A lover of the sea and music, Lorenzo Viotti, the main guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, is also passionate about watchmaking, a passion that led him to join the Omega family as Friend of the Brand.
THE CHOICES
1. Favourite Omega model
Seamaster 300M in pink gold, with vintage leather strap, because it is, at the same time, an elegant and sporty piece, in addition to being timeless and iconic.
2. A book
The Flowers of Evil, by Charles Baudelaire
3. A movie
Life Is Beautiful, by Roberto Benigni
4. A play
Duck in Orange Sauce, by William Douglas-Home
5.One song
Rosa Moreno, by João Gilberto
6. A restaurant
Arkhe, Lisbon
7. A dream trip
Azores Archipelago, Portugal
8. A place
Under the water
9. An idol
My mother
10. A sport
Boxing
11. An experience
Skydiving
12. A memory
Fazer mergulho com o meu pai
13. Don’t leave home without…
My positive attitude
About Lorenzo Viotti
Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Lorenzo Viotti was born into a family of musicians of Italian and French descent. He studied piano, singing and percussion in Lyon, having initially been a percussionist for the Vienna Philharmonic and collaborated with other orchestras. Simultaneously with his activity as an instrumentalist, he studied orchestral conducting with Georg Mark, in Vienna, and with Nicolás Pasquet, at the Franz Liszt Conservatory, in Weimar.
As a young conductor, in 2015 he definitely aroused international attention by winning the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award. In 2013 he had already won the Cadaqués International Directing Competition and the MDR Directing Competition. As a result of these great successes, he has been invited to direct many prestigious orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the BBC Philharmonic of Manchester, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony, the Bamberg Symphony, the Orchestra of Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Tonkünstler Orchester, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Danish National Radio Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Vienna Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Filarmonica della Scala, the Staatskapelle Berlin or the Philharmonic of Holland, among others. He first conducted the Gulbenkian Orchestra in January 2017.
Lorenzo Viotti debuted in the United States of America with the Cleveland Orchestra and in Canada with the Montreal Symphony. In January 2020 he conducted the French National Orchestra in concerts in Vienna and Bratislava, and at the end of February he made his debut in front of the Berlin Philharmonic.
With the start of the 2021/22 season, Lorenzo Viotti began his new roles as Principal Conductor of the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. At the start of this season, he directed The Bat, by Alexander von Zemlinsky and Missa in tempore belli, by Joseph Haydn. Nevertheless, he had already debuted with the Dutch National Opera earlier than expected, in September 2019, by replacing Sir Mark Elder in the opera performance duo Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana. Lorenzo Viotti was Principal Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra between 2018 and 2021, currently occupying the position of Principal Guest Conductor.
