Stefano Ranzani, conductor, was born in Italy. He conducts regularly at La Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera and the opera houses of Washington, Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, Buenos Aires, Glyndebourne, Paris, Berlin, Zürich, Munich, Santiago de Chile, Hamburg, Helsinki, Dallas, and many others as well as leading many major international orchestras in concerts all over the world. He was the music director of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. His vast opera repertoire includes Il trittico, La boheme, Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Rigoletto, Aida, Un ballo di maschera, Ernani, I due Foscari, Stifelio, La traviata (Verdi), Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti), Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), Don Giovanni (Mozart) and many others. This is his Israeli Opera debut.