Anton Guadagno was an Italian opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

.

Born in Castellammare del Golfo

Castellammare del Golfo

Castellammare del Golfo is a town and comune in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated "Sea- Fortress of the Gulf", deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbor...

, Italy, Anton Guadagno studied at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory in Palermo and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He worked with Herbert von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...

 while studying at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and won first prize for conducting in 1948 at the age of 23. Upon graduation, he conducted in South America and Mexico City, where he was music director of the Bellas Artes and formed a lasting relationship with Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...

. He made his American debut in 1952 at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

, and served as an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 during the 1958-1959 season. He was also the music director of the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company

Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company

The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...

 from 1966 to 1972. Starting in the 1970s, he worked for 30 years with the Wiener Staatsoper as resident conductor in the Italian repertoire. In 1984, Guadagno became principal conductor of the Palm Beach Opera

Palm Beach Opera

Palm Beach Opera, a professional opera company in West Palm Beach, Florida resident at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, was founded in 1961 as "Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches." Over its history, the company has presented a season of fully staged operas ranging from a single production...

, a position he held for the rest of his life.

Guadagno died in Vienna, Austria in 2002.