Death of the conductor Nello Santi
Conductor Nello Santi, the former music director of Zurich Opera House and head of the Basel Radio Symphony Orchestra, has died at the age of 89.
Born in 1931 on the Adriatic coast, Santi studied conducting, composition, violin and piano in Padua. He made his debut as a conductor in 1951 at the Teatro Verdi in Padua with Verdi's "Rigoletto". In 1958, he was appointed First Kapellmeister at the Zurich Opera House. From 1986 to 1994, he conducted the Basel Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Santi, who had a photographic memory, primarily cultivated the Italian opera repertoire and was regarded as one of the most important Verdi conductors of our time. He rejected director's theater. Stylistically, Santi was linked to the Italian tradition of his role models Arturo Toscanini, Antonino Votto, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli and Tullio Serafin.
