Italian conductor Giuseppe Mengoli is the 1st prize winner of The Mahler Competition 2023. Jakub Hruša, chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony and head of the jury commented:
“A totally convincing performance throughout the rounds with a perfect combination of knowledge of the score and an extraordinarily natural feeling of music...He possesses a strong ability to inspire the musicians and the audience alike through his musical language which speaks directly to everyone’s hearts.”
The week following his success in Bamberg he was asked to jump-in to conduct a program including Strauss’ Heldenleben with the Wiener Symphoniker at the Bregenzer Festspiele.
In the 23/24 season Giuseppe will conduct the Bamberg Symphony in two sets of family concerts and a recording for the Bayerische Rundfunk. His debuts include conducting the Orchestra RAI and the Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona and will work with the SWR Symphony Orchestra.
Until recently Giuseppe held the position of Assistant Conductor to Lorenzo Viotti at the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. In May 2023 he joined the artistic team for the Orchestre National de France’s new production of La Bohème at the Theatre de Champs-Elysees leading all stage rehearsals. This summer he assisted at the Utopia Orchestra’s productions at the Salzburg Festival.
In May 2022 Mengoli worked alongside Lorenzo Viotti in Lisbon preparing as well as conducting the Gulbenkian orchestra with Schönberg’s Pelleas et Melisande. In October the same year he has made his debut with the Nederland Kamer Orchester and soloist Leonard Elschenbroich conducting the world premiere of Willem Jeths’ Cello Concerto no. 2 at the Cello Biennale ‘22 in Amsterdam.
Mengoli’s conducting career began as a result of his work as concertmaster in youth and professional orchestras from the age of 19. Since then, he has worked with Oleg Caetani, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph König and John Axelrod with orchestras like the Real Orquestra Sinfonica de Sevilla, Oslo Opera House, LaVerdi Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Operahouse Covent Garden. In 2018 Giuseppe made his conducting debut with the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester in Bad Schandau. During this time, he also served as the concertmaster of the GMJO, the Filharmonica Toscanini as well as a tutti violinist in orchestras like the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin.
Winner of several international competitions as a violinist, he completed his violin studies with the distinction "cum Laude" and special mention. Alongside the violin Giuseppe also studied percussion, piano, trumpet as well as Jazz and is a composer and arranger. After finishing his Bachelor’s degree in Orchestra Conducting, he is currently in his consecutive Master degree at the HfM “Franz Liszt” Weimar with Prof. Nicolás Pasquet and Ekhart Wycik, where he is regularly working with orchestras such as Staatskapelle Weimar, Jenaer Philharmonie, and the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha.
September 2023
