Alessandro Talevi

Born in Johannesburg, Alessandro Talevi studied music and history of art at the University of the Witwatersrand and piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Supported by William and Judith Bollinger, Talevi was Artistic Director of Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells, for which he directed The Sofa/The Departure, Orlando, La scala di seta and Pelléas et Mélisande. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Awards include Best Opera Production at the 2012 Manchester Theatre Awards (Don Giovanni) and third prize at the prestigious European Opera Directing Award 2007 in Wiesbaden. His production of Pelléas et Mélisande was a shortlist nomination at the 2009 Royal Philharmonic Society awards. In the same year, he was nominated as 'Best Newcomer' in the Opernwelt 2009 Yearbook.

Talevi’s recent work in opera includes Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux (both for Welsh National Opera), Crispino e la Comare (Valle d'Itria Festival, Puglia), Der Barbier von Bagdad and Katya Kabanova (Landestheater Coburg), The Turn of the Screw (Opera North, Israeli Opera and Central City Opera, Colorado) Don Giovanni (Opera North),  La traviata (Cape Town Opera),  La Cenerentola (Malmö Opera) and others.

Future productions include Le Nozze di Figaro (Central City Opera) and La traviata (Opera North). Talevi has also produced several high-profile experimental stagings in unconventional spaces around London, including Art Plus Opera (Whitechapel Art Gallery), Open Outcry (Mansion House) and Amadigi di Gaula (Wigmore Hall). (November 2013)