In addition to frequent guest-conducting engagements at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, he has enjoyed two fruitful periods as Music Director of Welsh National Opera (1992–2001 and 2004–8) and was honoured to take up the position of Conductor Laureate of Welsh National Opera in 2015. He has also given critically acclaimed concert performances with distinguished orchestras around the world and most recently completed a cycle of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies with the Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels, as well as concerts with the Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra di Santa Cecilia, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic.

In September Rizzi opened the Metropolitan Opera season with a new production of Norma, while current and future engagements include Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at Dutch National Opera, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana paired with Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at the Opera di Roma, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper and return visits to La Scala and WNO.

During recent seasons he has conducted a double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna at the Opéra de Paris, Rigoletto at Dutch National Opera, Tosca at La Scala, Nabucco at Chicago Lyric Opera and the world premiere of Iain Bell’s In Parenthesis at Welsh National Opera and The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Carlo Rizzi’s extensive discography includes complete recordings of Gounod’s Faust, Janáček’s Katya Kabanova (in English) and Verdi’s Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera, all with Welsh National Opera; a DVD and CD of Verdi’s La traviata recorded live at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic; numerous recital albums with renowned opera singers; and recordings of symphonic works by Bizet, Ravel, Respighi and Schubert.