Edoardo Sanchi
set designer

Edoardo Sanchi graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan. From 1985 to 1990 he worked as assistant to the designers Margherita Palli, Gabbris Ferrari, Michel Lebois, Quirino Conti, Franco Zeffirelli, Ambra Danon and Gianni Quaranta, signing his own stage and costume designs from 1981 onwards.

His work as a sculptor has been exhibited in Milan.

 

He has collaborated as set designer with directors David Brandon, Giorgio Marini, Stefano Monti, Roberto Paci Dalò, Italo Nunziata, Franco Ripa di Meana, Ruggero Cappuccio, Damiano Michieletto, Gigi Dall’Aglio, Francesco Micheli, Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, Michele Placido, Marco Martinelli, Micha Van Hoecke, Marco Gandini, Ivan Cavallari, Guy Montavon e Federico Tiezzi. 

 

Productions as set designer include Orfeo (Teatro Reggio di Torino and Opera de Lausanne, director Giorgio Marini, conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini), I Puritani (Reggio di Torino with director Giorgio Marini), Turandot (Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, director Stefano Monti), La Fiamma (Wexford Festival Opera directed by Franco Ripa di Meana), Nina o sia la pazza per amore (Teatro alla Scala - Piccolo Teatro, Milan, conductor Riccardo Muti), Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi (Arena di Verona), The Turn of the Screw (Teatro Comunale di Bologna with director Giorgio Marini, conductor, Jonathan Webb), Lucrezia Borgia (Teatro Comunale di Bologna with director Marco Martinelli), Il Trovatore (Verdi Festival, Parma, Opéra Theatre d’Avigon, Liège and St. Etienne with director Francesco Micheli), Attila (Teatro Comunale di Firenze with director Franco Ripa di Meana), Tancredi (Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, Teatro Comunale di Modena, Teatro Comunale Ferrara and Teatro 'R.Valli' Reggio Emilia with Marco Gandini), Pergolesi’s Olimpiade (Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna Teatro Municipale Piacenza, Teatro Comunale di Modena, Teatro 'R.Valli' Reggio Emilia with Italo Nunziata), La Gazzetta and Il Barbiere di Siviglia with director Marco Gandini at Garsington Opera Festival in the UK, Macbeth (conductor, Daniele Gatti)a co-production between the Ravenna Festival, Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Teatro Verdi di Trieste, director Micha Van Hoecke, La Lupa (composer Marco Tutino at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, collaborating with director Marco Gandini), La Mano a contemporary rock theatre work in Belgium and Ravenna by the acclaimed experimental Teatro delle Albe, director Marco Martinelli, and Il Dissoluto Punito for Festival Mozart de La Coruña directed by Damiano Michieletto. 

 

His work includes sets for Ascanio in Alba directed by Franco Ripa di Meana for La Scala, and in 2007 a new production of Tannhäuser directed by Guy Montavon for Theater Erfurt in Germany and later revived at Teatro Comunale di Bologna.

For the Pfingsfestpiele in Salzburg he designed sets for Il ritorno di Don Calandrino, director Ruggero Cappuccio, conductor Riccardo Muti. For the REC Festival in Reggio Emilia he designed Il Tempo Sospeso del Volo, the world première of a new work by composer Nicola Sani, directed by Franco Ripa di Meana.

In 2008, he designed the set of The Nutcracker (Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky) for the West Australian Ballet at the His Majesty's theatre in Perth. This production has been presented in a new dramatic score, re-written by the designer and the choreographer Ivan Cavallari.

In 2009 with the director Franco Ripa di Meana he created sets for Tosca at Terme di Caracalla in Rome and the trilogy of La Traviata, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence. Further, for the Teatro Verdi of Trieste in co-production with Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova and Teatro San Carlo in Naples he designed the set for La Vedova Allegra working with the director Federico Tiezzi. 

For the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing in 2010 he created the set design for L'Elisir d'Amore director was Franco Ripa di Meana. For the 2010/2011 season he designed the set for La Bohème at Teatro La Fenice collaborating with director Francesco Micheli and at the Arena di Verona 2011 with the same director he created the set for Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod.

In 2012 he designed Pinocchio (music by Enrico Melozzi, dramatic score written by the designer and Ivan Cavallari) for the West Australian Ballet and Otello at Teatro la Fenice (director Francesco Micheli, conductor Myung-Whun Chung). This production was revived at Palazzo Ducale di Venezia and coproduced with Tokio Bunkamura Orchard Hall Theatre, Osaka Festival Hall Theatre and Nagoya Aichi Arts Center Theatre.

In 2013 he worked with the director Guy Montavon on a new production of Andrea Chénier at the Staatstheater Nürnberg in Germany and for Macerata Opera Festival in 2014 he designed both new productions Tosca (director Franco Ripa di Meana) and Aida (director Francesco Micheli). His Nutcracker (choreographer Ivan Cavallari) has been revived at Opera du Rhin in 2016 while La Boheme at (Teatro La Fenice) and La Traviata (Opéra Grand Avignon) have been revived in 2018.

 

2020 started with the new production of Alcina (director Serena Sinigaglia) at Opera de Lorraine in Nancy.

With director Francesco Micheli he designed Medea in Corinto at Festival Donizetti, Alcina at Glyndebourne (2022), Raffa in the Sky at Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo (2023).

In 2024 he collaborated with director Dominique Pitoiset creating Tosca.

 

In 2007 he has been invited by VCA (Univeristy of Melbourne, Australia) as Professor in Residence to lead a master in set design.

From 2003 onwards he has been teaching set design at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice, Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan and Accademia di Belle Arti of Carrara.

He is now regular professor for set design at the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera in Milan.