Roberto Paternostro
Of Venetian descent, Viennese-born conductor Roberto Paternostro, was a student of Hans Swarowsky, György Ligeti, Christoph von Dohnányi, and later assisted the late Herbert von Karajan in Berlin. Mr Paternostro’s career break came in 1985, when he conducted the “Opera for Africa” gala at the Arena di Verona and was subsequently invited to conduct in Barcelona, Madrid, Venice, Genoa, Verona, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Budapest, Vienna, Munich and Dresden.
Since 1997, Roberto Paternostro has been General Music Director of the Staatstheaters Kassel, and has conducted a successful production of the complete Ring des Nibelungen. An important component of his career has been an active television presence, and in October 1999 he made his Weimar debut conducting a gala concert entitled “Echo of the Stars”. He also conducted the Bundesjugendorchester for four TV stations with young classical stars. In November 2000 and August 2001 the project was continued, and the most recent taping of the program “Stars of Tomorrow” was broadcast in March 2008.
During 1999/2000 he conducted the Munich Philharmonic for the New Year’s Concert and Madame Butterfly at Den Norske Opera, Der Rosenkavalier at Staatstheater Kassel, and at the Bruckner Festival in Linz where he conducted a concert version of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. Other highlights included productions of Carmen and Die Fledermaus at the Wiener VolkSoper, his conducting début with the MDR Symphony Orchestra at the Shangai Festival, and his Saarländischen Rundfunksinfonieorchester début. Mr Paternostro made other notable debuts with the RadiOphilHarmonie des NDR Hannover, the Bamberg Symphony, RSO Cologne and RSO Stuttgart, as well as the with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. In 2001, Mr Paternostro participated in an Open Air Gala at the Gendarmenmarkt with the Berliner SinfonieOrchester, a European tour with the Bundesjugend-orchester, and conducted Mahler’s Ninth Symphony with the Jeunesses Musicales Weltorchester as part of the Young Euro Classics Festivals with a final concert in Berlin.
In 2002, Roberto Paternostro made his debut with the Wienna Symphony Orchestra, and returned to conduct at the Open Air Gala in Berlin conducting a Wagner program with the Robert Schumann Philharmonie. He also conducted concert performances of Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung at the Wagner Festival in Neuschwanstein, conducted subscription concerts for the Bruckner-Orchester and gave multiple premières at the Staatstheater Kassel, including Madame Butterfly and Peter Eötvös’ Drei Schwestern directed by Oscar winner István Szabó. In December he made his Israeli début with three concerts in Tel Aviv.
Highlights of 2003 included the premiere of Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser in Kassel, the TV show Klassisch for ZDF with the BSO and soloists including Hilary Hahn, the Mahler-Festspiele in Toblach with the Fourth Symphony (also recorded for CD release) and Rigoletto and Die Fledermaus in Kassel. In March 2004, Roberto Paternostro conducted the première of Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges in Kassel to great critical acclaim.
Engagements for the 2004/2005 season included a subscription series at the Konzerthaus Berlin with the BSO in May 2004, where he conducted the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and Sibelius Symphony No. 2. In 2005 he conducted the Gustav-Mahler-Festival in Kassel, of which he is also artistic director. In 2003 and 2006 Paternostro conducted at the Mahlerfestival Toblach. In 2005 he conducted a new production of Elektra in Kassel, Concerts in Tel Aviv, Budapest, Berlin and elsewhere. 2006 saw his début at the Israel Opera Tel Aviv with Il trovatore, Simone Boccanegra and Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2007 he conducted Mahler’s Second Symphony for the “ Mahlertage Kassel”, Tristan un Isolde and La Damnation de Faust, as well as concerts in Athens,Toronto and Munich.
