Paolo Carignani was born in Milan. There, he studied organ, piano and composition at the Verdi-Conservatoire. This was followed by a degree in orchestral conducting. From 1999 to 2008, he was the General Music Director of the Opera in Frankfurt and the Artistic Director of the concerts of the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra. Aside from the numerous Italian opera houses, Carignani also conducted at the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Concertgebouw as well as at the opera house in Amsterdam, the Zurich Opera house, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Glyndebourne Festival, at the State Opera and the Deutschen Opera in Berlin, in Paris, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the Norske Opera in Oslo, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the Schleswig Holstein Festival and the Spoleto Festival. He gave his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1997 with a performance of Tosca and has since then directed performances, among others, of Un ballo in maschera, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ernani, La forza del destino, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Nabucco, Tosca, Il trovatore, I vespri siciliani and Simon Boccangra. 　　  　　Conducting for the Wiener Staatsoper 2014/2015: Tosca, La fanciulla del West.