Like Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel, 26-year-old Robin Ticciati possesses an impressive résumé, boyish looks, powerful supporters and even curly dark hair. Still, for the London-based conductor who makes his L.A. Phil debut Thursday night at Walt Disney Concert Hall, any expectation of him as the "British Dudamel" is a little fanciful.
"The comparison is really touching," says Ticciati, the principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and, beginning next season, the principal guest conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Bavaria, Germany. "But at the same time, I know that I'm a completely different musician."
In conversation, the slender, brown-eyed Ticciati immediately shows an articulate, thoughtful side, combining both the earnest demeanor of youth and the distinguished manner of an established maestro. In fact, if any comparisons are to be made, it should be with Simon Rattle, the British conductor (and erstwhile percussionist) who discovered Ticciati, then a teenage timpanist and violinist in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Word of Ticciati's talent as an emerging conductor had already spread. Since then, both Rattle and veteran conductor Colin Davis have taken an active role in Ticciati's musical development. That has coincided with his almost lightning rise in the classical music world.
As equally comfortable with opera as he is with orchestras, Ticciati is the youngest to have ever conducted at the Salzburg Festival and the La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy. Last summer, he made his New York debut at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival to positive reviews. More ambitious projects await, including Britten's "Peter Grimes" at La Scala in 2012.
Ticciati is almost invariably cited in any list of phenomenal young conducting talent, joining such names as the French-Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Latvian Andris Nelsons and, of course, Dudamel. "I think we have a mutual respect for each other," Ticciati says of his Venezuelan colleague. "We've met a couple of times. It's been very special. He is, it seems to me, blessed with such amazing gifts for communication and this incredible energy."
