Benedikt Sauer is a German – Italian conductor. His repertoire includes, beside symphonic works, a vaste range of different operas with special focus on Verdi, Belcanto and Mozart, but also rarities like Schubert operas.
Beside his studies at Milan Conservatory, special operatic education by Carlo Franci and a postgraduate education in Kyiv (Alin Vlasenko), he participated at several masterclasses (Daniel Oren, Mikhail Jurowski, Riccardo Frizza, Donato Renzetti, Maurizio Arena, Jorma Panula, Lior Shambadal and courses at the Bartók-Festival).
He made his opera debut with “La Traviata” at Kurtheater Bad Ems in 2015, followed by “Le nozze di Figaro” , “Così fan tutte” and “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”. In October 2016, he conducted an acclaimed “Don Giovanni” production at Ekhof-Theater Gotha. 2018 he lead the Opera Festival Rossini and Schubert at Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz, conducting i.a. Schuberts “Der vierjährige Posten“. He further conducted various opera performances in Italy (“La Traviata”, “Cavalleria Rusticana”). In April 2018, he conducted “Rigoletto” at Easter Festival Kyiv, where he returns regularly thanks to several projects. At the Teatro Sociale Bellinzona he has conducted “La Traviata” in July 2021. An intense collaboration links him with Opera Classica Europa and its academy as conductor, casting manager and vocal coach, where he conducted concerts and various operas such as “La Bohème”, “Carmen”, “Don Pasquale”, “Così fan tutte”, “Die Zauberflöte”,“La Cenerentola”, “Die lustige Witwe”, “Nabucco” and “L’elisir d’amore”. In addition he was leading for many years a young artist program.
Benedikt Sauer has conducted various concerts across Europe. Most recently, he conducted at the Zaryadye Hall (December 2024), Teatro Olimpico Vicenza (September 2024), the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano in May 2024 and the Festival Valle d’Itria in July 2023. Earlier engagements include performances at the Smetana Hall (August 2018), the State Theatre Usti Nad Labem (October 2018, April 2019) and the Teatro Nazionale Milano (December 2016) as well as several sacred music concerts, paying particular attention to historical informed performance. In 2023, he founded the Neapolitan chamber orchestra Ensemble Mercadante, which, after several successful concerts, is now preparing new recordings featuring repertoire from the Neapolitan School.
He frequently collaborates as an assistant with conductors such as Riccardo Minasi, Gianluca Capuano, and Oleg Caetani, often engaging in research on historically informed performance practices and literature. He has also collaborated with Rinaldo Alessandrini and Mikhail Jurowski. As assistant he worked i.a. at Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg, Salzburger Festspiele, the Opera Monte-Carlo and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
In addition to his musical endeavors, he graduated in Classics (B.A.) and History (M.A.) at the University of Bologna, presenting i.a. a thesis about German romanticism and its reflection in Pirandello. At the same time he has been collaborating at the new critical edition of “Norma” for Baerenreiter Edition.
