The world’s most distinguished Alpine horn soloist, the Italian CARLO TORLONTANO has devoted most of his time to promoting the instrument and has actively contributed to the development of its repertoire with performances of works by many contemporary composers. Several of these were composed specifically for Torlontano.
He appears regularly as soloist under the baton of renowned conductors with many symphony and chamber orchestras in Europe, Australia, America, the Middle East and the Far East. He has played in many of the world’s great concert halls such as the Mozarteum Salzburg, Berlin Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Beethoven Hall in Bonn, Mainly Mozart in San Diego, Muza Symphony Hall in Tokyo, George Enescu Philharmonic, Belgrade Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Theater Basel, etc. as well as a number of music festivals such as the Prague Proms, the Kuhmo Chamber Festival, the ones in Newport, Breesbein, etc.
In 1996 he took part in the concert marking the 50th anniversary of the Italian Republic. In 2003 he was invited to the concert Martha Argerich and Friends, where he had the pleasure of playing with her Robert Schumann’s quintet Andante con variazion. On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Amadeus’ birth, in 2006, Torlontano was invited to play Leopold Mozart’s Concerto for Alphorn in the “Grosser Saal” of the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 2019 he performed the same concerto at the Augsburg Concerthalle on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
He was the first alphorn player to perform the original part written by Richard Strauss for the opening scene of his opera Daphne in productions at the Gothenburg Opera and the Theatre Basel, as well as the Berlin Philharmonic. Carlo Torlontato is deeply honoured by the exclusive right he recently received from Arvo Pärt to perform his composition for alphorn and string orchestra.
For many years he was principal French horn of the RAI Symphony Orchestra and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He is a founding member of the ensemble “I Solisti del San Carlo”. He also plays baroque horn with the famous early music ensemble “Sopsegto Italiano”, directed by Rinaldo Alessandrini.
Carlo Torlontano is professor of French horn at the Luisa D’Annunzio Conservatory of Music in Pescara, Italy.
