with the Belgrade Philharmonic and a concert tour with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini.