Salvatore Di Vittorio

Salvatore Di Vittorio (born 22 October 1967 in Palermo) is an Italian composer and conductor. He is Music Director and Conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He has been recognized as a "lyrical musical spirit, respectful of the ancient Italian tradition…an emerging leading interpreter of the music of Ottorino Respighi" (Luigi Verdi, Philharmonic Academy of Bologna).

Photo of Salvatore Di Vittorio

Biography

He began studies with his father Giuseppe in Italy, then studied composition with the late Ludmila Ulehla and Giampaolo Bracali at the Manhattan School of Music in the U.S., and conducting with Giampaolo Bracali, Francesco Carotenuto, and the late Piero Bellugi in Italy, who later praised his conducting style - "follows the tradition of the Italian schools."

His program music, focused on the program symphony or symphonic poem, is most influenced by Hector Berlioz, Richard Strauss and "follows in the footsteps of Ottorino Respighi" (Mark Greenfast, New Music Connoisseur). His works have been performed by orchestras in Orvieto, Palermo, Perugia, Florence, Rome, Brussels, Ghent, Worcester, Cairo, Brazil, Basel, Prague, Vienna, Quebec, San Jose, Philadelphia, and New York; he has conducted orchestras of Palermo, Rome, Florence, Danbury, Sofia, London, Vancouver, Philadelphia and New York. He has taught at Loyola School (New York City) and Adelphi University.

In 2007, Di Vittorio gained considerable attention with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, when he was invited by Elsa and Gloria Pizzoli (Respighi's great nieces) and Potito Pedarra (Respighi archive curator and cataloger) to edit, orchestrate and complete several early works of Respighi including the first Violin Concerto (of 1903), for publication with Edizioni Panastudio in Italy. He premiered and then recorded three of these critical editions, together with his own Overtura Respighiana and first two program symphonies, in 2010 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York for Naxos Records. The recordings were released in 2011.

Other notable restorations of historical interest include: Respighi's 1908 orchestration of Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento di Arianna (from the lost opera Arianna, 1608) edited in 2012, and Di Vittorio's completion of Respighi's orchestration of the Tre Liriche (Three Art Songs, 1913) edited for its centennial anniversary in 2013.

In November 2012, Di Vittorio gave the world premiere of his Sinfonia No. 3 "Templi di Sicilia" in his debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at the Teatro Politeama in Palermo." RAI featured him in an interview during the evening news. The program also included the European Premieres of Di Vittorio's Overtura Respighiana and Respighi's First Concerto per Violino (in La Maggiore). Both Giornale di Sicilia and La Repubblica published reviews about the concerts, acclaiming his neo-classical works." Soon after, Di Vittorio was awarded the Medal of Palermo from Mayor Leoluca Orlando who "recognized the great importance of Di Vittorio's work as a promoter of the city of Palermo around the world."

Di Vittorio resides in New York and Palermo.

Works

List of Compositions

Orchestral

• Clair de Lune, per piccola orchestra (2016) (Debussy - orchestration by Di Vittorio)
• La Villa d'Este a Tivoli, per piccola orchestra (2015)
• Fanfara del Mare "Su un Tema di Monteverdi", per orchestra (2015)
• Venere e Adone, per piccola orchestra (2014)
• Overtura Palermo, per orchestra (2013)
• Il Tallone di Achille (Achilles' Heel), per piccola orchestra (2010, Completed 2013)
• Stabat Mater Speciosa, Per la Nativita', per coro (a cinque) e piccola orchestra (2012)
• Sinfonia No. 3 "Templi di Sicilia", per orchestra (2011)
• Concerto per Violino (in La Maggiore) [Respighi - Di Vittorio] (1903/2009)
• Overtura Respighiana, per orchestra (Based on music of Ottorino Respighi and Gioacchino Rossini) (2008)
• San Michele Arcangelo, per baritono, coro e orchestra da camera (Prologue from opera "Fausto") (2005)
• Romanza dal "Romeo e Giulietta", per orchestra da camera (2004)
• Sinfonia No. 2 "Lost Innocence", per orchestra (1997/Revised 2000)
• Sinfonia No. 1 "Isolation", per orchestra d'archi (1994/Revised 1999)
• Elegy, per orchestra (Movement IV from Sinfonia No. 2) (1996)
• Preludio, per orchestra d'archi (Movement I from Sinfonia No. 1) (1994)

Transcriptions and revisions of orchestral music of Ottorino Respighi

• Tre Liriche, per mezzo-sorprano e orchestra (1913/Orchestration Completed 2013)
• Lamento di Arianna, per mezzo-sorprano e orchestra (1908/Edited 2012) [Monteverdi - Respighi]
• Serenata, per piccola orchestra (1904/Edited 2012)
• Suite in Sol Maggiore, per archi ed organo (1905/Edited 2011)
• Suite per archi (1902/Revised 2010)
• Aria per archi (1901/Transcribed 2010)
• Concerto per Violino (in La Maggiore) (1903/Completed 2009)[Respighi - Di Vittorio]

Opera

• "Fausto", Opera in due atti, per sei solisti, coro e orchestra da camera (Based on Dr. Faustus by Thomas Mann; Libretto in Italian: To be completed)
• Romeo e Giulietta, Opera in due atti, per sei solisti, coro e orchestra (Based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare; Libretto in Italian: 2003)

Choral and vocal

• Stabat Mater Speciosa, Per la Nativita', per coro (a cinque) e piccola orchestra (2012)
• San Michele Arcangelo, per baritono, coro e orchestra da camera (Prologue from opera "Fausto") (2005)
• Ave Maria, per coro femminile (1995/Revised 1998)
• Magnificat, per coro misto (1995)

Chamber

• Castelli, per piccolo ensemble (2014)
• Sonata No. 2 "Reflections on a Nursery rhyme", per pianoforte (1996)
• Sonata No. 1, per clarinetto (1995/Revised 1998)

External links

• Official website
• Chamber Orchestra of New York