Departures of note

Paolo Peloso was born in 1932 in the Piedmont region of Italy. He studied organ and piano at the Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini in Genoa, where he also studied composition, and later refined his conducting skills at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena alongside contemporaries such as Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta.

Peloso began his professional career at Milan's Teatro alla Scala, initially as the resident conductor of the ballet company and later leading operatic productions, including collaborations with dancer Rudolf Nureyev. He held a long‑term position at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice, directing both operas and concerts, and frequently conducted the orchestra for the Premio Paganini.

His reputation earned him invitations to conduct at leading venues worldwide, including the Staatsoper in Hamburg and Berlin, the Opéra‑Comique in Paris, the San Francisco Opera, and major Canadian opera houses in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montréal. He also appeared in theaters across Tehran, Lyon, Toulouse, Avignon, Naples, Bologna, Bari, Venice and Rome, as well as with the RAI symphonic orchestras of Rome, Turin and Milan.

Peloso died on 2 August 2026 in Rovereto, Trentino, at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy of dedication to opera and orchestral music and a son, violinist and conductor Gian Paolo Peloso, who remembered him as a musician of deep culture and humility.