Fabio Biondi
Born in Palermo, Fabio Biondi began his international career at the age of twelve, performing his first solo concert with the RAI symphony orchestra.
Driven early on by an inexhaustible cultural curiosity,
Fabio Biondi was introduced to pioneers of the new approach to baroque music,
an opportunity that was to expand his musical vision and change the direction
of his career.
When he was sixteen, he was invited by the Musikverein of
Vienna to perform Bach's violin concertos. Since then, Fabio Biondi has
performed with ensembles including Cappella Real, Musica Antiqua Wien,
Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre (ever since
its foundation) all specialised in the performance of baroque music using
original technique and instruments.
In 1990, Fabio Biondi founded Europa Galante, an ensemble
which, in just a few years thanks to their worldwide concert schedule and
extraordinary recording successes, became the most internationally renowned and
awarded Italian ensemble of baroque music. Fabio Biondi and his ensemble have
been invited to play at the most important world festivals and concert halls,
from La Scala in Milan to the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Suntory
Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London,
the Musikverein in Vienna, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera
House.
Their first record (Vivaldi's concertos) was awarded the
'Premio Cini' of Venice & the 'Choc de la Musique' and was soon followed by
a number of other awards such as five Diapasons d’Or, Diapason d’Or de l’Année
in France, RTL Prize, 'Record of the Year' nominations in many countries, and
the 'Prix du Disque, 'ffff' by the review Telerama. In 2006 their recording of
Vivaldi's opera Bajazet was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Fabio Biondi's musical development, taking in both the
universal repertoire plus the rediscovering of minor composers, includes three
centuries of music. This is illustrated in his varied discography: Vivaldi's
The Four Seasons, Corelli's Concerti Grossi, the oratorios, the serenatas and
operas of Alessandro Scarlatti (La Messa di Natale, Clori, Dorino e Amore,
Massimo Puppieno and Il trionfo dell'onore) Handel's operas (Poro), and the
XVIII century Italian violin repertoire (Veracini, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini)
as well as sonatas by Bach, Schubert and Schumann. Fabio Biondi embodies the
perpetual pursuit of style, free from dogmatism and he remains intent in his
quest for the original language. It is due to this very approach that he can
collaborate as soloist and conductor with many varied orchestras, including
Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the European
Baroque Orchestra, the Opera of Halle, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the
Chamber Orchestra of Norway, the Orchestre Nationale of Montpellier, the Mahler
Chamber Orchestra, to name but a few.
Fabio Biondi also performs in duo with piano, harpsichord or
forte-piano in prestigious venues around the world including the Cité de la
Musique in Paris, Hogi Hall in Tokyo, Auditorium Nacional in Madrid and the
Wigmore Hall in London.
Since March 2005 Fabio Biondi has taken on the role of
artistic director for baroque music of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.
Next season Fabio Biondi will conduct l'Orchestre National de
Montpellier, la Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, l'Ensemble Orchestral de Paris e la Tivoli Symphony Orchestra of Copenhagen.
From 2011, he is academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome).
Fabio Biondi plays an Andrea Guarneri Violin (Cremona,1686 )
. He also plays a 1766 Carlo Ferdinando Gagliano Violin, owned by his teacher
Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero
Foundation in Palermo.