Dario Salvi

DARIO SALVI (1975) is a Scottish-Italian conductor, researcher, and musicologist. He quickly and successfully established himself as a conductor on the musical theater scene in the genres of opera, ballet, and operetta. Born in Saretto, Northern Italy, Salvi began studying the soprano saxophone at an early age at the Santa Cecilia Philharmonic in his hometown. As a teenager, he quickly became a highly sought-after saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger. After studying jazz harmony and contemporary music theory, he transitioned to bass guitar and established himself as a professional musician, touring and performing with international artists at major festivals across Europe and the United States. In the late 1990s, Salvi trained as a conductor and became acquainted with the traditions of military music. He later served as music director of the Alpine troops of the Italian Army. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Derby (UK) and a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of East Anglia (UK). During this period, he worked as Assistant Conductor and Arranger for Chamber Orchestra Anglia and founded the Imperial Vienna Orchestra, specialising in the authentic reproduction of Viennese music. Salvi is a specialist in the restoration, recording, and performance of rare Viennese works, including comic operas, ballets, and orchestral compositions. His particular focus lies on the music of the Strauss family and their contemporaries, such as Czibulka, Ziehrer, Suppè, Millöcker, Genèe, Kàlmàn, and Monti. He believes that rediscovering forgotten scores is essential to preserving cultural and musical heritage, and he is deeply passionate about restoring and popularising neglected or unknown musical and theatrical works. His performance credits include the world premieres of A Trip to Africa and Franz Richard Genet’s The Sea Cadet, as well as the operas Edith Cavell by Paolino Vassallo, The Broken Violin by Joseph Rumshinsky, and Mozart by Suppè. In Sofia, with the Sofia Philharmonic, he also presented the world premieres (following their initial performances in Paris) of two previously unknown ballets by Adolphe Adam: Orpheus (2022) and Griseldis, or The Five Senses (2024). Salvi is actively committed to recording for the Naxos label, where his discography includes works by Engelbert Humperdinck, Johann Strauss Jr., Ingeborg Bronzart von Schellendorf, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Heinrich Marschner, Daniel Esprit, and François Auber. His acclaimed arrangements are published by Musica Mundana, DaVinci Publishing, and Marcato Brass. Many of his orchestral, operatic, and ballet transcriptions have been commissioned by prestigious ensembles such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Salvation Army Orchestra (UK), the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, the C. M. Ziehrer Orchestra, and others. Salvi is the music director of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment Band of the British Army. For the 2024/2025 season, he is the principal guest conductor of the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has conducted a production at the Royal Opera House in Muscat's Opera on Ice festival. He has toured as conductor with the Prague Philharmonic, the Czech Chamber Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Malmö Opera House (Sweden), the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Leoš Janáčeck Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Neue Preußische Philharmonie, the Orchestra Al Chiaro di Luna ( Italy), the State Opera in Ruse, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, the Macedonian National Opera and Ballet, the Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra (USA), the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Critics enthusiastically point out: "[Salvi] is certainly the most astonishing phenomenon that has emerged recently with us. A real ballet master of the conductor’s baton, with big gestures, very expressive, sometimes with theatrical mimicry in communication with the orchestra, he was excellent in transferring his ideas to the orchestra.” (”Jutarnji list", Croatia, 2019). Dario Salvi has received prestigious awards – has been awarded a Lifetime Honorary Member of the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain for his extensive contribution to Viennese music. He was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards 2022 for Strauss’ Waldmeister. He is the recipient of the Golden Globe Award for Ballet Music 2023. In December 2024, he was knighted as a Knight in the “Order of St John” of Jerusalem - Knights Hospitaller (Malta). Mo. Salvi has published three books on Viennese operetta published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.