Benzi, Roberto
Benzi, Roberto
Benzi, Roberto, French conductor; b. Marseilles, Dec. 12, 1937. He began music training as a small child and in 1948 appeared as a youthful conductor in Bay-onne and of the Colonne Orch. in Paris. He pursued academic studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and was a conducting pupil of Cluytens (1947–50). In 1954 he made his debut as an opera conductor, and in 1959 he made his first appearance at the Paris Opéra conducting Carmen. He subsequently made guest appearances in Europe, Japan, and North and South America. On Dec. 11, 1972, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. conducting Faust. From 1973 to 1987 he was music director in Bordeaux, and then was principal conductor and artistic advisor of Arnhem’s Het Gelders Orch. from 1989. In 1966 he married Jane Rhodes.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire