The Teatro Carlo Felice Orchestra was created at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then the orchestra has actively performed and taken part in the Teatro Carlo Felice’s productions. The ensemble’s concerts have not halted even during the 1943 bombings, when the theatre was partially destroyed. At different times, the orchestra has been conducted by such renowned conductors as Victor De Sabata, Igor Stravinsky, Sergiu Celibidache, Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Riccardo Muti, Georges Prêtre, Mstislav Rostropovich, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Myung-whun Chung, Christian Thielemann, Daniele Gatti, Gary Bertini, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Rudolf Barshai, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Michel Plasson, Juanjo Mena, Dmitri Kitayenko, Manfred Honeck among many others.
In 2012 Fabio Luisi was named the ensemble’s Honorary Conductor. Since 2017 Andrea Battistoni has been Principal Conductor of the orchestra, while Daniel Smith has been its Principal Guest Conductor.
The orchestra’s repertoire includes works of different epochs from the 18th century to the present day. In 2017 the musicians performed at the Astana Expo, while in 2018 they took part in the memorial concert dedicated to the victims of the Morandi Bridge collapse in Genoa. The ensemble has taken part in recordings of the theatre’s various productions for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Sony, Arthaus Musik, Dynamic, Denon Nippon and BMG-Ricordi.
