Tumult at an Italian Opera House as Major Conductor Leaves Turin

Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda, whose American career has taken off in recent years with his appointment as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington and with high-profile performances at the Metropolitan Opera, announced Thursday that he was leaving the Teatro Regio Torino, the Italian opera house he has helped restore to prominence during the past decade.

Noseda, 54, said in a statement that he had been told that the Teatro Regio, which has been going through administrative upheaval this year, had canceled its planned tour of the United States next spring, which would have taken it to Carnegie Hall, Chicago and Washington. Carnegie confirmed that the Teatro Regio had informed it that the company was canceling its U.S. tour; a spokesman for the opera house did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The Teatro Regio appointed a new superintendent, William Graziosi, this week, which means Noseda would have had to reapply to keep his post as music director, the position he has held since 2007. Instead, he took his name out of contention, calling the theater’s recent actions “disappointing and disheartening.”

“The fact that the quality which has propelled the theater on the international scene has not been taken in due consideration,” Noseda said in the statement, “provides a clear indication to me that there is no interest to share a common vision for the future of the Teatro Regio Torino.”

Noseda has clashed with the company’s leadership before, sometimes being drawn into public disputes with its former superintendent, Walter Vergnano. But he was widely credited with lifting the company’s reputation: improving its musical quality, helping attract corporate sponsors and winning international acclaim through recordings and tours.

Noseda said that he would honor upcoming conducting engagements this summer, and praised the company.

“Once again, I thank the incredible artists of the orchestra and the chorus, the stage technicians, all the workshops workers and the staff members who shared a common vision for the Teatro Regio Torino,” he said. “We have produced so much great art together, and this will remain forever in the history of the house, as well as in our personal histories.”