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ITALO GRASSI set designer
I thank all the people that have contributed to my work during these years. Thank you for the use of photographs and / or video. I am available to indicate the copyright of which I am unaware
ABOUT ME
Italo Grassi was born in Reggio Emilia (Italy). He graduated in scenography with honors from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna at the school of Enrico Manelli. From 1987 to 2000 he worked at the tecnical Direction of the Teatro Comunale of Bologna, holding the position of Director starting from 1993, when his maestro Paolo Bassi retired. During these years he made his debut in opera and ballet as a set designer and costume designer. Since then he has signed more than 100 productions collaborating with many international directors, choreographers and theaters. From 2008 to 2013 he was Tecnical Director for the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In recent years there have been many important shows in the best international theaters. Abundant activity in Japan: After "L'Elisir d'Amore" staged in '99 at Tokyo's Suntory Hall under the direction of Lorenzo Mariani, he has collaborated for years with director Keisuke Suzuki, curate many projects and won important awards. In 2015 he was named for the "Traviata" celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Kobe earthquake directed by Rocco Mortelliti and conduct by Yutaka Sado. Various shows with Mariani, to name one among all "Nozze di Figaro" in Tel Aviv directed by Zubin Metha. He is often present at the Martina Franca Festival in Italy where in 1998, in addition to designing the new Palazzo Ducale stage, in 1998 he won the Abbiati and Samaritani awards with "Il Fortunato Inganno" directed by Guido De Monticelli. He designed many productions directed by Francesco Esposito: "Carmen" at Caracalla Bath Archeological site, which marked his return to the Rome Opera, "Maria Stuarda" revived in many European theaters and "Macbeth". Sensitive to modern music, among others he has staged some compositions by Marco Betta for the operas on Rocco Mortelliti's libretto taken from novels by famous and acclaimed writer Andrea Camilleri re-proposed in many theaters, including the Opera of Rome, the Donizetti of Bergamo, the Chigiana di Siena and the Carlo Felice of Genoa. Long collaboration with Italian pop star Lucio Dalla for concerts and the musical
"Tosca, Amore Disperato" with Giorgio Armani costumes and "The beggar's opera". He has signed ballets by Luciano Cannito and operas by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti. He was invited to Aachen in Germany for many operas directed by Mario Corradi, including "Thannauser" unanimously appreciated by Wagnerian scholars. He debuted at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 2013 with "Don Pasquale" conducted by Riccardo Muti and directed by Andrea De Rosa. In Oviedo in 2016 he designed "Faust" directed by Curro Carreres and in Zagreb in 2017, a special edition of "Don Carlo" directed by Derek Gimpel. Many shows have been produced with Marco Gandini in years of intense collaboration. Most recently "Simon Boccanegra" in Seoul under the baton of Myung-wuhn Chung and at the Salzburg Pfingsten Festival "Betulia Liberata" by Mozart conducted by Riccardo Muti. "The Mozart / Da Ponte trilogy" for Showa University (JP), "Viaggio a Reims" and "Farnace" at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. "Aida" at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and then in the following years, "Tosca" and "Onegin". He returned in 2017 on the same stage with "Rosenkavalier" directed by Pablo Maritano. He worked with aclaimed British director Graham Vick at the Rome Opera House in 2020, designing sets and costumes for "Zaide".
Job History
Biography
