Biography
He began music studies with his father Giuseppe in Italy, then studied composition with the Ludmila Ulehla and Giampaolo Bracali at the Manhattan School of Music in the U.S., and conducting with Giampaolo Bracali, Francesco Carotenuto, and the late Piero Bellugi in Italy, who later praised his conducting style - "follows the tradition of the Italian schools." [2]
His program music, focused on the program symphony or symphonic poem, is most influenced by Hector Berlioz, Richard Strauss and "follows in the footsteps of Ottorino Respighi" [3] (Mark Greenfast, New Music Connoisseur). He has worked with orchestras in Orvieto, Palermo, Perugia, Florence, Rome, Danbury, Sofia, Brussels, Ghent, Worcester, Cairo, Brazil, Basel, Prague, Vienna, Quebec, San Jose, Philadelphia, Vancouver, London, and New York. He has written works for the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Teatro Massimo Opera Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Morgan Library & Museum, and others. He has taught at Loyola School (New York City) and Adelphi University.
In 2007, Di Vittorio gained considerable attention with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, when he was invited by Elsa and Gloria Pizzoli (Respighi's great nieces) and Potito Pedarra (Respighi archive curator and cataloger) to edit, orchestrate and complete several early works of Respighi including the first Violin Concerto (of 1903), for publication with Edizioni Panastudio and Casa Ricordi in Italy. He premiered and then recorded three of these critical editions, together with his own Overtura Respighiana and first two program symphonies, in 2010 with the Chamber Orchestra of New York for Naxos Records. These first recordings were released in 2011.
Other notable restorations of historical interest include: Respighi's 1908 orchestration of Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento di Arianna (from the lost opera Arianna, 1608) edited in 2012, and Di Vittorio's completion of Respighi's orchestration of the Tre Liriche (Three Art Songs, 1913) edited for its centennial anniversary in 2013. In 2019, Di Vittorio completed the first printed edition of Respighi's second Violin Concerto "all'Antica". With Chamber Orchestra of New York, Di Vittorio went on to record the Violin Concerto "all'Antica" in 2019 alongside Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances Suites and the mezzo songs in 2021, again, for Naxos Records.
In November 2012, Di Vittorio gave the world premiere of his Sinfonia No. 3 "Templi di Sicilia" in his debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana at the Teatro Politeama in Palermo." [4] RAI featured him in an interview during the evening news. The program also included the European Premieres of Di Vittorio's Overtura Respighiana and Respighi's First Concerto per Violino (in La Maggiore). Both Giornale di Sicilia and La Repubblica published reviews about the concerts, acclaiming his neo-classical works." [5] Soon after, Di Vittorio was awarded the Medal of Palermo from Mayor Leoluca Orlando who "recognized the great importance of Di Vittorio's work as a promoter of the city of Palermo around the world." [6]
The world premieres of Di Vittorio's Fanfara del Mare "Su un Tema di Monteverdi" with the San Diego Symphony, commissioned for the centennial of Balboa Park and its Organ Pavilion at Copley Symphony Hall in 2015, and Venere e Adone for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia in 2016 received critical acclaim.
During the summer of 2016, Salvatore Di Vittorio reached a significant milestone when he became the first native Italian composer to be invited to donate an autograph manuscript of his work to The Morgan Library & Museum music archive. La Villa d'Este a Tivoli was composed in 2015 for the Morgan on the occasion of its exhibition City of the Soul: Rome and the Romantics, June 2016.
In late 2018, Di Vittorio completed his Sinfonia N. 4 "Metamorfosi" (Metamorphoses), based on Ovid's Metamorphoses and three Italian paintings related to the story. In June 2021, Naxos released a second album of Di Vittorio's music that includes several world premiere recordings, including the new fourth symphony. Decca Classics released two recordings in 2021 involving Di Vittorio's published restorations of Respighi's works. The London Philharmonic released a recording of Nebbie from Tre Liriche under conductor Renato Balsadonna and tenor Freddie de Tommaso, and Teatro Alla Scala Opera Orchestra recorded Aria for strings under conductor Riccardo Chailly.
Between the 2021/2022 and 2024/2025 seasons, Di Vittorio premieres his Viaggi di Enea (Voyages of Aeneas) as one of two commissions for the Teatro Massimo Opera Orchestra in Palermo - the second, his Metamorphosis Symphony under his baton at the opera house.
Di Vittorio is published by Panastudio in Palermo, under exclusive distributor Casa Ricordi in Milan, Italy. His orchestral works are also listed Daniel's Orchestral Music compendium.
He resides with his family in New York and Palermo.
