Leo Muscato
Leo Muscato, a director and playwright born in Martina Franca, studied directing at the “Paolo Grassi” Drama School in Milan. His career, spanning both opera and theater, boasts over eighty productions.
He has collaborated with some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including Teatro alla Scala in Milan, San Francisco Opera, Theater Bonn, Greek National Opera, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Malmö Opera, ABAO in Bilbao, Teatro La Fenice in Venice,Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Regio di Parma, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, and Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona. He has also directed productions for the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, and the Macerata Opera Festival.
In theater, his productions have been staged by the National Theaters of Turin, Genoa, Tuscany, and Veneto, as well as by the Regional Theaters of Bolzano, Parma, Marche, and Prato. Other productions have been presented by INDA at the Greek Theatre of Syracuse, the Verona Shakespeare Festival, Vereinigte Bühnen Bozen, and numerous private companies.
Throughout his career, he has received significant awards, including:
- 2007:Critics’ Award for Best Theater Director, awarded by the National Association of Theater Critics.
- 2012:Abbiati Award for Best Opera Director, conferred by the National Association of Music Critics.
- 2016: International Opera Awards – Opera Star (Oscar della Lirica) for Best Director, presented by the Verona Foundation for the Arena.
- 2023: IvoChiesa International Award for Best Opera Director.
From 2005to 2009, he served as Artistic Director of the Leart Teatro Company, and from2019 to 2022, he held the same position for Luigi De Filippo’s Company.
In the audiovisual field, he directed two documentaries:
- Geometrie anarchiche, dedicated to the Piceno territory.
- L’Utopia della Valle, celebrating 50 years of the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca.
In 2020, hemade his cinematic debut with the film La rivincita, produced by Altre Storie & Rai Cinema.
Alongside his directing work, he is deeply committed to theater pedagogy, conducting workshops for actors, directors, playwrights, and opera singers. His approach emphasizes text analysis and the exploration of the expressive possibilities of the four main interpretative registers: Tragic, Dramatic, Comedy, and Humor.
He has taught at the Holden School in Turin, DAMS in Turin, IUAV in Venice, the Paolo Grassi Drama School in Milan, the Acting School of the Teatro Stabile delle Marche, the Verona Opera Academy, the Verdian Academy in Parma, and the Opera School of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna. Additionally, he has collaborated with numerous theaters, private companies, and cultural associations.
His work has been the subject of academic research in theses presented at the Universities of Cremona, Urbino, Chieti, Macerata, and Roma Tre.
On September 6, 2024, he opened the season at San Francisco Opera with Un ballo in maschera by Giuseppe Verdi, and on December 7, 2024, he inaugurated the season at Teatro alla Scala with La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi.
