In 1987, he studied in Tanglewood, USA, with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. In the same year, Morandi won the "Tanglewood Competition", also known as "Bernstein Prize". In 1989, he became Deputy Principal Conductor at Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, where he conducted Ernani, Madama Butterfly, and several symphonic concerts. In 1990, he recorded his first opera with Opera Rome, Paisiello’s Don Chisciotte. From 1991 and for the following five years, he was Principal Guest Conductor at the Hungarian National Opera in Budapest. He was Principal Guest Conductor at Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and at Royal Opera House in Stockholm, and he is currently Honorary Principle Conductor at Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.
Morandi has a wide Italian operatic repertoire and he has been working as regular guest conductor in all the major opera houses in Italy, Europe and worldwide: Palermo, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro alla Scala, San Carlo di Napoli, Marseille, La Maestranza in Seville, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Osaka, National Opera Theatre in Seoul, Colon in Buenos Aires, Stockholm Royal Opera House, Theatre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, Wiener Staatsoper, MET Opera, Macerata Opera Festival, Arena di Verona, Opernhaus Zürich, Goteborg, Teatro Regio di Parma, Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Bilbao, Maiorca, Las Palmas, Valencia, Copenhagen Royal Opera House, Seattle Opera, Royal Albert Hall in London.
An appreciated interpreter of symphonic repertoire, Morandi has worked, among others, with Budapest Radio Orchestra, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest State Orchestra, Flamish Radio Orchestra, Roma’s Santa Cecilia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra del Filarmonico di Verona, Fukuoka Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra.
He recently has returned to MET with Rigoletto, his future engagements include Carmen, Tosca, Il Trovatore, and Andrea Chenier at Wiener Staatsoper, La Fanciulla del West at Staatsoper Hamburg.
A prolific recording artist, Morandi appeared in several releases, including the Verdi Gala DVD with tenor José Cura and the London Symphony Orchestra; two Sony Classic CD’s of the European tour with tenor Vittorio Grigolo, records with Jonas Kaufmann and several CDs with Naxos.
